Investment bankers are one of the least happy careers in the United States.
At CareerExplorer, we conduct an ongoing survey with millions of people and ask them how satisfied they are with their careers. As it turns out, investment bankers rate their career happiness 2.7 out of 5 stars which puts them in the bottom 9% of careers.
To put this into perspective, we compared how happy investment bankers are to similar careers in the industry. Take a look at the results below:
Salaries and satisfaction ratings in similar careers
Career
Satisfaction
Avg Salary
Financial analyst
2.7
$92k
Compliance manager
2.7
$125k
Financial advisor
2.7
$94k
Cost estimator
2.7
$65k
Revenue agent
2.7
$57k
Investment banker
2.7
$73k
Tax preparer
2.7
$46k
Credit counselor
2.6
$48k
Credit analyst
2.6
$77k
Customs broker
2.6
$75k
So what does it mean to be happy in your career? Let’s break it down into different dimensions:
Salary: Are investment bankers happy with their salary?
Meaning: Do investment bankers find their jobs meaningful?
Personality fit: How well suited are people’s personalities to their everyday tasks as investment bankers?
Work environment: How enjoyable are investment banker’s work environments?
Skills utilization: Are investment bankers making the best use of their abilities?
Are investment bankers happy with their salary?
Investment bankers rated their satisfaction with their salaries 3.5/5. The majority of investment bankers are quite happy with their salaries, with very few having complaints about their income level.
We asked investment bankers how fairly compensated they are for their work. Their response was:
3.5 out of 5 stars
652 investment bankers
5 Star
29%
29% of investment bankers rated their compensation 5 stars
4 Star
27%
27% of investment bankers rated their compensation 4 stars
3 Star
20%
20% of investment bankers rated their compensation 3 stars
2 Star
15%
15% of investment bankers rated their compensation 2 stars
1 Star
10%
10% of investment bankers rated their compensation 1 stars
Do investment bankers find their jobs meaningful?
On average, investment bankers rate the meaningfulness of their work a 2.4/5. The majority of investment bankers struggle to find any sort of meaning in their work, likely resulting in less satisfaction with the career overall.
We asked investment bankers how meaningful they found their work. Their response was:
8% of investment bankers rated how meaningful they found their career 5 stars
4 Star
13%
13% of investment bankers rated how meaningful they found their career 4 stars
3 Star
20%
20% of investment bankers rated how meaningful they found their career 3 stars
2 Star
26%
26% of investment bankers rated how meaningful they found their career 2 stars
1 Star
33%
33% of investment bankers rated how meaningful they found their career 1 stars
How well are people’s personalities suited to everyday tasks as investment bankers?
Investment bankers rated their personality fit with their work an average of 3.4/5. The majority of investment bankers don’t see personality fit as a hinderence in their career.
We asked investment bankers how well their personalities fit into their careers. Their response was:
3.4 out of 5 stars
723 investment bankers
5 Star
23%
23% of investment bankers rated their career fit 5 stars
4 Star
28%
28% of investment bankers rated their career fit 4 stars
28% of investment bankers rated their career fit 3 stars
2 Star
13%
13% of investment bankers rated their career fit 2 stars
1 Star
9%
9% of investment bankers rated their career fit 1 stars
How enjoyable is an investment banker’s work environment?
As a whole, investment bankers rated their enjoyment of their work environment 3.1/5. Most of them tend to enjoy, or at least not be actively bothered by, their work environment.
We asked investment bankers how much they enjoyed their work environment. Their response was:
3.1 out of 5 stars
716 investment bankers
5 Star
15%
15% of investment bankers rated their work environment 5 stars
4 Star
27%
27% of investment bankers rated their work environment 4 stars
3 Star
26%
26% of investment bankers rated their work environment 3 stars
2 Star
17%
17% of investment bankers rated their work environment 2 stars
1 Star
15%
15% of investment bankers rated their work environment 1 stars
Are investment bankers making the best use of their abilities?
