Is it true that on some days you will sit around surfing the web waiting for work as junior person in IBD?

I heard someone say that although the hours are long, often times you would sit around during the day waiting for assignments? Is this an exaggeration?

If not, what do people do? Pretend to look busy? Surf the web?

 
masters:

It can happen to have some down time, however you should look around and ask your colleagues if you can help on something.

This.

If you're a summer analyst or new 1st year, you should (almost) never be surfing the web just to fuck around, especially not if everyone around you is busy working. You don't know shit so you should be taking every opportunity you can to learn. Ask everyone if they need help -- don't be a pest about it and do it every 3 hours, but make sure people know you are available to work. If they don't need help, ask if there's anything you can be reading or doing otherwise. Read some old pitchbooks. Go through old models. Not quite sure how to build an accretion/dilution analysis? Practice it. If you're in an industry group, read some 10-Ks and research pieces.

 
Best Response

If you didn't do you think WSO would have nearly as much engagement as it has.

"It is better to have a friendship based on business, than a business based on friendship." - Rockefeller. "Live fast, die hard. Leave a good looking body." - Navy SEAL
 

I think it depends. I feel that at the senior level that if you're money motivate there is always something you can be doing. As an analyst you have what's given to you and like someone said above, waiting on bosses take forever.

"It is better to have a friendship based on business, than a business based on friendship." - Rockefeller. "Live fast, die hard. Leave a good looking body." - Navy SEAL
 

If you have nothing to do and it is early in the day, the go and read something financially related.

If it is after 5pm and you have nothing to do, read the dailymail.

********"Babies don't cost money, they MAKE money." - Jerri Blank********
Asatar:

No exaggeration. Work usually alternates between having literally nothing to do, and having 5 different things to do to a short deadline. Not much middle ground.

Which is also true for almost any deal-based industry. points to my own post count

Commercial Real Estate Developer
 

As you can see, yes very possible you will have opportunities to "surf the web".

Analyst/Interns are not the first to come to mind for work assignments. Look at it from a more senior person's point of view. They have a lot on their plate and you have no experience. So when they think of someone to help them, they are probably looking at someone who can deliver on their own. You can get more of this work if you proactively and constantly (not to be mistaken as with continuously) let it be know you have bandwidth and willing to help out in any way.

If senior people in your group are chronically not busy, look for another job.

No Job is waiting for you after you are done with an internship or the group decides they really can do with one less analyst (particularly if your group ever goes into cost cutting mode), who do you think will they cut? The person who looked busy but senior people can't actually remember what their contribution was.

 

This is totally normal and is IMHO the worst part of working in finance. Also happens in consulting, they call it "on the beach" or something like that. Even an 18 hour day flies by if you are busy. Try to get used to it and do something with your time, work through old models, read finance news, even posting online; anything to get your brain working. Use it or lose it.

Agree with the comment above - if senior people are chronically not busy, I'd think hard about accepting an offer. Not a good sign and means that you will be really bored.

Disagree with another comment though - when jobs are being cut, relatively cheap junior people are not necessarily 1st on the chopping block. If you know how to do the work, you are cheap labor and that at least counts for something.

Source: I have spent the better part of today doing absolutely nothing. Indeed the better part of years doing nothing.

 

Sometimes I do nothing all day until 6PM. I prefer to use the downtime to chill to be honest. There are times when you work for 20 hours straight and you'll burn out quickly if you're always pounding your brain with finance stuff. If you're an SA, then I'd agree with the "work your ass off as much as possible" advice. You only have like four weeks to go anyway and not getting a return offer sucks. If you're full-time and plan on recruiting for PE, study for interviews. If you've got everything under control, then just chill. Busting your ass 100% of the time will not end well.

 

Everything I've heard says yes. Again not IB but my old job was very similar: I had to prepare documents and reports that would usually come out late in the morning. By the time those were done my supervisor was locked into meetings until 5-6PM, at which point he would finally take a look at our work and tear it apart. It was usually due before 7AM the next morning so you can imagine what my work-life "balance" was like.

It isn't really fixable with the current staff structure. Ideally you'd have a "night shift" but this would be inefficient from a payscale perspective.

My advice? Use the time well. There's more publications about any industry than you can ever hope to read on a good day...and being both in finance and covering an industry there's going to be two industries you need to know. As an analyst/Associate you will no doubt have people wanting to network. Do it because either you'll find someone who makes your life easier or you'll make contacts with people who will become useful later in your career.

Or if you aren't technically sharp work on that. Even if not practicing "modeling" taking the time to learn some advanced Excel or Powerpoint funcationality will dramatically improve your efficiency later.

 

Worked on the floor, work in PE now - It's the same whatever job you do. Sometimes you are busy sometimes you are not. Fuck, I used to be a lifeguard as a kid, the downtime was even worse then, and NO INTERNET!!!

Don't keep pestering people every 3 hours for work as an intern. You'll just piss people off. Just make it clear that you are available to do work for them and it will come. Especially in the summer when a lot of people have bugger all going on anyways and are in the same position. Go and have chats with people instead if it's quiet "would it be ok if I took you for coffee so you can tell me about YOURSELF". It's quite, they'll love the opportunity to act productive by talking to an intern, and you might get them to like you and they'll recommend you for full time.

Work on models etc... Great advice, rarely applied... Someone mentioned the dailymail - I made a New Year resolution for my colleagues not to read it anymore 3 years ago as it used to make me say very un-PC things on the floor :)

 

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