• Dawn Choo took a 40% pay cut to pivot from finance to a tech job at Amazon.
• Choo's transition involved moving from a quant role at Bank of America to a business analyst role.
• Her career shift eventually led to her dream job at Meta, after applying around seven times.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Dawn Choo, the 34-year-old founder of Interview Master, based in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Her identity, employment history, and salary have been verified by Business Insider. This story has been edited for length and clarity.

I interned at Facebook in college, and my dream was to get a data scientist job at Instagram — but I didn't get an offer.

I took the first offer I got in college because I had interviewed so many times at so many different places. Finally, I got a finance offer from Bank of America, and I took it because I needed a job to stay in the country, even if it wasn't exactly the industry I wanted.

It was a quant role, but it wasn't very data-heavy. I did backend work, like building models to help predict if companies that took a loan from us were going to default on the loan. I was there for three and a half years, but I started applying for tech jobs about a year and a half into the job.

Again, I tried so many times. I was not the best at interviewing. I applied to about 100 places, interviewed at maybe 10, and then finally I got an Amazon offer in 2017.

I took a roughly 40% pay cut and a step back in my career

The Amazon job was for a business analyst role, and it was a really big pivot.

When I applied, I knew I was taking a step back in my career given the scope of work, but I didn't realize I would be taking a roughly 40% pay cut.

I was living in New York City in a one-bedroom with a roommate, so that 40% really made a big difference.

Despite what felt like moving backward, I could see the upsides of taking the job. Amazon's a big company, and I knew it was a step toward where I wanted to go. I had to make some adjustments, like eating at home more. But I also felt like it was a step back in my career because I suddenly stepped into a service-desk role.

I didn't love the work I did at Bank of America either, but at least I was building models and writing extensive documentation. At Amazon, I felt like I wasn't really learning much, and many times, I wondered, "Why did I take this pay cut? Why did I make this transition? Should I just go back?"

At times, it didn't feel like the right move, but I recognized that I had agency over that decision. I chose to be there, and it was a privilege for me to be able to make that choice.

Things got better

The upside of the work being very repetitive and simple was that I could automate it. The automation project started as a pet project — I randomly came up with the idea and pitched it to an executive. He loved it so much and kept pushing me to do it that eventually, I did.

I was promoted from business analyst to business intelligence engineer. What was initially my site tech project became a full-staff team of five business intelligence engineers.

I worked for Amazon for two years before getting my dream job as a data scientist at Instagram.

I interviewed at Meta so many times previously. After my internship, I applied about seven times and interviewed maybe four or five times. I almost canceled my final round of interviews because I couldn't get rejected again.

I think my experience working in tech and product changed my application. I also had a lot more leadership experience since I spearheaded a project. Plus, I matured around interviewing and presenting myself.

I worked at Instagram for about three years and three months. The office was beautiful. The people I worked with were incredible and made me feel challenged. I made a lot of good friends, and we went through COVID together. They were part of my pod.

Bets take time to pay off

For others thinking about making a career transition, I would say take the pay cut if you have to. I've always feared regret more than failure. I knew if I didn't take the Amazon job, I would be upset for not betting on myself.

It's also important to recognize that some of these bets take a long time to pay out. It took me two years, which wasn't that long, but I know other people where it took longer to get that payout.

Sometimes, even after the payout, you see other people in your situation and you think, "Wow, this person got this data science job at Facebook right out of college." So, at that point, I was about eight years older than this person doing the exact same thing. And it didn't feel great. So, maybe don't compare yourself to other people.

I will always say take the bet on yourself — and I'm doing it again. I pretty much took a 100% pay cut this time. I went from my comfy corporate job with insurance, travel perks, and stability to work for myself, and I hope the payout will come soon.

• Banks are racing to deploy generative AI tools to their employees.
• Business Insider has reported on how some of finance's biggest banks are approaching the technology.
• Citi is 'accelerating' its strategy, while JPMorgan detailed AI wins at its latest investor day.

Wall Street bank leaders say generative AI is here to stay, and they're weaving the technology throughout the fabric of their banks to make sure.

From trading to payments to marketing, it's hard to find a corner of the banking industry that isn't claiming to use AI.

In fact, the technology's impact, made mainstream by OpenAI's ChatGPT in late 2022, is becoming cultural. Generative AI is changing what it takes to be a software developer and how to stand out as a junior banker, especially as banks mull over how to roll out autonomous AI agents. The technology is even changing roles in the C-suite. But it's also presented new challenges — bank leaders say they are struggling to keep up with AI-powered cyberattacks.

