Military Officer vs. IB analyst
Super lucky to have been offered the ideal role I was looking for out of undergrad (generalist M&A), but I’ve also been in the application process to be a military officer (dream of mine for as long as I can remember).
IB would require me to relocate and start ASAP so I think I’d effectively be shutting the door on the military.
They are two completely different options and I suppose I’m trying to solve for which would cause me less long term regret.
Has anyone been in a similar position where they had to pick between an IB role and something completely different? I don’t want to be 70 and look back knowing that I gave up on my dreams for what I thought would help my career in the short / medium term. Would be great to hear some perspectives. Thank you!
I used to also want to be a military officer given the cool uniform and the societal clout. But realized not worth it due to how retarded our foreign policy is. Do you really want to be blown to pieces by some Russian / Chinese artillery shell? For what? Ukraine, Taiwan?
It's not really about the uniform / clout at all for me. More of a calling to serve and a way to challenge myself physically and mentally like few things in the corporate world would be able to.
There are more meaningful ways to serve our country and the world at large than joining the US war machine. What would really benefit our nation? Perhaps reducing homelessness, caring for our vets, improving education/healthcare, reducing the national debt, etc. What contributions are you making to this country by being in the military?
What's stopping you from doing IB before you join the military? I have friends who did exactly that, and then went to bschool after their 4 years of active duty. It's not common, but it's not unheard of either.
Seconding what the other guy said.
Our foreign policy, especially under Sleepy Joe and the democrats, is so backwards. I’m not going to give my life up for a corrupt country like Ukraine.
I can’t even point out where Ukraine is on a map.
Not worth it.
If the US ever gets invaded, that’s when I’ll serve.
Maybe the US isn't doing too great at foreign policy because even seemingly successful and well-educated American youths can't manage to figure out where the second largest European country (by land area) is on a map.
Maybe Americans can’t find Ukraine on a map because we spent more money on wars we aren’t involved in than the entire Department of Education’s budget?
So I did this, albeit wasn't an IB analyst. I've got an old thread you can find on here on why I left finance to join the Army. I got out in 2021, got my MBA with the GI Bill, and now in IB. Long story but happy to chat if you want to DM me.
Edit: here is the thread, https://www.wallstreetoasis.com/forum/off-topic/qa-cfa-charterholder-wh…
I'm also going to address the elephant in the room here which is the foreign policy mess we have been in, most obviously with Afghanistan (and how there hasn't even been a discussion on what went wrong - whereas we still talk about what went wrong with Vietnam 50 years later), but I would argue that we hadn't have had a coherent foreign policy really since James Baker under Bush 1. I don't even necessarily disagree with some of the critiques here.
That all being said - I maintain my view that the military can be a great experience for young people. You get leadership and skills that you just won't get in the corporate world early on. Source: I did the corporate world, and there were 20/21 year old CPLs/SGTs who legitimately had more leadership experience that I did coming in at age 29.
And then there's the other thing. If we want to fix foreign policy, I argue that starts with having more people who understand foreign policy and how the military works. Right now, most people's understanding of the military comes from video games, Netflix, and politicized news. Most people who serve, statistically, come from families with a long history of serving, so it stays within a certain population pool. I argue that then leads to having elected officials who don't know what they're doing, because the citizenry at large doesn't understand these things. Let's just call it what it is. Am I wrong here that most people's understanding comes from TV shows and so forth? You don't have to make the military your entire career. You can do your time, get out and get a MBA, or whatever. I would argue though that having a wider population who understands how the military works is beneficial to fixing things, instead of complaining about it on the internet. It is the tradeoff of having an all-volunteer force -- which I support, since I'd want to be in with people who want to be in. It is, nonetheless, a tradeoff.
Just go IB man. You’ll regret not doing it 3 months in otherwise. Especially nowadays.
Only sensible answer here
You are going to slay a lot more in IB then as some low paid military employee
I can serve as a datapoint for you. Went to a decent UG, was interviewing for consulting and had a final round at an MBB (that I ultimately turned down) to go Active Duty after doing ROTC. Now I’m in PF at a large international bank for power infra.
