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
29% of investment bankers rated their compensation 5 stars
27% of investment bankers rated their compensation 4 stars
20% of investment bankers rated their compensation 3 stars
15% of investment bankers rated their compensation 2 stars
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:
2.4 out of 5 stars
657 investment bankers
8% of investment bankers rated how meaningful they found their career 5 stars
13% of investment bankers rated how meaningful they found their career 4 stars
20% of investment bankers rated how meaningful they found their career 3 stars
26% of investment bankers rated how meaningful they found their career 2 stars
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
23% of investment bankers rated their career fit 5 stars
28% of investment bankers rated their career fit 4 stars
28% of investment bankers rated their career fit 3 stars
13% of investment bankers rated their career fit 2 stars
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
15% of investment bankers rated their work environment 5 stars
27% of investment bankers rated their work environment 4 stars
26% of investment bankers rated their work environment 3 stars
17% of investment bankers rated their work environment 2 stars
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
12% of investment bankers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 5 stars
24% of investment bankers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 4 stars
25% of investment bankers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 3 stars
23% of investment bankers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 2 stars
17% of investment bankers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 1 stars