First 80+ hour week. Wasn't as bad as I thought it would be...

Sunday: 10am - 9pm .... 11hrs
Monday: 8am-10pm ....14 hrs
Tuesday: 8am - 10pm .... 14hrs
Wednesday: 7am - 1am .... 18hrs
Thursday: 7am - 11:30pm .... 16.5hrs
Friday: 7am - 7pm (hopefully) .... 12 hrs

Grand total: 85.5 hrs.

Really wasn't that bad.

 
Crispy:
Try doing it multiple weeks in a row

I hope to! Every chargeable hour over 45 puts an extra 70 bux in my bank. Unfortunately hours worked =/= hours billed. In this case, the 85.5 hours worked = 65 hours billed. So I'll gladly take the extra 1400 dollars every week for busting my ass.

-MBP
 
everythingsucks:
Crispy:
Try doing it multiple weeks in a row

I hope to! Every chargeable hour over 45 puts an extra 70 bux in my bank. Unfortunately hours worked =/= hours billed. In this case, the 85.5 hours worked = 65 hours billed. So I'll gladly take the extra 1400 dollars every week for busting my ass.

is it common to get paid hourly or overtime?

 

You'll start to wear down slowly with 85 on a consistent basis unless you are very disciplined in seizing sleep opportunities. Once you're at 100 hours a week several weeks in a row you will break down no matter what you do, and you'll just start to be angry at the world.

 
rebelcross:
You'll start to wear down slowly with 85 on a consistent basis unless you are very disciplined in seizing sleep opportunities. Once you're at 100 hours a week several weeks in a row you will break down no matter what you do, and you'll just start to be angry at the world.

Honestly I had a 9-5(ish) job a few years ago in rate sales, felt more tired than I do in banking. To me, staying occupied makes up for a lot of lost sleep -- been able to sustain some rough back-to-back weeks of 110 hrs

"You've got to belong to it."
 
Balance:
rebelcross:
You'll start to wear down slowly with 85 on a consistent basis unless you are very disciplined in seizing sleep opportunities. Once you're at 100 hours a week several weeks in a row you will break down no matter what you do, and you'll just start to be angry at the world.

Honestly I had a 9-5(ish) job a few years ago in rate sales, felt more tired than I do in banking. To me, staying occupied makes up for a lot of lost sleep -- been able to sustain some rough back-to-back weeks of 110 hrs

Don't know how long you've been in the game, but if you think IB is any more exciting than rates sales in the long run, then you've got another thing coming. I've never seen anybody not get fed up. It is hard to sit in a cubicle for 100 hours and not feel like you are suffering.

 
Balance:
rebelcross:
You'll start to wear down slowly with 85 on a consistent basis unless you are very disciplined in seizing sleep opportunities. Once you're at 100 hours a week several weeks in a row you will break down no matter what you do, and you'll just start to be angry at the world.

Honestly I had a 9-5(ish) job a few years ago in rate sales, felt more tired than I do in banking. To me, staying occupied makes up for a lot of lost sleep -- been able to sustain some rough back-to-back weeks of 110 hrs

Sorry, but "staying occupied makes up for a lot of lost sleep" may be one of the dumbest things I've ever heard.

 

You only had one night in which you didn't get a full night sleep (Wednesday), and even then you managed to get to bed by 1:00am. As mentioned above, the incremental hours are where you REALLY start to feel the pain. As soon as work starts to cut into the sleep schedule, you'll feel it. Weeks such as the one you just did suck because you feel like you didn't do anything fun all week, just worked, but it doesn't drag on you because you're still sleeping.

The other drag is having multiple weeks in a row with weekend work. Most of the working world looks forward to Saturday / Sunday when they can relax. When you're consistently working Saturday / Sunday, the weeks just blend together and you have nothing to look forward to.

CompBanker’s Career Guidance Services: https://www.rossettiadvisors.com/
 
Best Response
CompBanker:
You only had one night in which you didn't get a full night sleep (Wednesday), and even then you managed to get to bed by 1:00am. As mentioned above, the incremental hours are where you REALLY start to feel the pain. As soon as work starts to cut into the sleep schedule, you'll feel it. Weeks such as the one you just did suck because you feel like you didn't do anything fun all week, just worked, but it doesn't drag on you because you're still sleeping.

The other drag is having multiple weeks in a row with weekend work. Most of the working world looks forward to Saturday / Sunday when they can relax. When you're consistently working Saturday / Sunday, the weeks just blend together and you have nothing to look forward to.

That's really the nightmare in a nutshell. The hopelessness that sets in when you have nothing to look forward to. Or worse, when you are finally looking forward to that Saturday of sleep and it's taken from you late the night before for some asinine reason. That makes it very difficult. When an entire team is in a state like that, the blur of weeks, it really destroys morale. You'll see people start lashing out at the seniors and the firm when in the company of other analysts. I've seen groups of people walk out on their firm at once to do their best to sabotage the MD after they've obtained other offers, just for a little payback.