I had a similar mindset to you, wanting to serve my country, but also test myself physically and mentally while gaining leadership experience. Definitely got that experience and don’t regret it.
That being said, I’d be lying if I don’t look at my peers who are VPs/Directors at banks and know that they’re probably in a much stronger place financially right now. That being said, I think it’s a bit of a wash in the end and I’m not that concerned with getting caught up. It’ll happen eventually and I wouldn’t give up my military experience for it, or the friends I made from it.
Seeing a lot of comments about foreign policy. As a junior officer, I never felt any of those decisions. Your commanders 1 and 2 levels above impact your life far more than a GO back in the Pentagon…but this can also vary by branch. Air Force and Navy tend to be more strategic level assets, so any foreign policy decisions could flow down to you more quickly, I suppose. Also, if you’re trying to see combat, I’d temper your expectations. Most of my friends who deployed to Afghanistan in late 2010s basically sat on a FOB most of the time and ran security for SOF. And they were combat arms officers.
Happy to chat offline if you think it would be helpful. Always willing to help those weighing the option, as it’s a big decision.
Its laughable to think that some finance bros legitimately believe they have enough knowledge to accurately assess the state of our "foreign policy". Newsflash, you don't.
OP go for the military if you think it is something you would regret NOT doing down the line. There's plenty of time to be chained to a desk, the same can't be said for OCS or whatever program you're looking at.
I used to be an Army Officer under Trump/Biden as an Infantry PL/XO and while I’m not ready to say the sacrifices I made to wear the uniform were in vain, they’re def not tangible. Had to go back to B school to break-in and IB Associate recruiting is not easy either. Placement felt pretty random and I consider myself lucky I got a spot at a solid NY MM.
What really set it straight for me against Army was knowing it wasn’t the most difficult/efficient use of my time, at least in peace time. I think the Analysts I work now with receive a net-“better” experience in terms of wholistic development than I got as a PL (you’d be doing them at the same age 22-25/26). Then the job is pretty similar role/commitment-wise as a IB Senior/O-3/4/5 and tbh I’d rather be making IB cash than Army pay. All that said I’d quit and go back in the second a war pops off.
Just my 2 cents
I would serve your country man.
I think people take for granted how much freedom and prosperity exists not just in America, but in other countries because of America. Serving in the military is one of the most honorable jobs you can do: you are putting your life on the line to protect the liberty and comfort of folks who either hate you or don't know or care how the world works. Defending global democracy and capitalism is possibly one of the most positively impactful things you can do because everything else is downstream: poverty, hunger, disease, human rights, etc. I believe God directed the formation of American government, but even if you're not religious it's hard to argue that the system is not special and worth defending.
I wish I could fight for this country but I'm a pussy that's gets paid too much for being good at excel. The world doesn't need more bankers, we need more people like you who are willing to serve despite the armchair foreign policy experts in this comment section
Bro if it’s so noble why don’t you do it?
I just said I'm a pussy
nice, eliminating the competition one poster at a time
Bumping for exposure — is it possible for you to commission reserve?
Yes absolutely. Both federal reserves and National Guard. One in my group is an IB Associate and still in the reserves for the Coast Guard. We also have a director in another group who is reserves in the Army. I imagine it's a bit of a juggling act but it has been done. Both got their start active duty and moved over to reserves after their first contract.
I’ve seen a very small contingent of people get away with balancing reserves with finance (only because serving in any capacity is rare itself). If you’re not doing a grunt job (ie combat arms/infantry where you may have longer drills and ATs) going reserve could be a smart move. BBs are pretty understanding of it from what I can tell. I’d find a unit that has cool mostly voluntary deployment cycles and still do one or two of them to get the true military experience. Drill/AT can be a pain on top of banking but you still get to do finance basically every day with some military stuff sprinkled in and I think that can be a good compromise.
Go be an active duty military officer, there's no other job like it. Do it for 4 years and if you want to get out you can get to IB as an associate thru an MBA using GI Bill. That's what I did. You can always sit at a desk doing finance later, there are certain things you can only do when you are young and fit.
