Three good things about working in investment banking

The money, and more...

What can we say? It's a lot - more than you'll be able to earn in most other fields. There's the perks too - private insurance plans, pensions, on-site gyms, travel season ticket loans and (sometimes, we hear) freshly-baked cookies from your institution's own kitchens. Nice.

Your colleagues

Like you, they'll have come through an exacting selection and training process and we guarantee that the vast majority will be bright and interesting high achievers who care desperately about what they do every day at work. And in the City banking attracts an international crowd, so you'll get to know people from all around the world.

It's fun!

There's plenty to enjoy in this game! You'll be working in an industry where the rapid pace of innovation keeps things fascinating and you'll get to read about what you're working on in the news. Some roles will give you the chance to travel abroad extensively, and we hear that the social side of things isn't so bad either...

Three bad things about working in investment banking

The demands

It could be late nights, early mornings, wolfing down lunch at your desk every day, having a phone that never stops ringing, or weeks on end of shuttling between airports, hotels and conference rooms. The point is that a job in banking is not one that you can take on halfheartedly. It requires serious commitment - and some sacrifices.

Job security

The extensive post-financial crisis job cuts at many leading investment banks were an extreme, not an exceptional, phenomenon. The fact is that in banking things change quickly and if, for whatever reason, your team isn't bringing in the bacon, you may find yourself out of a job. But after working in high finance you'll always have options somewhere in the industry, or outside it, and a financial cushion while you decide what to do.

Banker-bashing

Bankers have not exactly been the most popular group of people over the last few years. If you decide to go into this field, be prepared for some criticism and be willing to defend the industry in which you've chosen to work.