Interesting and quite accurate description of the various career paths in banking from eFinancialNews:

• Operations and technology leads to India.
• Sales leads to Glengarry Glen Ross.
• Private banking leads to a rich spouse (retired trader meets young graduate, true love!).
• Compliance leads to a filing cabinet full of forms.
• Research leads to Ctrl+C and Ctrl+V repetitive strain injury from internet and annual reports.
• Broking leads to strip clubs and depression.
• FX leads to offshore tax havens.
• Equities leads to insider trading charges.
• Investor relations leads to lunches.
• M&A leads to a single powerpoint slide with a line sloping gently upwards to the right regardless of the situation.
  

The Golden Rule to succeed in any of these is to talk about next quarter enthusiastically while making sure no one has any record of what you said would happen in the previous quarter. Repeat until fade.