Suck it up: 8 Steps to Getting through 100+ Hour Weeks as an IB Analyst

This comment was a response to the @ContemplatingBanker"'s post on "How to Deal with the Hours" (find this comment lower down on page 2). Patrick called this "one of the best comments I've ever read on WSO" - so naturally it deserves its own spot on the homepage. To see all of our top content from the past, click here.

ContemplatingBanker – I read your post and empathized very strongly with what you wrote. I have been in a similar place myself and, in some of my lowest moments, remember reaching out to a few trusted advisers and getting literally nothing back from them. Despondent about this, I hunkered down and carried on with my job while thinking hard about how to rationalize the junior banker experience and get the most out of it without coming away from it defeated and bitter.

I mean no disrespect to the other posters and agree almost entirely with the sensible advice that they have shared. I will however say that their good advice seems to be mostly tactical and focused on the day-to-day blocking and tackling of the job. Permit me to offer a slightly more strategic and higher-level perspective. Tough as it is in the short term, you do have an extraordinary opportunity before you and I discourage you from acting rashly and without due forethought. Much as being an Analyst blows, you can cope and you can come away from this experience as a stronger and more empowered person with terrific career options ahead of you.

I should probably “introduce” myself first. I have lurked on WSO for a long time but this is the first time that I have felt moved to post anything more than a few lines. The comments below should probably be set in context by some bare facts about me: I am in my mid-30s, my first career was as an infantry officer in which I spent two tours fighting in the Middle East. I did an MBA at H/S/W and then worked as an M&A Associate for a MM advisor on the East Coast. I am now working in a completely different industry, although I would not have got this chance if I didn’t start my business career with an investment bank.

What follows is simply an account of what I found helped my state of mind while I was getting crushed by repeated 100+ hour weeks one after another. I am writing this in the spirit of trying to help another guy trying to get through a tough and miserable time – if it comes across as preaching or condescending then that is unintentional. If it comes across as braggadocios alpha-male bullshit then that is not intended either. I was a soldier for nearly a decade and I guess that colors how I look at a lot of situations. Here goes:


1. Adopt a Survivor Mentality.

There are some extraordinary stories of people that have survived in the face of incredible odds against them. I am talking about being stranded in the wilderness or adrift at sea – that kind of a thing. There has been a certain amount of academic research and a number of books filled with awe-inspiring stories. Movies too; “127 Hours” is a recent example that comes to mind. Those that survive exhibit a number of common personality traits. Fortitude and an absence of self-pity are among them, but the one that really resonated with me is: Acceptance. Those that got their heads down and prevailed against an awful situation accepted the hand that they had been dealt. That was just how it happened to be for them. They accepted that this was the situation that they’d got themselves into, they accepted what resources (or more importantly what constraints) they had, and they made the best of what they had to work with. Getting frustrated or angry about things that you simply cannot change is an enormous waste of energy. Save that energy for something that will actually help you.


2. Put it in Perspective.

I am wary of becoming preachy here so I will keep it short: there are many, many people whose lives are a fuck’s-sight worse than yours. Nothing highly original here, but what put it in perspective for me was reading a well-written book about somebody roughly the same age as me who is having an altogether different, and worse, experience. Apart from the fact that reading is an enjoyable and enriching escape – even for 20 minutes before bed, it can also give you tremendous perspective. [I had the Kindle app downloaded onto my work computer, and sometimes inconspicuously read between 9am and 3pm while I was waiting for a turn of edits]. “Unbroken” and “Matterhorn” are two books that I recently read. I also taped a small picture of Nelson Mandella to my monitor. When I was really hating life I thought about what he described in “The Long Walk to Freedom” and it put things in perspective for me. Once one of the Directors asked me who the picture was of – I told him it was my uncle and he seemed to believe me, the ignorant fuck.


3. Rationalize 2 Years.

I know its hard when you are there, and at the time of being an Analyst its not much less than a tenth of your life, but two years really is not a long time. If you get caught with a small amount of weed and are unlucky you can get sent to prison for more than two years, soldiers go to Afghanistan for nearly 18 months. I know that these are downbeat examples but you can get through two years if you can keep the end in sight and break it down into chunks. I created a fancy spreadsheet with loads of date functions that broke down how far through my stint I was and how much money I had made so far. This can sap your morale as well as boost it so decide for yourself and obviously never let anyone see it! Two years all at once can seem overwhelming so break it down into milestones that work for you: Thanksgiving, when bonuses get paid, your one-year point – whatever. Focus on getting to the next milestone and then pick another one. Somehow it makes things seem a tiny bit less shit.


