Banking Career Enslavement

Sarah Moore shares her perspective on why talented individuals choosing banking/consulting careers is a misallocation of potential, drawing from her observations at Harvard Business School.

Key Points:

• Banking Culture Issues:

  • Required to respond within 15 minutes, 24/7, even during major life events
  • Creates a form of "enslavement" despite high compensation
  • Sacrifices personal freedom for prestige and stability

• Critique of High-Achiever Career Choices:

  • People with elite backgrounds (Ivy League, wealth, networks) choosing limiting paths
  • Questions why talented individuals "sign up to be someone else's bitch"
  • Views it as a waste of potential given their advantages

• Alternative Perspective:

  • Entrepreneurship offers more freedom and control
  • Better to "be one person's bitch - your own"
  • Questions why people with advantages don't "shoot for the moon"

• Cultural Observation:

  • Banking/consulting seen as "safe" paths despite personal costs
  • Prestigious firms drain talent that could be building new things
  • People choose stability over freedom despite having safety nets

• Personal Choice:

  • Rejected traditional post-MBA paths (consulting/banking)
  • Valued independence over prestige
  • Sought to maintain control over time and decisions

The core message is that talented individuals often choose prestigious but constraining careers when they have the capability and resources to pursue more independent paths.