Why go into banking when top tech pays just as well?

My son is looking to do Biochemistry - could banking be a possibility? He can speak 4 languages it will help. (He loves the sciences but is not a white coat type of guy!) Achieved at AS: Marine Science A, Biology A, French A, Chemistry A. At A2 Spanish A*


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based on who's analysis

Looks like someone read the wall street playboys post..

this is actually quite interesting stuff.. props to this guy.

Couple of more interviews and analysis nested in with this in the post I made earlier that I can PM if you like.


More related to the thread: IB offers an opportunity to get rich sans easily identifiable skills. That is essentially the deal. Go to a good school, work your ass off, get paid. As long as you're not a total pleb and are willing to work yourself to physical health issues (might be a contradiction in that statement..), it is conservative with regards to risk and you will start and end (whether as an analyst or further down the line) with a gold star on your cv that opens up kinder opportunities.

Given the preferable conditions in other roles of finance (especially quantitative finance) that don't have the brutal hours and of software engineering with more like 50 hours a week (giving room for a life-- or just sleep), and the comparable pay at the beginning, it seems sensible that one would go to university and develop these skills if possible.

Afterwards, there is a pay gap in finance vs tech (though I'd argue prop trading or the like if you've got the chops is still superior in terms of lifestyle - intellectually engaging research environment, very decent pay, sensible hours, great perks, etc - will not include it here in my argument for finance vs tech) we must consider the lifestyle choices. Is the extra money worth it considering the sacrifices to your life/time? I challenge anybody here who says "Yes" to explain what they expect they will do with this extra income that they couldn't with the compensation achieved at a big tech firm.

i think some people don't really want this intellectual challenge that tech seems to look for in candidates. banking is very much common sense job, which mostly just requires time as an input. for me specifically, as someone who had the chance to go into macro derivs research vs ibd (where the former was a lot more intellectually challenging).. whilst the lifestyle was a lot better i chose the latter for the sole reason i don't have the desire to work those kinds of roles.

i think some people don't really want this intellectual challenge that tech seems to look for in candidates. banking is very much common sense job, which mostly just requires time as an input. for me specifically, as someone who had the chance to go into macro derivs research vs ibd (where the former was a lot more intellectually challenging).. whilst the lifestyle was a lot better i chose the latter for the sole reason i don't have the desire to work those kinds of roles.

Yeah, I agree with this. I'm exactly the same too

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I cant quite imagine why, though. Could you explain it? What deters you from the idea of having a job that is intellectually interesting?

I cant quite imagine why, though. Could you explain it? What deters you from the idea of having a job that is intellectually interesting?

They are-
http://news.efinancialcareers.com/uk-en/224614/how-to-avoid-losing-your-banking-job-to-a-robot-by-mckinsey-co/
http://money.cnn.com/2016/04/04/investing/bank-jobs-dying-automation-citigroup/

Of course there will be bankers but there will be fewer of them since machines can do a lot of the markets side of things. IBD is harder to automate but some of the technical stuff could probably be done by a machine.

It's only traders that will have to go. Also traders will still be there, so will people in IBD and quants. Maybe research people and desk strategy people as well, although I read something about an algorithm that does FX research, tech is changing everything nowadays!

Top Tech is really just for the hardcore CompSci coder bois. You need a lot of creativity and talent for it and that sort of skill is hard to find.

Yes, you can move into banking with that degree. All but the most quantitative of roles will be open to him. It's important he gets into one of the best universities in the UK such as Oxbridge, LSE, Warwick, UCL or Imperial which are the most targeted by the banks. Bath, Nottingham, Bristol and similar universities are also acceptable.

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Many thanks!
He sits his other 3 A levels next year. He's predicted A* A* A he already has one A*. He dropped French after completing his AS. However, via Skype he keeps in contact with the people he stays with in the summer. Am I right in thinking that his languages will help. I am more concerned about him losing his French than he is.


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i did the job and it was hard and i don't like doing things that are particularly difficult to me. i'm not someone who's academically engaged.. i like common sense things, which are quite logical and economically meaningful. the study of theoritical economics for example interests me alot more than the study of mathematics, which is a more rigorous subject. but with regards to studying at all, i have no interest.. whereas ibd is business.. and business is just relationships/fancy presentations/client wining and dining/and making things seem better than they are. you can call me a sales person if you will, which is really what it is that we do in banks

as you can tell i'm not a fan of having to study things..i'd rather do things that seamingly make a lot of sense (with very little intellectual thought). i guess it's different for everyone, but m&a for example offers that relaxed intellectual lifestyle at the expense of longer working hours, where you are bound to learn something in the process. and that's a trade-off i'm very much willing to make to maintain a higher standard of living (with arguably a lower quality of life)

in short i think the job is intelectually challenging.. i never claimed it to be intellectully interesting. i could undestand why maths people might like it.. but i detest mathematics with all my life.. and in ibd we pretty much top out at the use of division.

It's not so much that although partly.

My view is that actually what I like about banking that you don't get elsewhere is everything is more nuanced. A lot of it is judgement, particularly at senior levels and how you approach problems and issues. It's more an art than a science. In more intellectual careers in this context, there is only really one way to answer a problem or one correct answer to a question. It's very black and white. Whereas when you're working on deals, there lots of different dynamics at play. They're not necessarily intellectual problems, but they are interesting nonetheless and the solution to those problems goes far beyond typical intellect.

Overall, I think I'd be terrible in an intellectual career as I know there are many smarter people than me. And actually, I'd say I'm good at most things but not particularly excellent at one thing and therefore, more well-rounded and better-suited to a career that requires you to be good at a multitude of things rather than one particular skill-set.

For example, logic and deep mathematics are not my strengths hence I'd be a terrible programmer. But I'm very good at thinking through strategic problems, comfortable working with financial issues, good with people, have a well-structured approach, great attention to detail and I'm good at understanding how this plays into a wider dynamic and politics in complex high-level decision-making. I guess it's just a different type of intellect.

I think what I'm saying is I'd find an "intellectual career" too one-sided.

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