Hindsight I definitely wish I commissioned at age 22 out of undergrad instead of age 29 through OCS. Wall Street isn't going away and city life isn't going away either if that's a consideration.
This
Don't waste your time in the military if you don't plan on being a career officer or whatever. That is time that you will never get back. Sure, the "experience" feels valuable after you're done, but trust me in 20 years that will be a vague blip on the storyline that is your life. Marriage, kids, etc. Don't waste your time unless you are all-in on it.
Imma keep it straight to the point Do IB for 1-2 years Apply for OCS Do the military thing for whatever your contract is Decided if you want to come back Military will open doors for you that otherwise would be closed. I personally have experienced that and I was even an officer. Also, I met some of the most amazing men and women in the service. Lastly, having the IB experience will help you when you get out if you get out. I will warn you that under Biden (I only served under him for a year or two) the conditions were significantly worse. Whether it was restricting the amount of food we got or watching a increase of 50% of people getting paperwork or watching half a unit get booted for not taking a shot. Just a few examples, it was significantly worse under Biden.
Hey man, I know my opinion probably doesn’t mean much, but I’m planning on joining the Navy as an officer. Currently in the process and the board is supposed to convene in Early August for the jobs I’m applying to. Probably going to rank Supply Corps Officer (SUPPO) as my #1 choice.
I never received an offer, nor did I try to recruit hard for typical finance jobs, but since I graduated in December I did spend about 2 months applying heavily to BDR/SDR roles since I thought that’s what I’d like. For my junior year internship, I lucked out and got a back office role at a bank in NY. Those types of jobs I was applying to pay 70-80k OTE. I did not receive any offers, although I did get a couple of interviews.
And I did go to a top target school that you can probably guess from my profile.
So, my lack of job and tough recruiting environment has led me to pursue the naval officer route. To me, I don't really understand the guys talking about the political state of our country and foreign affairs, etc. You will probably not see combat depending on your rate and branch, and I highly doubt you will have to deal with any politics like that. You'll be focused on your job, and you'll just be a cog in a huge system of gears.
Moreover, commissioning as an officer is about the mental and physical challenges you have to put yourself through, especially in OCS. I recently went to a foreign country and went on a hike in high altitudes and it was the most challenging thing I’ve ever done physically. I was getting out hiked by a 35 year old Australian woman and it wasn’t even close. I want to challenge myself and prove to myself I can go through that sort of environment, and the Navy is the best place for that. You also develop leadership skills in real, high stakes scenarios. Depending on the role, you’ll have tens of junior sailors depending on you, and it’s your job to be responsible for them. That’s dope in my opinion.
What further solidified the decision for me was I saw a quote from Bezos (heavily paraphrasing) you don’t wanna be old, wealthy, and successful and have regrets. So you want to do the things now that you won’t regret not doing later on. Sure you can become an officer later in life, but circumstances change and personally I’d rather do it now. The pay is decent, like 45k as an O1, but you don’t pay rent and food costs are subsidized by if you’re staying on base. Plus you get the veteran status, build camaraderie with brothers, and the GI bill. The camaraderie is especially important to me because I didn’t develop a solid friend group in college. So compared to the gay sales roles I was applying for, I'd probably be saving the same amount of money. Obviously if you're doing IB you can make more, but still $120k - taxes (50k) - NYC rent (25k) - other NYC bull shit.
And a HUGE drawing point for me is that I LOVE to travel. In the Navy, you can travel a shit ton. You're deployed on a ship for multiple months at a time, at sea for a few weeks at a time, and you stop in ports around the world for a couple days. If you get liberty, you can travel with a military homie or two and just enjoy the sights. Travel is paid for by the guys in this thread and their juicy salaries. All the guys I've talked to have said they've visited 20+ countries and seen so much cool shit. This is probably a top 3 thing for me when I was considering to join. Only applies to the Navy though.
I'd be happy to talk more, my roommate actually put me onto this path of being the military, but he’s doing it because he’s an international and he wants to be patriotic.
