I know a couple guys at a prop shop office in SF.... from what I've heard, it is absolutely horrific if you are not a morning person. On the flip side, you do get a sizeable portion of the daytime left if you have any hobbies/activities that would otherwise fill that up. I imagine you adjust to it (working Eurodollar hours in Chicago isn't exactly great either), but it still won't be pleasant if you are a night person.

 
Best Response
Ravenous:
I've worked on the West Coast for my entire career. For the first two years I had to be at work by 5am. It was horrible. Whatever you can imagine, it's worse than that. That said, most funds don't ask their people to get up that early. I'm usually in the office by 6:30 - 7, which is not that bad on a 5 minute commute, and out by 6ish.

Read: 6:30 - 7 after two years.

Anyways, Ravenous is very, very right on the terrible part.

Also, 6:30 - 7 if you are not working directly with the markets i.e. need to push through trades on a premarket release (5-7 am ET, 3-5 am MT). It is the worst when you check your email at 3am just to get in at 3:15 and see your boss is already there. Then he leaves at 4pm and makes you wait until the 9pm post-market release.

My coworker in ER showed up at 5:15 on a normal day and got it pretty bad. Fun stuff.

 
Ravenous:
SF is terrible. I think it is easily the worst city on the West or East Coasts besides maybe Philly (although I only don't like Philly because people are so angry -- the city itself is not bad from what I have seen).

Damn it. I was in San Fran for one day last year and didn't care for it, but I was hoping I was wrong. My boss said he loves the place, but he's a weirdo. What's your take?

I'm from the Philly burbs. I love Philly, but I can't even defend it besides to say "try Baltimore"

 

SF was covered in another thread called "Best places to live in the US." The tentative consensus was that it was among the worst of the major cities. I like the idea of SF, but the high cost of living, horrible traffic, sketchy weather, and generally "weird vibe" of the people doesn't really suit me. I would love to move to LA but haven't been able to find a good job yet.

Philly is an experience. It's the only place in the world I have been where people will do rude things (like cut you off in traffic) where they are CLEARLY at fault, and then flip YOU off. I got flipped off so many times in three days in Philly that I started to think it was some kind of greeting.

 

To be honest, I want out of NYC because of the high cost of living and the fact everyone is a jerk when you have to be near them (subways/sidewalks). San Fran doesn't at all seem to be the answer, but I haven't heard of any openings in Chicago (my top choice).

I've been to LA twice and hated it each time. Maybe I never gave it a chance, but it didn't seem my style at all.

Honestly, I'v never had an experience like that in Philly. I've nearly died every time I've driven in Jersey, though.

 
freemarketeer:
I might have an in for a fund in San Fran, but the prospect of getting up at 4am every day sounds pretty awful. Is it as shitty as it sounds?

I work on the west coast and yes, it's fucking awful especially when a company is reporting before market open. Days like that make me want to smash my monitor with my keyboard.

 
tylderdurden:
freemarketeer:
I might have an in for a fund in San Fran, but the prospect of getting up at 4am every day sounds pretty awful. Is it as shitty as it sounds?

I work on the west coast and yes, it's fucking awful especially when a company is reporting before market open. Days like that make me want to smash my monitor with my keyboard.

I've come into work 3 days straight at 6am for AM earnings and thought THAT sucked. How do you do it? Why do you do it?

I'm afraid now, because my SF prospects look really promising, and I can't imagine turning down an offer at this point.

 
freemarketeer:
tylderdurden:
freemarketeer:
I might have an in for a fund in San Fran, but the prospect of getting up at 4am every day sounds pretty awful. Is it as shitty as it sounds?

I work on the west coast and yes, it's fucking awful especially when a company is reporting before market open. Days like that make me want to smash my monitor with my keyboard.

I've come into work 3 days straight at 6am for AM earnings and thought THAT sucked. How do you do it? Why do you do it?

I'm afraid now, because my SF prospects look really promising, and I can't imagine turning down an offer at this point.

Do it because you have to and that's part of the job. Some of the analysts here have been 5+ years and they all say that you never really get use to the 4am starts - they suck no matter what.

The worst is when you have a computer report before market open and a company reporting after market with a conference call. Since some of the companies we cover are small-cap west coast companies with no sense of time, they'll release earnings at 4:30 PST then have a conference call at 5:00 PST. I hate those days because they just don't end.

