Yar very much what my headhunter friend tells me as well. She said actually most people choose banking because they think it will bring prestige, wealth and opportunity to join socialite circle. Sometimes there is also this perception that if one day you get tired of banking, being such a superstar you can easily get jobs in other companies on the investment or finance side.

In terms of pay her view is that banking is very strong in certain front office investment related jobs and above average for most other jobs. The all rounder top payer seems to be big OIL, she shared wth me their exploration & trading side can match the top investment banks while the rest of the normal operations, sales & support functions are much higher than the banks on average.