The way they’ve been able to attract these is the quasi-development/social aspect of the work, since it is focused on the developing world. It attracts the crowd that does not just want to do banking for banking’s sake. However, the technical work itself is the same. Another aspect is that the hours, although not very balanced at times, are also not the kind seen in the big IB firms.
The lower pay is to be expected, however, the feeling is that we are underpaid by quite the large margin. The recruits from IB (JPM, GS) usually come in at the analyst/assoc level, as the firm is still fairly young.
If you use a standard 40 hrs a week, 52 weeks a year… my hourly pay is $26. But since I spend substantially more time than that devoted to work when you count travel time and all of the overtime. The last few months, I have been averaging about 55 hours a week. 45 actual work, and about 10 hrs in overtime travel.
Are we including benefits? 401k match? Stress levels? I think we need to construct an econometrics formula for this question of pay. Your pay seems low given the area. If you were in Dallas or Houston, it would be much different than NYC because of the cost of living and taxes there.
The benefits suck, and there’s no 401k match, so it’s not worth mentioning. The stress level is pretty high, but the atmosphere congenial. As I mentioned, simply going for the highest paying job would mean doing a job I wouldnt enjoy (banking for banking’s sake). I’m willing to take a cut for the other perks I have (interesting work, travel, a greater purpose), but the gap in salary seems much too wide considering the amount of work/expectations and technical banking skills necessary for the job.
I’m trying to figure out how bad I have it to see how far I should push when talks come around. As I mentioned, it’s an attractive line of work, and usually the main topic of conversation when i meet new people. Everyone thinks I have the coolest job in the world (which it does feel like, most of the time. the pay just sucks) Because of these intangible perks, and because there aren’t many shops that have that sort of investment focus, there aren’t many competitors, employer-wise, which is why my employer has been able to keep pay low for qualified people (the hours also aren’t insane). But there’s only so long you’re willing to keep feeling (grossly) underpaid knowing your skillset is much more valued in the market. I wanted to find out just how wide that gap is.
Holy sh*t just make up your own mind and be done with it. reading your posts is like sitting through an episode of ‘my so-called life’. no one cares about your angst. you work. your wage is set by a market. figure out what you think you’re worth, negotiate a salary and quit whining about it.
How is clarifying and answering people’s questions whining? I posted to get some context and feedback on salary based on the specifics of the work, since you can’t really google “financial analyst” and get a good gague for a nuanced position.
So chill, bro, no one’s begging you for your opinion. Thanks to anyone with any constructive input.
Ultimately, the market wage will be segregated based on industry. If your company is materially different from companies that do “banking for banking’s sake”, I doubt that your boss will be swayed by how much people in those other companies are paid, regardless of what you perceive your “skill set” to be.
If you ask me, the best way is to try to determine the pay range for new associates at your company or similar companies. Then, when you talk to your boss, say that you’ve done a good job in the past, say you believe the compensation range is from $X to $Y, and then ask for some number close to $Y.
I’m not sure if it’s useful to argue that people in investment banking are paid twice as much, and therefore, you should be paid more money to be closer to that. It’s a different field.
Thanks very much ohai. I was thinking along the same lines. Unfortunately, it seems going for substantially higher pay would mean switching investment industry.
Thanks for the suggestion on giving them a range I believe justified. There’s not much salary information for my company or our competitors, however, aside from just asking my co-workers and counterparts in other shops directly (no in-house HR, unfortunately). Hence why I had to reach out to a broader finance community for thoughts.
i agree with Turd…complete whining…and you don’t even look like Kim Kardashian so why am I listening?
Kim says the same thing…“my life is so glamourous but its so stressful, people just don’t understand”
your question is stupid and you think too highly of yourself (i have this or that, everybody on here has some letters or skills to boost about) which is why you feel you’re underpaid…
you’re paid as you weigh for the most part on the lower levels…
I know a lot of really large companies in consulting and things adjust based on location. I’m under the impression they use the statistics from the department of labor to compute the “locality adjustment” to base pay, but that may not be true. Never seen anything with benefits.
From reading your posts, I really think you enjoy your job. Different people have different thresholds for what they want to achieve – if money is one of your main objectives in life, then you know your answer. But if lower work hours and interest working is what you want to achieve, then stop worrying about the pay if you can live with it.
There is a strong selection bias in asking a pay related value question to a finance forum. No one can know what you desire except you. Behavioral economics research shows that in some cases, people are happy accepting less money when they enjoy their job. I’d spend time asking myself if thats true for me.
Last year $62k (excluding superannuation and bonus) and new job starting this month will be $75k before tax. So that’s probably $30-35 an hour. (Australian Dollar) I only have a bachelors degree at the moment. I stayed late at work and worked from home sometimes but that was not completely necessary. Sydney living expenses are much higher than New York in the world ranking.
When I was contracting instead of permanent work I did get $320 a day ($40 an hour) but contractors don’t have any paid leave. The Australian standard (compulsory) paid annual leave is 20 working days (4 weeks) a year and you can roll it to future years. Paid sick leave per year is 5-10 days but you can’t roll it.
Business / Data analyst in insurance / mortgage industry. Like I said the living cost is also very, very high here ;’( and the income tax is very high too. (London should be pretty high too?)
But I’m doing ok as an international student / graduate and someone who doesn’t even have Australian permanent residency.
(off topic: Australians adore British people and there are tons and tons of British executives and senior managers here. Even British backpackers get treated very nicely.)