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Salary: Engineering v.s. Investment Banking v.s. IT in Bank

S

SONYFX

Senior member

I need a reality check here, say if you are a fresh grad, how much will you be making if you are doing:

1. Engineering is big high-tech company (60-65K+stock+bonus?)

2. Developer in Top-tier Investment Banking firm(60-70k+Huge bonus?)

3. Developer in Top Bank (55-65K+ soso bonus?)

At the end of the day who makes the most money 5 years from now? I heard IB gives crazy bonus.

 
1) theres more to life than money my friend
2) theres more to life than money my friend
3) im sure everyone can agree that the business field has higher potential for wayyy more money than engineering, even if they start off similarly. in 5 years, banking.
4) theres more to life than money my friend

as far as engineering goes, it depends greatly on the specific field and work. 60-65 if a safe, if not conservative, estimate for petroleum engineers. civil obviously makes much less. and then there is a multitude of disciplines in-between.

there is a huge difference in the work and culture of these fields.. pick the one you enjoy.. you dont want to work hard at a job you dont enjoy for money to buy things you dont need to impress people you dont like
 
Originally posted by: LS20
1) theres more to life than money my friend
2) theres more to life than money my friend
3) im sure everyone can agree that the business field has higher potential for wayyy more money than engineering, even if they start off similarly. in 5 years, banking.
4) theres more to life than money my friend

as far as engineering goes, it depends greatly on the specific field and work. 60-65 if a safe, if not conservative, estimate for petroleum engineers. civil obviously makes much less. and then there is a multitude of disciplines in-between.

there is a huge difference in the work and culture of these fields.. pick the one you enjoy.. you dont want to work hard at a job you dont enjoy for money to buy things you dont need to impress people you dont like
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Exactly.
I make nearly as much as any of his numbers listed and I havent worked a mouseclick ovef 45 hours for a week in I dont know how long. I also have 3 day weekends. Life is good.

My free time is worth WAY more to me then the extra money. And one thing I've found, invariably, the more money you make the more beholden you are to the company paying you. And no one, I mean NO ONE, dies and thinks "Gee, I wish I had spent more time in the office..."

You have to do what you think is best. For me, spending alot of time in the office is not it.
 
Originally posted by: SONYFX
At the end of the day who makes the most money 5 years from now? I heard IB gives crazy bonus.
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For salary growth between engineering and bank developer, the bank should at least match salary by the 2nd raise. The difference in bonus would be on top of this. Your initial numbers sound about right, except your perception of bonuses sounds a little off. I'm under the impression that tech doesn't see as much of the bonuses that go to the actual bankers in IB.
Bonuses: engineering < bank < hedge fund
 
I've got friends that are VPs at large investment banks in IT and they make $150K+ or so. I have a few 2nd year associates friends in Ibanking in the energy sector which did really well this year who are getting $300K+. My bro-in-law is an engineer with a masters and has been working for 10+ years and he makes under $100K.

I never see my ibanking friends because they are always working, always on call, and are always stressed out. My IT friends have an ok mix but they are always on call in case something dramatic happens. My bro-in-law works like a dog and hates his pay and is looking to move on.
 
Originally posted by: KillerCharlie
Originally posted by: spidey07
Originally posted by: da loser
don't go into engineering for money, you'll just be disappointed.
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word.

engineers are like the janitors
Click to expand...

Uhh... could you please finish the simile? I'm just not seeing it...
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It wasn't meant to be funny...its the reality of it

1. Engineering is big high-tech company (60-65K+stock+bonus?)

2. Developer in Top-tier Investment Banking firm(60-70k+Huge bonus?)

3. Developer in Top Bank (55-65K+ soso bonus?)

Those are some really optimistic numbers for a new grad
 
Originally posted by: Ready
Originally posted by: KillerCharlie
Originally posted by: spidey07
Originally posted by: da loser
don't go into engineering for money, you'll just be disappointed.
Click to expand...

word.

engineers are like the janitors
Click to expand...

Uhh... could you please finish the simile? I'm just not seeing it...
Click to expand...


It wasn't meant to be funny...its the reality of it

1. Engineering is big high-tech company (60-65K+stock+bonus?)

2. Developer in Top-tier Investment Banking firm(60-70k+Huge bonus?)

3. Developer in Top Bank (55-65K+ soso bonus?)

Those are some really optimistic numbers for a new grad
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I don't think they are, for engineering at least. Of course it depends on what type of engineering and the location. Based on my internship pay last summer, I would hope to get at least $60K starting.
 
I don't work in investment banking, but I do work for a fortune 100 company, and I can assure you those salary numbers are very optimistic. Perhaps if you work on the far east or west coast, but not anywhere else in the country. Developers are generally brought in around $40K or so fresh out of school, $50K or so if they have significant experience, usually with no bonus. Engineering encompasses a wide variety, so the salary range is fairly big, but right now we have more than enough engineers available at $50 to $55K, somewhat more if they have significant experience.

Bottom line, don't expect a bunch of $$'s to fall from the sky, but if you can demonstrate your value you will be paid accordingly. No matter what you do though, my experience has been that the business path has much bigger pay potential, and a better change to move through management. Many (if not most) engineers and those working with exact sciences are good at what they do, but they are not good managers of others. That limits them to a particular role and doesn't allow them to move up the ladder as easily.
 
my lecturer used to tell me that engineers don't like money, then later on we had to learned about engineering economics =)

awesome,
we get the worst of 2 worlds
 
60-65k sounds about right for a new engineer at an aerospace firm in Los Angeles. I'm sure it's less at other types of companies and other locations.
 