 

Some guys at the IM firm I intern at have West Coast experience. The market opens at 6:30AM so they would usually get into the office at around 5/5:30 - maybe 6 if it was expected to be a slow day. Really the only comments they had about it were that the morning hours sucked especially if you had a long commute which would mean waking up at 4 or even earlier. The bright side was that the work day ended at 1PM and they were usually free to go, though most would schedule client meetings after 1 or just use that time to catch up on anything that needed to be done.

They did say that the best parts were never ever ever having to deal with traffic.

 

You will not die. That is how its done. And you do get somewhat used to it after about 6 months. You just come in and do your work. Sometimes by Friday you are ready to go a little insane, but you make it work.

Why do people do it?

For my mid-western state, non-target statistics, lack of a resume, and a shot at MM ER, it was the same story as always (in this order) -

Money, career prospects, what usually ended up being better hours, and the work was not half bad.

What is going to get you to wake up every day earlier than anyone else, go to sleep earlier, and always be tired?

That said, I leveraged it for a 8-6 (avg) buyside, non-NY market related job asap.

Also note that my boss who had done it for 8 years was waking up at 3-4 am to get hit the gym, so take that as you will.

 

Know a guy who's in Credit Sales in SF. He's in at 4AM and out at 2PM, which isn't that horrible. I would say a majority of the offices in LA/SF are sales coverage offices (Someone correct me if I'm wrong).

 

Thanks for the quick response! Do you know what type of internship opportunities there are out there? Do you think it is a smarter idea to begin your career in NYC rather than begin In California? Also, what exacly do you mean by sales coveage, do they not have a trading floor?

Thanks again!

 
CatsLHP:
Know a guy who's in Credit Sales in SF. He's in at 4AM and out at 2PM, which isn't that horrible. I would say a majority of the offices in LA/SF are sales coverage offices (Someone correct me if I'm wrong).

I think this is pretty true, for example I know there are Mortgage Sales coverage guys out there but I don't think any traders.

Jack: They’re all former investment bankers who were laid off from that economic crisis that Nancy Pelosi caused. They have zero real world skills, but God they work hard. -30 Rock
 

Can you please elaborate on the lifestyle of working in S&T on the West Coast. Has anyone found it rough getting in at 4am and being done with work at 3pm? Did you feel like you were on a different schedule than all of your friends/family/the rest of the world?

Thanks again for the help

 

I know many people currently in finance that live in SD and LA who love the lifestyle, as far as hours syncing with the east coast.

Opportunities in CA compared to NYC is not even comparable. To really do well in finance in LA, SD, I cant speak of SF, you really have to know people that work in finance in CA to have anything close to the opportunities of NYC. Unless you are looking for PWM, AM, or INS.

There is definitely legitimate financial opportunities, but they aren't easy to get.

 

Hours are going to be what you want them to be generally speaking. I would say a typical value place will be like 7/8-5/6. It will depend a lot on when you have meetings and whatnot. No way an Analyst at a value place is coming in at 5am.

"It is hard to fail, but it is worse never to have tried to succeed." Theodore Roosevelt
 
floppity:
packmate:
floppity:

I don't work on the west coast but from what I understand a lot of places do something like 5 - 3 or some shiz along those lines.

That actually sounds really awesome

If you like waking up at 4am everyday then be my guest lol.

I mean yeah, but the getting out at 3 sounds awesome. You can play a round of golf every day or just hang out in the sun longer than if you were getting out at 7!

 
floppity:

I don't work on the west coast but from what I understand a lot of places do something like 5 - 3 or some shiz along those lines.

I would deffinitely learn how to surf if I lived in CA and those were my hours.

Competition is a sin. -John D. Rockefeller
 
Hooked on LEAPS:
floppity:

I don't work on the west coast but from what I understand a lot of places do something like 5 - 3 or some shiz along those lines.

I would deffinitely learn how to surf if I lived in CA and those were my hours.

That is EXACTLY why I created the thread. Trying to mix my personal and professional passions ....

 
jones2bc:
Hooked on LEAPS:
floppity:

I don't work on the west coast but from what I understand a lot of places do something like 5 - 3 or some shiz along those lines.

I would deffinitely learn how to surf if I lived in CA and those were my hours.

That is EXACTLY why I created the thread. Trying to mix my personal and professional passions ....

Kite Surf bro, never fall down

 

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