That's the reason so many of us who work in IB come on here desperate to get into PE as quickly as possible. So many of the PE guys can't understand it. I've seen posts saying "what we do all day is incredibly boring." Believe me, when you're in that state, you are desperate for anything better, anything at all. It's a bad feeling.

 

So all of you working 80-100 hour weeks, are you actually working the entire time or is there a lot of downtime during the day? Just curious because my boss is very laid back and only makes me work crazy hours if we have a deal to push through (except i did have to work in Cali the day of the Rosebowl but at least i got to go...)

 

People who actually have social skills and can get laid tend not to do banking (at least the grueling 90+ hr shops) because the opportunity cost is way too high.

The hilarious part is that 10 years later, the social skills acquired by not being a workaholic are actually extremely valuable as far as being a rainmaker and these people make MD (assuming they manage to transition into banking at Associate or VP level) or if they don't do banking they are very successful (I'm talking about people who are very smart but also realize there is more to life than work and that social skills/experiences also help as far as work). Meanwhile, the guy who slaved away as an analyst/associate has no social skills and gets fired given Wall Street's up or out culture.

The most hours I've ever worked in one week had to be like 90. I like to work 60 hr weeks. Think about it, that's 9am to 9pm, 5 days a week. If you can't get everything you need to get done in that time, you are retarded and/or being taken advantage of. Some of you little monkeys will never learn...

Work harder not smarter.

 
alexpasch:
People who actually have social skills and can get laid tend not to do banking (at least the grueling 90+ hr shops) because the opportunity cost is way too high.

The hilarious part is that 10 years later, the social skills acquired by not being a workaholic are actually extremely valuable as far as being a rainmaker and these people make MD (assuming they manage to transition into banking at Associate or VP level) or if they don't do banking they are very successful (I'm talking about people who are very smart but also realize there is more to life than work and that social skills/experiences also help as far as work). Meanwhile, the guy who slaved away as an analyst/associate has no social skills and gets fired given Wall Street's up or out culture.

The most hours I've ever worked in one week had to be like 90. I like to work 60 hr weeks. Think about it, that's 9am to 9pm, 5 days a week. If you can't get everything you need to get done in that time, you are retarded and/or being taken advantage of. Some of you little monkeys will never learn...

Work harder not smarter.

Smarter not harder

 
alexpasch:
People who actually have social skills and can get laid tend not to do banking (at least the grueling 90+ hr shops) because the opportunity cost is way too high.

The hilarious part is that 10 years later, the social skills acquired by not being a workaholic are actually extremely valuable as far as being a rainmaker and these people make MD (assuming they manage to transition into banking at Associate or VP level) or if they don't do banking they are very successful (I'm talking about people who are very smart but also realize there is more to life than work and that social skills/experiences also help as far as work). Meanwhile, the guy who slaved away as an analyst/associate has no social skills and gets fired given Wall Street's up or out culture.

The most hours I've ever worked in one week had to be like 90. I like to work 60 hr weeks. Think about it, that's 9am to 9pm, 5 days a week. If you can't get everything you need to get done in that time, you are retarded and/or being taken advantage of. Some of you little monkeys will never learn...

Work harder not smarter.

Funny... Talking about social skills and your on WSO at 10:42 on a friday night....

 
alexpasch:
People who actually have social skills and can get laid tend not to do banking (at least the grueling 90+ hr shops) because the opportunity cost is way too high.

The hilarious part is that 10 years later, the social skills acquired by not being a workaholic are actually extremely valuable as far as being a rainmaker and these people make MD (assuming they manage to transition into banking at Associate or VP level) or if they don't do banking they are very successful (I'm talking about people who are very smart but also realize there is more to life than work and that social skills/experiences also help as far as work). Meanwhile, the guy who slaved away as an analyst/associate has no social skills and gets fired given Wall Street's up or out culture.

The most hours I've ever worked in one week had to be like 90. I like to work 60 hr weeks. Think about it, that's 9am to 9pm, 5 days a week. If you can't get everything you need to get done in that time, you are retarded and/or being taken advantage of. Some of you little monkeys will never learn...

Work harder not smarter.

sorry you never made it bro, being bitter and poor must really suck.

Social skills don't get formed in 2 years(well if you start at nothing like you likely do then yeah hahaha) . And IBD hones your backstabbing and office politics skills which is pretty useful down the line.

 
leveredarb:
alexpasch:
People who actually have social skills and can get laid tend not to do banking (at least the grueling 90+ hr shops) because the opportunity cost is way too high.

The hilarious part is that 10 years later, the social skills acquired by not being a workaholic are actually extremely valuable as far as being a rainmaker and these people make MD (assuming they manage to transition into banking at Associate or VP level) or if they don't do banking they are very successful (I'm talking about people who are very smart but also realize there is more to life than work and that social skills/experiences also help as far as work). Meanwhile, the guy who slaved away as an analyst/associate has no social skills and gets fired given Wall Street's up or out culture.

The most hours I've ever worked in one week had to be like 90. I like to work 60 hr weeks. Think about it, that's 9am to 9pm, 5 days a week. If you can't get everything you need to get done in that time, you are retarded and/or being taken advantage of. Some of you little monkeys will never learn...