Former investment bankers on CareerExplorer have rated their skills utilization 2.9/5. Investment bankers tend to feel that they don’t manage to use their abilities to their fullest, when compared to other careers.
We asked investment bankers how well their abilities were used in their careers. Their response was:
2.9 out of 5 stars
718 investment bankers
5 Star
12%
12% of investment bankers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 5 stars
4 Star
24%
24% of investment bankers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 4 stars
3 Star
25%
25% of investment bankers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 3 stars
2 Star
23%
23% of investment bankers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 2 stars
1 Star
17%
17% of investment bankers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 1 stars
I was recently asked if most investment bankers are actually happy. A pretty good question because for many it's a dream job. From my experience - and I spent 8 years in the industry, many of my friends are investment bankers - most are indeed deeply unhappy. Saying that, many will be happy once they're out.
No, investment bankers are not happy for the most part. In fact, investment bankers rate their career happiness 2.7 out of 5 stars, which puts them in the bottom 9% of careers, according to a 2021 U.S. News study.
Banks don't break out investment banker headcount specifically, but data released last week by research firm Coalition, suggests investment banker headcount across the industry fell only 4% year-on-year in the first half, which is when many of the cuts at Goldman and Morgan Stanley took place.
It is no surprise that the average day in an investment banker's life is long and stressful. Those who manage to survive the adjustment period often go on to have long and financially rewarding careers.
Sure, anybody can make a good living being a doctor or a lawyer or an investment banker where you can make ~$200-500K per year a few years after you finish with your studies, but you hit a ceiling very quickly unless you start your own practice (aka start your own business).
Investment bankers make money through the fees charged to their clients. As discussed above, this includes underwriting fees for arranging the sale of securities and advisory fees for providing strategic guidance.
Is It Even Possible to Date an Investment Banker? The good news is that, while most definitely more difficult, it's still quite possible to both date a banker and date as a banker. Plenty of people do it and plenty of people have found their lifelong partners while working as bankers. There will be rough patches.
Investment Banking Managing Director Salary + Bonus: Base salaries are in the mid-six-figure range, with total compensation in the high six figures to low seven figures. An MD doing decently should earn between $1 and $3 million per year, and sometimes a low multiple of that (as of 2022).
Investment bankers tend to be predominantly enterprising individuals, which means that they are usually quite natural leaders who thrive at influencing and persuading others. They also tend to be conventional, meaning that they are usually detail-oriented and organized, and like working in a structured environment.
Despite the many successful introverted professionals in investment banking, there are still misconceptions about their abilities to network. Many assume that introverts are not as outgoing or personable as extroverts and may overlook them for promotions or leadership positions.
The position requires bankers to be competent communicators with the ability to manage their schedules effectively. In a typical workday, an investment banker may dedicate the morning to financial research, the afternoon to meetings with clients and colleagues and the evening to the creation of pitch books.
Investment bankers usually earn more annually than consultants. However, while investment bankers typically earn more than consultants, it is worth remembering that bankers have much longer work hours per week (100 hours per week vs 80 hours per week).
The lucrative and fast-paced career of an investment banker is a highly competitive one. For instance, in a recent year, 236,000 applicants competed for roughly 3,500 internships at Goldman Sachs. This is common across the industry where acceptance rates for programs are typically less than 2%.
Even with education, experience, and enthusiasm, investment banking might not be for you. Investment bankers work long hours and often earn a high income. Lack of work-life balance is one reason to avoid becoming an investment banker. Investment bankers must also be able to manage high-pressure situations.
It is fairly common for front-office investment bankers to be earning over US$1m after 8 years in the industry. But it caps out at around US$20m, which is how much a top-performing investment banking CEO gets.
The lucrative and fast-paced career of an investment banker is a highly competitive one. For instance, in a recent year, 236,000 applicants competed for roughly 3,500 internships at Goldman Sachs. This is common across the industry where acceptance rates for programs are typically less than 2%.
Introduction: My name is Geoffrey Lueilwitz, I am a zealous, encouraging, sparkling, enchanting, graceful, faithful, nice person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.
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