From supercharging productivity via AI-boosted search engines to figuring out the best way banks can realize a return on their AI investments, here's what we know about how Wall Street banks are embracing AI.

JPMorgan Chase

JPMorgan has a technology budget of $18 billion, with much of it going toward making sure it's a leader and early mover in AI.

JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon is a "tremendous" user of the bank's generative AI suite. While its private bankers were some of the first to be equipped with a generative AI "copilot" last May, they've rolled out its proprietary genAI platform to over 200,000 employees. And with about 100 more tools in the pipeline, JPMorgan is seeking to reengineer workflows for everyone from coders to portfolio managers.

Executives at America's largest bank gave an inside look at how it's scaling tools and delivering measurable results at its Investor Day in May.

• AI is core to JPMorgan's $18 billion tech investment. Here's what its execs revealed about how it's reshaping the bank.

Dimon has previously said he's out to win the AI arms race.

• Meet who he's put in charge of this critical mission.
• JPMorgan's Lori Beer just added 2 new tech leaders to her ranks. Meet the team behind the bank's AI future.

Mary Erdoes, the boss of JPM's asset and wealth-management business, used these slides to outline how she wants to prepare her people for the "AI of the future."

• Here's how JPM boss Mary Erdoes wants to use AI to eliminate "no joy" work

Citi

Citigroup is doubling down on its AI ambitions with new leadership at the helm of its tech transformation. In a memo obtained by BI, the three new strategy leaders outlined the firm's progress and ambitions as CEO Jane Fraser continues her mission to modernize the firm.

• Citi's 'accelerating' its AI strategy with new leaders. Here's how they're readying the firm for a new future.

Meet the new exec in charge of giving an AI facelift to Citi's lagging wealth business.

• Citi snags AI leader from Morgan Stanley to help turn around its wealth tech

Citi's top tech executive, Shadman Zafar, outlined the bank's four-phased AI strategy and how it will "change how we work for decades to come."

• A top Citi tech exec breaks down the 4 phases of the bank's AI strategy that will impact everyone from operations to wealth and product

Goldman Sachs

Is Goldman in its AI era? These real-world stories about employees using AI (in some cases daily) make it seem so. Take a look at how AI is being tested across the bank and seniority levels, from C-suites to analysts.

• 7 Goldman Sachs insiders explain how the bank's new AI sidekick is helping them crush it at work
• Goldman is assembling a growing arsenal of AI tools. Here's everything we know about 5.
• AI is doing 95% of the work on an IPO prospectus, Goldman Sachs CEO says

Goldman's top partners and CEO David Solomon are eager to see AI rev up their businesses. From realizing internal productivity gains to capturing more business as clients look to raise money in anticipation of AI development and acquisitions, here's what the top echelon is expecting.

• How AI will shake up Goldman Sachs, according to top partners and CEO David Solomon
• Inside Goldman Sachs' plans for AI, from helping non-tech workers do more with software to streamlining how code is documented

There is no AI without data, and there is no data strategy at Goldman without its chief data officer, Neema Raphael. Raphael gave BI an inside look at how his roughly 500-person team melds with the rest of the bank to get the most out of its data.

• Meet Neema Raphael, the data whiz key to Goldman's AI ambitions who's overseeing the bank's army of engineers and scientists

AI's impact has ripple effects that go far beyond technology. Goldman's chief information officer, Marco Argenti, predicts that cultural change will be critical to getting the bank to 100% adoption.

• Goldman Sachs CIO Marco Argenti says Wall Street's 'next big wave' in AI will come down to culture, not just technology

Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley wants to turn employees' AI ideas into a reality. Here's an exclusive look at that process.

• Morgan Stanley has 30 AI projects in the pipeline. Here's how the bank sources employees' ideas for inspiration.

See how AI is transforming Morgan Stanley's wealth division and the jobs of its 16,000 financial advisors.

• Morgan Stanley is betting on AI to free up advisors' time to be 'more human.' Nearly 100% of advisor teams use it, and here's how.

Thanks to its partnership with ChatGPT-maker OpenAI, Morgan Stanley has ramped up its AI efforts. The exec in charge of tech partnerships and firmwide innovation opened up about how it all started.

• Morgan Stanley's new innovation head lays out his plan for more OpenAI-type partnerships
• A Morgan Stanley exec breaks down how the bank courts tech partners like OpenAI

Bank of America

Bank of America's chief experience officer, Rob Pascal, details how the bank's internal-facing AI assistant helps bankers collect, record, and review client data. Here are all the ways it's helping employees be more effective and efficient.

How Bank of America is using an AI-powered tool to help its bankers prep for client meetings more efficiently