Work harder not smarter.

sorry you never made it bro, being bitter and poor must really suck.

Social skills don't get formed in 2 years(well if you start at nothing like you likely do then yeah hahaha) . And IBD hones your backstabbing and office politics skills which is pretty useful down the line.

Commenting on Alex being bitter and never making it is pretty funny - considering the guy has a PE background. //www.wallstreetoasis.com/forums/pe-interview-question-if-you-can-only-kn…

Don't make a fool of yourself.

 

No one should be at the office at 7:15am on Saturday. Going in at 9 or 10am on weekends should be perfectly acceptable.

CompBanker’s Career Guidance Services: https://www.rossettiadvisors.com/
 

Congrats on the new job! A couple of pointers:

Never pass on a time to nap/sleep when you're not at work. My sleep cycle F**ks me every week.

Get into a routine for laundry, grocery shopping, friends.... The first couple of weeks I remember thinking it would be easy, but after I ran out of clean clothes and food I realized I forgot about life.

Attitude is everything. You have a great job... even when the hours suck and your client and manager are both up your ass. You can't be angry and grateful at the same time, so keep a your emotions in check. I have saved the Alec Baldwin speech from Glengarry Glen Ross onto my Iphone so I can stay motivated about money.

Network with EVERYONE. Ibanking is about connections. If you can't generate business, then who the F cares about your degree from MIT and modeling skills?

Call your family/friends whenever you can. It is easy to get caught up in the life, but in 3-10 years when you burn out you do not want to regret the lost time with loved ones. Good luck!

 
everythingsucks:
Sunday: 10am - 9pm .... 11hrs Monday: 8am-10pm ....14 hrs Tuesday: 8am - 10pm .... 14hrs Wednesday: 7am - 1am .... 18hrs Thursday: 7am - 11:30pm .... 16.5hrs Friday: 7am - 7pm (hopefully) .... 12 hrs

Grand total: 85.5 hrs.

Really wasn't that bad.

You work one 85 hour week and post here ? wtf. I would slap you if I could. Your still a virgin young man and trust me when your cherry pops its going to be a painful bloody affair

 
jackilewis:
everythingsucks:
Sunday: 10am - 9pm .... 11hrs Monday: 8am-10pm ....14 hrs Tuesday: 8am - 10pm .... 14hrs Wednesday: 7am - 1am .... 18hrs Thursday: 7am - 11:30pm .... 16.5hrs Friday: 7am - 7pm (hopefully) .... 12 hrs

Grand total: 85.5 hrs.

Really wasn't that bad.

You work one 85 hour week and post here ? wtf. I would slap you if I could. Your still a virgin young man and trust me when your cherry pops its going to be a painful bloody affair

wow what a ba, btw you realize around half of the posters haven't even made it to ws yet?

 

You guys count everything from the time you start to the time you finish, including the time you eat? That's weak, no wonder it sounds like you work so much. No one counts like that. You should only be counting chargeable hours in your week. If you only count chargeable hours I doubt any of you have actually worked even 110 hours. If you have, then prove it by posting a screenshot of your timesheets. No 'shop, I will inspect it carefully. Until I see it, I will continue to call BS.

 
Croato87:
You guys count everything from the time you start to the time you finish, including the time you eat? That's weak, no wonder it sounds like you work so much. No one counts like that. You should only be counting chargeable hours in your week. If you only count chargeable hours I doubt any of you have actually worked even 110 hours. If you have, then prove it by posting a screenshot of your timesheets. No 'shop, I will inspect it carefully. Until I see it, I will continue to call BS.

Time sheets? Is this janitoroasis.com?

 
Eric Stratton:
Croato87:
You guys count everything from the time you start to the time you finish, including the time you eat? That's weak, no wonder it sounds like you work so much. No one counts like that. You should only be counting chargeable hours in your week. If you only count chargeable hours I doubt any of you have actually worked even 110 hours. If you have, then prove it by posting a screenshot of your timesheets. No 'shop, I will inspect it carefully. Until I see it, I will continue to call BS.

Time sheets? Is this janitoroasis.com?

hahaha SB if I had one.

The answer to your question is 1) network 2) get involved 3) beef up your resume 4) repeat -happypantsmcgee WSO is not your personal search function.
 
Croato87:
You guys count everything from the time you start to the time you finish, including the time you eat? That's weak, no wonder it sounds like you work so much. No one counts like that. You should only be counting chargeable hours in your week. If you only count chargeable hours I doubt any of you have actually worked even 110 hours. If you have, then prove it by posting a screenshot of your timesheets. No 'shop, I will inspect it carefully. Until I see it, I will continue to call BS.

Can someone get rid of this guy? I mean it's fun to have someone to rag on for being below average, but at the same time he's bringing the intelligence level of WSO down.

"You stop being an asshole when it sucks to be you." -IlliniProgrammer "Your grammar made me wish I'd been aborted." -happypantsmcgee
 

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