Investment banking analysts have a 20% chance of making it to managing director

Would you toil away for 14 years in investment banking for a 20% chance of making it to managing director - a level at which your compensation will, on average, be double that of the previous director rank? We ask because new data from salary benchmarking website Emolument.com suggests this is your chance of making it to the upper ranks.

As the charts below show, you have a 70% chance of making it to VP if you start out as an analyst in investment banking and the likelihood of hitting director level is 60%. However, making the next step up to MD is decidedly trickier - just 20% make the cut. While this is still a one in five chance, there's little wonder why so many VPs and directors are in career stasis.

Our own data suggests that it takes an average of 17.5 years from graduation to make it to MD level. The figures below, therefore, offer a little more hope. Getting beyond this rank, however, is more tricky. Just 1% of analysts make it to the hallowed partner level, suggests Emolument.