Originally posted by: PokerGuy
I don't work in investment banking, but I do work for a fortune 100 company, and I can assure you those salary numbers are very optimistic. Perhaps if you work on the far east or west coast, but not anywhere else in the country. Developers are generally brought in around $40K or so fresh out of school, $50K or so if they have significant experience, usually with no bonus. Engineering encompasses a wide variety, so the salary range is fairly big, but right now we have more than enough engineers available at $50 to $55K, somewhat more if they have significant experience.

Bottom line, don't expect a bunch of $$'s to fall from the sky, but if you can demonstrate your value you will be paid accordingly. No matter what you do though, my experience has been that the business path has much bigger pay potential, and a better change to move through management. Many (if not most) engineers and those working with exact sciences are good at what they do, but they are not good managers of others. That limits them to a particular role and doesn't allow them to move up the ladder as easily.
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I think thats the biggest problem with college grads these days. They assume, hell EXPECT, that since they have that shiny peiceof paper they somehow deserve $90k + benefits + bonuses starting off.

Thats just not how the world works (Some the great majority anyways).
 
Originally posted by: SONYFX

I need a reality check here, say if you are a fresh grad, how much will you be making if you are doing:

1. Engineering is big high-tech company (60-65K+stock+bonus?)

2. Developer in Top-tier Investment Banking firm(60-70k+Huge bonus?)

3. Developer in Top Bank (55-65K+ soso bonus?)

At the end of the day who makes the most money 5 years from now? I heard IB gives crazy bonus.
Click to expand...

I just got a job for a major investment bank, my salary is 63K + 10K signing + some bonues (not much at all). I'd doing mostly IT. If you 're on the IT side, your bonus won't be big.

For IB business analyst, their bonuses are 80-100% of their salary
 
State Department: Last salary 150k, 30 years service - combined military, now retired, annunity 65k, stress - only from working with IT people who didn't know that HD was an industry term for 20 years. Traveled the world, free rent and utes, got to know people you see on TV every day. John Negroponte is really a good guy that works hard trying to do good for the nation. Retirement is not as good in the new plan, but the travel is still great. I did work for IBM and they promised everything and screwed their retirees, glad I left them for the government job in 1981.

Flash, dash, and money isn't everything. Couple of times with State I thought just living until the retirement date was a pretty good goal for the day and did! Lots of fustrations with the bureaucracy and the bureaucrats.

Don't automatically exclude government from your plans. You just may live long enough to retire!

Oh, and I retired to Alabama - a state with one of the lowest cost of livings in the nation. I live within fifty miles of a place called Unclaimed Baggage. They are the people who buy all of your toys that you lose while traveling from the airlines. I get them for dimes on the dollar. Last trip: 1 Spiderco knife - $15.00, 1 Archos Gmini XS 200 for $75.00. That and the weather is great with mountain scenery. My house overlooks the city and the valley where the river runs through it.

You make more money, the IRS just takes it and the cost of living where you have to live absorbs it. State pays your expenses while you are assigned abroad. For years, my only utilities were telephone and cable TV.
 
Originally posted by: Skiguy411
yay....more great things I learn about my field of engineering!



🙁
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Don't sweat it buddy. Engineers can go into any field they want. Oftentimes, engineers get hired by financial firms over econ/business/accounting majors because they know that engineers are good with math and are used to hard work. Out of my engineering buddies, I have a couple friends that work at Barclays, couple that work at Goldman Sachs and another dude that works for Citi.

Hell, even if you decide to go engineering, you can still make crazy money if you just work towards a management position. Me, I chose the latter. I'm a computer engineer in a tech consulting firm. I make damn good money for an engineer out of college, I love my job and I'm working towards getting promoted to a management position and higher.

As so many people so aptly put it, look at the job instead of the money. If you like your job, you'll work harder and be more successful without even realizing it. If you hate your job, you'll agonize over spending every single moment at work.
 
Originally posted by: spidey07
Originally posted by: da loser
don't go into engineering for money, you'll just be disappointed.
Click to expand...

word.

engineers are like the janitors
Click to expand...

what are you guys talking about? my brthoers started at 45 and 55k per year, and my dad makes 130k
 
Originally posted by: Doggiedog
I've got friends that are VPs at large investment banks in IT and they make $150K+ or so.
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How many years of experience is this, 5+?

Originally posted by: Ready
Those are some really optimistic numbers for a new grad
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I think 1 is pretty close. 3 is also a good estimate. It's optimistic to expect to get any of these jobs - they require a good school (partly name recognition) and good performance there. I can see how numbers for "3, but lower-end bank" would be lower.

As a further clarification for my posts, IT != tech at banks. I'm talking about "tech," the development of new proprietary software and/or direct informed support of traders and bankers. My impression is that IT is system maintanence and less targeted support.
 
Originally posted by: Fenixgoon
Originally posted by: spidey07
Originally posted by: da loser
don't go into engineering for money, you'll just be disappointed.
Click to expand...

word.

engineers are like the janitors
Click to expand...

what are you guys talking about? my brthoers started at 45 and 55k per year, and my dad makes 130k
Click to expand...

engineers are like the grunts. underpaid, overworked grunts.

Just trying to bring some reality into the discussion.
 
IB = huge bonuses if your good.

IB is a is a tough area. They can hire the best and pay the best and if your sloppy you get dropped like a brick.

People in London get about 10% of what they earnt their company. 1'000 people are getting bonuses of £1million ~ $1.7mill! Not many people can earn their company £10million ($17mill) in a year. Quite a lot of people are going to get bonuses that equal their salary but they put in 10-12hrs day as they are at the start of the market and at the end (traders).

You pick your lifestyle.

Money is good but I value my time and I love training and I'm going to make the most of my 20's to mid 30's training 3-4x a week 🙂

Do what you love. If you love making £££ go for it. If not do a less time consuming/ hectic/ stressful job.

Koing
 
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