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I graduated last year from a top business (and also during a funky downturn) and accepted a job paying far below what I should be getting (55K). Worst of all, I was bored as dirt and the role was no where near my career goals.
Fast forward to today. I just received an offer for a foreign investment bank doing exactly what I would like to do, albeit in a junior role but thats fine with me. The only problem is that the role only pays 75k/year. Worst of all, I also have "top business school" loans.
Is this enough to survive? I am 26, so I am not sure if it is still cool to look for roomies. My hours my be hectic, so I would need to live somewhere on the 'Island'. I know that I am not considering bonuses, but those are never guaranteed.
Would you take your ideal job, even if it meant that you had scrape to by?
I know New Yorkers from 40-60 who have roommates. You can do fine on 75k a year. Except, you didn't mention your monthly student loan debt.
You won't live in a doorman building and you won't being buying bottles at the latest and greatest club in the Meatpacking District, but you'll have your foot on the ladder. And with your hours, you won't have time to party that much anyway. Folks can live in Manhattan at various price points. It's a choice.
Many people who are much older and make more that $75K have a roommate in the city.
Sometimes it's because they want to live in a doorman building with lots of amenities and can't afford it otherwise. Sometimes it's because they want to spend the money on a second home. Sometimes they bought a large apartment for a future family and have a roommate to share the bills until then. Sometimes they just travel a lot for work.
Analysts and junior bankers work at least 12 hours a day anyway. You'll only be there to shower and sleep.
$75k is not scraping by. When I graduated (albeit in 2002), junior positions started at $40-$45k, even at the prestigious houses like GS, CSFB, Lehman, Lazard.
You need a roomate. And you need to keep your share of rent below $1,500 a month, even though you can "technically" afford $1,875 (40x rule). You can easily share a 2 bedroom apartment on the UES, UWS, Midtown East, Midtown West/ Hell's Kitchen, or Murray Hill on that budget. Not sexy areas, but safe, clean, and close to work.
If you have serious debt (like $500-1000 monthly payments), you need to look into a share in Astoria or somewhere were a 2-bedroom is $1500 (your half $750).
Good news, bad news. You can expect to work until 8pm on a "good" night, and past 11, 12, even 1-2am on "normal" nights. A bad night is an all-nighter. Expect to pull several of those a quarter. I believe that banks are pretty understaffed now, yet gun shy to hire more. Oh, and you'll be in the office at least one day on the weekend and work from home the other day.
I don't know if banks are still doing this as a regular practice, but they used to comp your dinner if you worked past 9pm (which is practically every day) or on the weekends, and also comp your car ride home past a certain hour. This can save you a ton of money during the work week!!
As PP said, you just cannot go crazy with bottle service, VIP seating, buying every pretty girl drinks, etc (aka living the banker life) your first year. If you get a good bonus, squirrel a little of that away for your entertainment fund (or travel or wahtever you like to do) and save/ invest/ pay down loans with the rest. Continue to live on JUST YOUR SALARY and you'll never be caught like some guys I knew.....30 years old and moving home with mom & dad after making approx $1.5-2M in their 20's becuase they burned through all of it like it would last forever (summer shares in the Hamptons, $4k/mo apartments, dating like crazy, Gucci loafers, etc).
Yeah you should take the job from what it sounds like. I know there's always a twinge of reluctance when something comes along and maybe it isn't the biggest fish in the sea of opportunity...you're tempted to throw it back and keep fishing on the promise that something better is out there, but I don't think that's wise during summertime in a down economy. $75k is a pretty big jump from 55 after all, and it's the type of experience you need on your resume for the next one.
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