finance is going to be a dead industry for the next 10 years. heed this or regret it. even for the people in it, the bonuses won't be growing. it was already a winner takes nearly-all kind of industry but now there will be fewer crumbs than ever for the middle level ass slaves.

if you have ambition learn programming languages and be a techie. For most bankers who are quanty, that's as close as you are going to get. Unfortunately most of you guys are too dumb to program (as am I).

roommate is at a boutique, he leaves earlier than I do usually in the am say 7 and gets home around 10pm. Not sure if this answers or provides insight but he has pretty long hours obviously not the same as a MM or BB, I feel as if I never get out of here.....boutiques depending can be pretty sick to work at, he gets to travel a ton to Europe with the firms MD', goes to almost all the client road shows and attends the pitches for a first year analyst some of this is sick, given I never in a million years would get to do any of this. Exit ops I'm sure a boutique is not looked upon as favorably as a top MM or BB but then again who is to say you can't beat kids from these banks out, all about who you know most of the time not what you know and if you can make it rain at the boutique chances are you can do so elsewhere as well.

I see a lot of people saying this but yet a lot of kids at the ivies still chase after banking.

Why?

Banking is the best paying job one can possibly get for a guy with a non-technical degree and no experience / skills, straight out of school.

Most jobs outside banking/ consulting pay you 30-40k to start out. Need I say more to explain why those bunches of kids at Ivies are after banking gigs?

Exactly.

can you shed more light on this? i believe it -- obviously the manpower issue is probably key, but are there any other factors to this?

Arguably a worse alternative if we're incorporating the economy and future focus on technology into our reasoning.

can i go straight to PE or do i have to go to IB?

I don't think very many people go straight to P/E. I have potential one shot at an analyst position in a VC/PE firm and that's it so far

Here's what I think: more work for the fewer bankers in the short-run, but in the long-run we'll see more banks specialized in their own niches. So, more of the banks like LAZ/EVR/GHL, more of Qatalyst/Centerview/Financo, etc.

I'd still choose Goldman Sachs or JP Morgan over Facebook in 10 years

spitball estimate. when finance craps out it tends to stay that way for 10-20 years. i say we are about 5 years into the suckage.

Plenty of options outside of banking if you can handle the loss of "prestige."

1. Corporate/commercial banking - companies will always need debt: revolving credit, short term loans, etc for working capital needs. Also loan syndication for LBO. 50-60 hours a week for 65-70k all in. Corporate bankers probably make same base with 10-20k bonus

2. F500 finance. This obviously isn't going anywhere. Companies are l going to need people to work FP&A, treasury, etc.

3. PWM managing rich guys money. Dumb rich people will always need this to be done for them. A couple of the BBs actually offer a typical analyst experience as opposed to being cold calling & running around to get AUM at the junior level sweatshop.

4. Big 4 accounting

There definitely is a certain bias that IB/PE/HF is the end-all, be-all of a successful career; I for one used to think that as well. Logically, if you are surrounded by peers and superiors who are bankers, it will be hard to see any other successful career (other than the well known law/medicine fields). What I've realized is, is that there is a good amount of jobs outside of banking that offer plenty of reward in addition to a positive work/life balance.

For example at my aircraft financing firm, everyone here on the deal team gets paid bonuses of at least 50-100% of base, while the deal originators/structurers get bonuses in the multiples of base, much like the pay seen in banking. Plus the hours are very close to 9-5, with a good amount of international travel to meet with airline companies and their executive teams.

I would encourage others to look beyond the IB/Corp Dev/Big 4 net that this site has cast over most of your eyes; the world is a big place.

I've always been interested in Commercial Real Estate... How big is the industry, and how hard is it to get a job in commercial real estate?

Unless you go to a top school or are very good at DCF straight out of undergraduate, prepare for 2 - 3 years of mind-numbing work. There is a LARGE void in the CRE Finance arena, companies are always looking for finance people more than anything else. However most CRE firms (unless you are well connected) require 2 - 3 yrs of CRE experience - and working for a broker usually doesnt count. You have to pay your dues, but once you do, the money comes. Maybe not as much as IBD, but I have seen salaries up at about the 300k level for some jobs.

Also the beauty of real estate is anyone can do it. I mean I talk to people all the time who dont even have college degrees, but they own strip malls and other properties, pulling somewhat decent Cashflow from there properties (and this is in the middle of nowhere).

The world's best programmer (now that Steve Jobs has passed) also happens to be the world's richest person.

One of the best out there at Ruby. I sat down with him at his computer and he showed me some sick stuff he designed.

Tech is definitely the way to go. I agree that those in the financial jobs will likely regret staying so long after a while. The banking industry keeps taking hits and with so many other ways to save money, it is only a matter of time.

How low is the pay? Is it still 70K starting?

I don't know about Medicine, but prospects for Big Law is the same as it ever was. My ex-gf is a 2L at UPenn (Top 7), and according to her, V10 firms are within arms reach, provided you do some leg work.

I have some friends at comparable law schools, and while you certainly can get a V10 offer, it depends largely on GPA. Unfortunately, getting a decent GPA at a top lawschool is apparently something of a crapshoot.

There have also been layoffs in BigLaw, and it's a much bigger deal to lose your job as a legal associate than as a banker. Finally, the whole billable hour model is being called into question as legal services become commodities at the lower level. Cravath and Wachtell will always be fine. But there are way more students at t14 schools than there are slots at top firms.

To get back to the main topic, I also think banking will continue to exist, and be attractive, just because it is such an effective training ground. Hedge funds and PE firms will remain profitable barring any horrific government interference. If anything, alternative investments will become more vital to the economy if markets continue to stagnate.

Those firms demand the best trained monkeys, and IB supplies them. Until KKR starts regularly recruiting undergrads, people will go into IB with the hope of making it to the buyside. Which is really what they are already doing: almost all analysts leave after 2 years.

All this talk of GINIs got me thinking...

Finance will come back eventually. I'd rather stick it out during shitty times than miss the next boom.

Agreed...