aaudetat wrote:
do you think salaries will be like that, even with all of them taking a bath over the subprime debacle?
Firms recently started reporting bonus numbers and comp this year will be pretty similar to last year in most cases. Most firms were on record pace for the first part of the year, and did well enough overall that most divisions actually had record years. Certainly, some divisions went in the crapper, and people in those divisions will feel lucky if they keep their jobs, but most banking divisions are still highly profitable. Also, there are obviously a few firms where bonus numbers will be cut, but if a bank seriously cuts its bonus it's really a soft way of asking people to leave. Any bank that wants to keep people around must pay market level bonuses. My sense is that compensation will probably be down for the coming year because the economy is weak right now, and even if things turn around mid-year, firm profitability for the year (which is what bonuses are largely based on) will probably be lower.
The thing to remember is that current 1st years graduating in 2009 really need to concern themselves with how the economy is doing in 2010 (because the stump year bonus for the remainder of 2009 will be a fixed amount). I don't think anybody can really predict what things will be like at that point and the economy could be bustling again; but I do know that bankers will probably be paid more than those in other MBA professions (this is generally true during boom or bust).
Rhyme is right, the hours can be crushing and a lot of people simply cannot take it. I will say that after spending literally hundreds of hours in the fall getting to know various firms, I have noticed that there are substantial differences between firms regarding work load, pressure and respect for your time.