My Life

That's depressing bro

Seriously

Are you really happy or staying in the job just to keep up with your peers

Suck it up.

Your company should be sending you to the recruiting nights so that all the college juniors and seniors can gain your perspective on the job.

keeping up with peers is not as important as keeping up with bills. Before I started as a first yr I anticipated making lots of money and by the time I started training I already had $20k in credit card debt.

Man, you seriously should think about quitting your job. You know, there are things just not worth it in life. You just got one some 80 yrs on earth to make the best of it, don't shoot yourself at work. This might help:

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover." - Mark Twain

It is two or three years out of your life. You just need to tough it out and try to stay positive about learning as much as you can in that short time. Maintain a good attitude, do your work and keep your mouth shut and the rest will take care of itself. You will either move up if you desire or on to better things. Either way, try to stay positive about the job.....it will make the time pass by a little faster.

analysts work like crazy, but what about associates?

associates typically will work just as hard as analysts. they might get to leave an hour before the analyst, but they're usually side-by-side with the analyst. it probably gets better as you spend more time at the bank and get ready for a promote to VP

im sorry

Wow dude that sucks, sorry to hear about that...you better watch out or you'll get sick or something.

Do hours get much better at VP level, or are you on the road more instead of at your desk?

I guess I can;t wait till I start!

gotta see the forest through the trees

I love that Mark Twain quote. Nice touch.

if you dont like the work hard/play hard lifestyle, your DNA is not in banking, or any finance for that matter. jobs in finance are not 9-5 jobs. get out while you can.

Sucks dude... but its a springboard to better things, right? :-)

ouch.

that is horrible

you're a loser

put out for a few more months til bonus season, then quit. hopefully you saved money.

Dude that's awful. I actually got dumped via vm. My boyfriend said it was indicative of our relationship.

When I was an analyst, these were the typical workday hours, but I hear hours are getting better. These were the bad years for i-banks, but after all the analysts quit (my entire group-class) and business picked up, they take better care of analysts in order to retain them. I've heard 1st yr analysts at BB leaving work by 9-10pm every night (except when they're on a deal).

1st yr analyst: 9am - 2am (weekends ~10hrs/day)
2nd yr analyst: 9am - 11pm (weekends 10hrs for 1 day)
Associate: 9am - 10pm (half weekends at the office for ~10hrs)
VP: 9am - 8pm (very few weekends)
MD: 9am - 7pm (no weekends)

Before you smash your computer against the wall and take off without talking to anyone ever again (true analyst story), you should also know that 90% of analysts absolutely hate their jobs. In order to like it, you probably have to get stuffed on some good deals with good people that are willing to show you a few things and take you to meetings, or you're simply in a wimpy group that lets you go home by 7-8pm because there's nothing to do.

If you don't like it at all as an analyst, it doesn't mean you're not cut out for finance. Most analysts actually stay in finance throughout their career. It's not the hours that you don't like, because I assume you have the work ethic -- and you will be amazed how far ahead you will be of non-banking types when you move on -- but the mind-numbing type of work that they have you do. Unfortunately, and I'm sure you've wondered about it a lot, it can't be avoided and it needs to get done; unfortunately, you often figure that out years later.

My advice would be to try very hard to focus on one or two things that you find valuable on the job and make yourself happy. Try to think bigger picture, i.e., you're not simply a translator for the powerpoint people, but an integral part to a merger transaction, you are interested in the clients and read up on some news, some reports etc., to start getting into it. The more into it you get, the more it will show and your associates will notice, and your attitude will change. If you can't (I couldn't either, but I think it's a piece of advice I could have used), just think of it as a right of passage and then you can move on to PE or HF, or even back to banking in a few years, when the scars have healed.

Also, try to get a champion in your group: see who is well-respected and has done the best deals and next time you work for him bust your hump to make sure his stuff gets priority over other stuff on your plate and that you make him/her look good.

me too!

beat the system, its just that easy

how?

ooph

that's the stuff the banks don't want said at recruiting

Sounds terrible. If you like finance and banking, try to get a different job at another bank. Or move on to PE or VC. If you can't enjoy life it's not worth working those hours.

Why don't you move to not such a demanding place? You know there are banks other than where you work, and they do have much better hours.

Try going to a Boutique bank, much better hours, and I hear that more of the money trinkles down to the junior levels.

i am about to be a sophomore at drexel university and ive been looking into investment banking this summer. I was just wondering what analysts do all those hours they are at work. And what exactly is a pitch book. I know these are probably pretty dumb questions but im just curious.

Thanks for any help you guys can give me.

Also is it possible to get an interview for an analyst positoin with a BB firm comming out of a school like drexel with a 3.8 gpa

I know this is probably the wrong post for this comment but i just saw the comment about working from 9- 2 and 10 hours a day on weekends

Associate work harder than analysts. They ahve way more responsibility.

Being an Associate is the shittiest position to be in. You get blamed when analysts/VP's/MD's screw up.

Agreed.

I would have to agree on the associate comments. As a analyst at least when you go home you (likely) sleep. As an associate you are worried about so much you can harldy sleep.

wow... some of these posts make me think twice about going into ibanking

I think someone needs to watch Office Space.

You're right about the Associate stress. Sitting in meetings watching your MD flip pages, praying that there are no screwups, is no fun. Analysts at meetings just sit there quietly enjoying a few hours away from the office.

If you are someone that needs 8 hours of sleep, why don't you look for a job teaching High School Phys Ed?

Maybe he isn't physically fit to do so.

well said

Indeed

"beat the system, its just that easy"

HAHA who is this douchebag? i hope he is joking.

your life is sad

such is the life in this industry

Reading all these comments, it does sound really bad, but why than there is competition getting into the industry in the first place?

Are there lots of people for whom it's worthwhile or all the newbs are just plain simple ignorant and quit after a few years even if they get that far?

A newbs myself, please clue me in :)

You all are a bunch of little girls complaining. I have not heard one horror story yet. Try having to drive from Charlotte, NC to New Cannan, CT to deliver a Management Presentation because your fucking associate was chewing your ear off and he knew you would miss the fed ex deadline. Try hearing your fucking VP say, "welcome to banking, hit the road and don't forget to bring your corporate card because you can charge back the gas."