A bit more of an 'abstract' take on the thread topic, and a little thing I mull over sometimes, is how we assume Investment Banking, and more widely the Finance industry as a value-creator. Obviously my thoughts aren't knew, as they have been echoed by Carl Fox in Wall Street "Stop going for the easy buck and start producing something with your life. Create, instead of living off the buying and selling of others." But what I mean is, Investment Banking is a 'Utility' and should be treated like one.
I mean Utility in the economic sense. for those that don't follow, like electricity etc. If we look at the industry, we see a strong innate oligopoly destined to be formed, as through amassing capital is the name of the game, barriers to entry cost a lot, and unless you have connections, if you try and start up a boutique, simply no-one would use you. Other evidence I interpret to support this is the whole GFC debaucle, comparative to the 'fun' times had by Enron employees when they were given free-range on control of California's power grid (resulting in the creation of artificial shortages).
So with that in mind, I tie it to the ACTUAL thread, to work for a Utility that is branded and treated as a value-creating industry, means;
A) You'll be in the corporate environment, which translates to a situation where to progress, you've got to knock the guy employing you off their perch.
B) You'll be performing actions that do not equate to anything of substantial merit. AKA the 120 hours weekly of Grunt Work. This is an issue when your only motivation is money.
C) Due to the repetitive, extensive and high-pressure (Try lasting when you get models wrong) nature of your work, you'll undergo a psychological abuse, which will then affect your cognitive and behavioural states, turning you into someone you may not likely want to be.
D) Due to the extensive amount of time you spend in this line of work, you'll develop skills and taste for little else, you will have no 'lifestyle'.
E) Finally, a more existentialist concern (which could be said for other occupations as well), your 'work' amounts to nothing, you won't be making a difference, if you quit, you will be replaced by someone just as hungry, you'll have no stories to tell your children (if you ever have any), you'll become isolated from others outside the industry as well, no one wants to hear about how your excel model predicted an IRR of 357%. Compare this to other highly paid occupations, say a doctor, people want to hear how you diagnosed and treated someone, saving their life, or a small anecdote about patients. Take television as the prime indicator, there is no Investment Banking dramas. So living with the fact that what you currently do will mean nothing may also get you down.
I truly believe that Investment Banking is far too glamorised, not the traditional way of 'it's amazing', but in the sly way, able to scoop up the top performers 'It's Amazing, but you have to be the best to get in'. The in-built exclusivity of the industry innately attracts people, and transforms the ACTUAL issues of the industry for employees, as 'challenges' that must be overcome.