But to sum it up, for me personally, I don’t want to do a gay ass BDR role making 70k grinding my ass off, when I can go to the military, lead people, work in high stakes scenarios, and come out a better man both mentally and physically. 4 years is not that long when you think about it. It’s all about what you want to do man. Also, being able to call yourself a veteran (no matter the role, even if it's super gay), is pretty cool. In 30 years you can tell your kids you served in the military. And, for when/if you do your 4 years and out, you'll be 26-28 and dating, and girls will love the vet tag. (Not a reason to join the military, just an additional perk)
My dad is a dentist and he sees some pretty successful people. Middle-aged guy he had me speak with (100 AUM personally) said he made all of his kids go to the army to understand everyday people/the country. Still do IB.
Write down "Heads = Officer" and "Tails = IB" on a piece of paper. Then flip a coin. If you are relieved when it lands on one or the other, then go with that one. Listen to your gut either way.
Do IB for your two years first then pursue military. Do both.
I think the choice of going into the military is completely rooted in your beliefs about where this country has been and where it is headed. Therefore my perspective is completely subjective, but I'll give it anyway:
When is the last time the military actually fought for American freedoms? Guarding the poppy fields of Afghanistan? The oil fields of Iraq? Do you want to run the risk of being sent to Ukraine, where there is no long-term strategy except a war of attrition at the expense of Ukrainian blood?
I assume you are a white male- the lowest specimen in the victim hierarchy. Do you want to join an environment where promotions and leadership is determined by the government, and thus the whims of perceived social justice?
How are vets treated once out? That should give you a clue of how they are truly valued while in. But the clues aren't hard to find- look at how soldiers were used to test the effects of radiation on the human body. Look how soldiers were discharged for not taking a vaccine for a cough that had a negligible fatality rate for young, able-bodied men.
Lastly- someone made a comment about how decisions in Washington hardly effect the soldier day-to-day. My response is that it does not matter- we all need to do our part, however miniscule. If you do not support decisions in Washington, you need to do your part to starve the military of recruits. Vote with your feet, and in this case- with your blood.
Why would you risk your life? To die for Joe Biden or Donald Trump? To die for US intervention in foreign governments to boost the profits from the War Machine? Will helping bomb a wedding in Syria make you feel completed? Where are American freedoms at risk?
Join a hard workout class, get a personal trainer, help feed the homeless and be an activist on issues that matter to you domestically
You risk your life so Americans can live in a free country.
1. God
2. Country
3. Family
When was the last time American soldiers fought so Americans could live in a free country?
Let's be serious, the likeliest scenario is you're not dieing for Biden or Trump. You'll be dieing for Israel.
What branch/unit are you gunning for?
I strongly considered leaving PE to go through NWSO selection but ultimately decided that life wasn’t the best fit for my family. Was also told pretty definitively that if I got to SOAS and took a couple weeks off that I would have to find a new job (which I did of my own volition a couple months later).
Since you’re young/doesn’t sound like you have a family, I’d do IB if you’re confident you can continue training hard. Then when you get further in the pipeline you can make the call.
I have no regrets over the decision I made, just make sure that if you pass on the military that you won’t look back in 20 years and regret it.
At the end of the day, I would do what you regret less on your deathbed. Find out if that is being an officer or millionaire in Finance (this could still happen even if you served).
I wanted to serve in the reserves / NG but recently was diagnosed with something that would not make me medically cleared. Hoping to find another role / organization that I can contribute to on the side that is military / intelligence related.
I'm an ex officer and an associate now. Love the guys in this thread who claim to simultaneously understand our foreign policy yet still think they'd be sent to fight in Ukraine. Feel free to message if you have any questions. 10000% glad I spent my twenties traveling, leading, and getting great experiences from the Army. Honestly, IB culture is a tragedy in terms of life experience for so many people out of undergrad.
Same. Was USMC officer then went IB Associate. Think military is way better experience for your 20s
Thanks for your service.
If public opinion were behind it we certainly would have boots on the ground in Ukraine, first to train Ukrainians, then after a few false flags kill the trainers it would be a more direct conflict.
The lack of recruits is a huge reason none of this has happened.
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