NYC career advice (engineering vs. banking)

Reasonable-Sense-377 · 2021-02-17T19:18:20+00:00

Investment banking is not real work. So engineering

TheBunk_TB · 2021-02-17T18:54:38+00:00

engineering.

Use extra hours to make extra $, exercise, and additional skills

WIA20XX · 2021-02-17T20:21:30+00:00

Banking, no question.

Hollywood runs Los Angeles.
Oil runs Houston.
Tech runs San Francisco.
Lawyers run DC.

Banking runs NYC, and arguably the world.

If you can get in with one of the best banks, you have a lot more options.

You'll get a bonus on Wall Street. You have the possibility of making FU money on Wall Street. You'll make monied connections on Wall Street.

Most guys hate it, and most leave - but they leave with a big chunk of money if they play their cards right.

Engineering, especially non software stuff, is the same set of 50 year olds yakking about the good old days. The only way you will move up or make more money is if someone dies. And there just aren't nearly as many lateral moves in NYC in most of the other industries.

And you'll never make "Manhattan money". A lot of medical doctors pulling down 350k after 5 years don't really make Manhattan money.

On top of that, business math is dumb easy. That said, you gotta be careful to not get tracked into egghead positions. Quants and the like get used.

Check out Wall Street Playboys.

moto101 · 2021-02-17T19:28:12+00:00

Engineering. Don't let your life become work, let work provide you the resources to build your life.

NeuroBoss31 · 2021-02-18T08:33:46+00:00

You'll never make dream-like money if you just think about money. Most high earning people earn as much as they do and are in the top 1% because they love what they do.

Money is not the goal, it is the consequence.

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vanillanibba · 2021-02-17T18:29:54+00:00

[deleted]

FieldLine · 2021-02-18T05:55:37+00:00

I’m an engineer and I would blow my brains out if I had to do the sort of work my IB friends do, for 80 hours a week.

That said, the majority of finance bros (read: first job out of school is IB) thrash 99% of tech bros in salary for the long term. So it depends what you are optimizing for; I know what I’d choose.

I'm asking about the clout.

Engineering pays enough in this regard if you are responsible: you won’t be dropping $1,000 for bottle service on a regular basis, but you can certainly live well and enjoy a quality of life most IBs don’t have.

TeddyMGTOW · 2021-02-18T13:13:39+00:00

You may have a degree soon but you don't know jack shit about engineering work. 65K is a decent offer. The company will probably spend 4 years to bring you up to snuff and be an Engineer. You will probably work on some pretty interesting projects in NYC. Those skills can probably be transferred to anywhere in the country, maybe the world. On the other hand IB sounds like a fast money scam. Is there a market for it outside the financial hub of NYC?

As far as getting by with 65K in NYC, look at the craigslist roommate ads. Or rent a place in Bridgeport CT and take the train in.

budur-chudur · 2021-02-20T02:22:48+00:00

This question doesn't make any sense. Do you have a double major? Like Finance/Econ/BBA + Engineering?

Those two are completely different majors and involve completely different skill-sets. Almost all Financial analyst posts require finance related degrees. How do you even choose between the two?

Also what kind of engineering job pays 65K in NYC though? That's too low. What's your major? Do you have a bachelor's degree?

Sounds like you are a victim of lowballing (assuming you have a BS in some engineering major). All of my friends are doing engineering job and getting at least 100K (starting).

Now I have a friend doing investment banking, making about $120K/yr as a first year analyst in NYC but for 80+ hours of work per week.

Sounds like a BS to me. Fresh econ/finance/bba grads getting 120K? That's impossible.

top 10% of this type of engineering average $140k/yr

What "type of engineering" you are talking about?

I'd imagine the top 10% of IB are making somewhere in the millions.

You need to become a "Managing director" to get around that level. Also not all MDs get that level of pay, very rare. Utter nonsense.

IB is more prestigious than engineering

lol wut?

W_O_M_B_A_T · 2021-02-18T06:25:13+00:00

NYC in particular does not need more talentless finance asswipes.

Do something that actually contributes to the betterment of other peoples lives and businesses, which is actually fucking technically difficult.

Title	NYC career advice (engineering vs. banking)
Author	vanillanibba
Upvotes	2
Comments	21
Date	February 17, 2021 6:26 PM UTC (5 years ago)
Subreddit	Posted in /r/askTRP
Original Link	https://old.reddit.com/r/asktrp/comments/lm13qu/nyc_career_advice_engineering_vs_banking/
Archive Link	https://theredarchive.com/r/askTRP/nyc-career-advice-engineering-vs-banking.743785 https://theredarchive.com/post/743785

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