ERIC, if you are still reading this post...

You are going to get negative comments from people who find joy in putting people down. Don't let it get to you. Average achievers are generally bitter people. I consider myself an slightly above-average achiever myself @ 30 yrs, but I see your initiative coming to ask questions before going out to the workforce, which is good.

There is a perception that many people who make it into banks after undergrad studies do well and make good money. Sometimes yes, sometimes no. You should have come across this term the Bell Curve. This applies wherever you go, and I am seeing people smack in the middle of this curve in private banking, where I am. You have people who climb high, people who lag behind. My ex team mate in Switzerland worked in the same bank, same job (no promo) for 35 years. That's older than you, older than me. But he has got the widest smile in the whole department, with always a kind word especially for a foreigner like myself.

Back to your post. Find out a bit more if you can by reading forums, or talking to people. Just find out more. Some things may not be easy to understand at first but it helps if you just keep an open mind, open ear, and try to relate on your own terms.

There is a good and lucrative career in banking, and it is rewarding if you CHOOSE to make yourself stand out. That applies for Front, Middle, Back offices. It helps to move around these 3 as well though people would say Front Office pays the best. If you like human relationship and are ok with the banking world, a job as a banker pays really really well (if you are a successful one.) Operations and Middle Office jobs are not too bad although they (quite) definitely pay less. Profit Centre = Front Office. Cost Centre = Operations. You can have a rewarding career in Operations too which I would put myself as a good example.

Just keep an open mind and go for your instinct. Just fresh out of school, what you studied and what you encounter and taste in the working world seldom go hand in hand. Someone who studied banking and go on to earn 350K a year as a banker, things are beyond their wildest dreams. Those who studied the same thing and still earn 3-4K after 5 years, they will curse and lament in a 120deg radius wherever they go.

IT'S ALL RELATIVE. Find out more and if you want to venture in this direction, go for it. For you can move in this GENERAL direction and see what opportunities unfold. There is A WHOLE LOT to banking jobs/functions. A veteran would even be hard pressed to lay them all out in a jiffy.

I can only tell you I took a Dip in banking (don't know still if right move or not now) following by an overseas Bach in Econs (WRONG MOVE) then I bit the bullet to work as temp $7/hour in a top, top investment bank and told myself I am getting converted to a fulltime perm staff no matter what. Guess what, I did it in just 2 weeks when it was a tough environment then. I didn't look back since. Yes I am in Operations, but I can tell you it has been really rewarding so far. Comparing to the engineers/project managers/etc/etc/etc here who earn 200-300K, I can't even smell their continental car's smoke, but hey, It's All Relative.

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PEOPLE, give this guy a break. How many of you graduated and attained sudden enlightenment about what you wanna do in your life? You chose your tertiary and bachelor courses only with a half-informed mind and a vaguely-formed perception based on your observation, IMAGINATION, and HEARSAY.

You may be doing well right now, and I am happy for you, but did you get there immediately? Was it not with trial and error, and perhaps a lot of luck? So, big deal if this guy doesn't know now what is front office and back office. For the MAJORITY of you, were you fantastically better informed when you were in his position? At least he came out to ask a honest question in search of hopefully a honest opinion.