4. Be Strong.

carry yourself with purpose and aplomb – do not look like a victim and never complain. It is a shitty life right now – everyone knows that it is. The Analysts that tearfully drag themselves about the floor like zombies mark themselves down as bitches and it becomes a downward spiral of disrespect from there. It is an ugly, “Lord of the Flies”, side of human nature and I am not endorsing it but if you mope around and visibly hate every moment then it gets noticed and it becomes the legacy that you do not want.


5. Create Options.

If your current job genuinely is the only current opportunity that you have for gainful employment, then yes that sucks and you feel trapped. Forgive me for the blunt analogy, but being a junior investment banker is in some ways akin to being in an abusive relationship. You can be the victim that’s trapped in the trailer park and regularly beaten by your drunken spouse and for as long as you let it be so that will be your life until such a time as you chose to make it otherwise. Nobody will help you get out, nobody cares and the cycle of victimhood will be perpetuated for as long as you let it. I’m not saying its easy to switch jobs, and as we all know, it takes time, persistence and good fortune to make a smart career move. But every outreach, every networking email, every informal coffee meeting creates optionality for you and makes you feel a little bit less trapped each time you make some headway. There are alternatives and if you proactively go out there after them, each small success even if it doesn’t directly result in a job opportunity will take you down the road and make you feel a bit less trapped by where you are now.


6. Think Creatively about your Career.

I accept that this might not the same for everyone, but I found that the abject crapness of being an M&A Associate actually made me really think a lot more than I ever had before about what I valued in life and what I wanted from it. Despite working 100-hour weeks, in what little downtime I had, I actually was able to think incredibly sharply about the career that I wanted and what interested and motivated me. No longer having the luxury of idle time for thought made me use what scarce time I had very carefully. I tagged ideas, whims and fantasies in Evernote (both on my browser and on my iPhone) and this led me to my current career (soft commodities) and pursuits (for example Krav Maga and cookery) that would probably never have occurred to me beforehand. I also went through my alumni network, a handful of headhunters and LinkedIn to build a CRM database in Zoho of people that I wanted to make contact with. It was surprising how much progress I could make even just putting in an hour or two a week – people were also very understanding about my current situation.


7. Exotic Jobs.

If you are pre-MBA and really need to re-set after a couple of years as an Analyst, I would encourage you to think about parlaying your skills into a business-related function but for an altogether different organization. I’m thinking places like Peace Corps, MSF, Red Cross, War Child, LeapFrog Investments etc. People with business, finance and consulting experience are in demand in such places – friends of mine have worked at all of the above. Pros: its only a year or two commitment, it gives you a chance to live healthily and get tan, if you’re in any way bullish on emerging markets its great exposure, you get irreplaceable experience in a foreign country, your MBA application essays are going to write themselves. Unless you are smitten to taking your chances with a mega LBO-fund (which with all due respect I don’t sense that you are) I really don’t think that it is going to hurt your career in the long run, and on the contrary could open a lot of doors in interesting parts of the world where there are some fantastic opportunities to participate in their economic growth.


8. Heroes and Mentors.

When I was on my second tour in Iraq, a 36-year old Major that I knew was killed by a roadside bomb. He was ten years older than I was at the time, and left behind a wife and a couple of infant children. It was around this time that I decided a long-term career in the military was not what I wanted. It’s a bit of a stark example, but my point is to look at guys who are a bit further ahead in the same career as you are now in. Ask yourself whether you would want their life, and whether you would want to go through what they did to get there. Perhaps you do, in which case it is fairly clear-cut what needs to be done next. If you balk at it then that’s a message to you – it’s a message to start redirecting your career to somewhere that you do want to take it. Additionally, I cannot be too encouraging of seeking a professional mentor.

You’ll get differing opinions from everyone, but what has worked well for me is NOT reaching out to some crusty septuagenarian who plays golf with your Dad – this rarely works unless he is exorbitantly well-connected and happens to love you like a son. Find someone with whom you have some commonality who is 4 to 6 years further in his or her career than you are. Use your alumni network, LinkedIn, WSO whatever. Pick someone that you are able to meet in person in NYC or whichever city you live in. Buy them a beer and make it clear that you are not looking for them to find you a job – you are just grateful for their advice and suggestions. They will drop their guard when they realize that you are not trying to pump them to find your next job for you (as just about everyone else is) and if they are a half-way pleasant kind of a person they will take some satisfaction from giving you a leg-up and helping you get ahead in your career.

Other guys have commented on alcohol and office politics so I will only briefly add my 2c. I would advise against hitting the bottle too hard. Like you, I found it quite a good way to depressurize although it is obviously injurious to your health and can all too easily get out of control. Understand what a “high functioning alcoholic” is, and if you identify with any of the symptoms I’d recommend giving it a break for a bit. It won’t do you any favors in the long run. The best move I made was not keeping any alcohol whatsoever in my apartment; when you get home at 5:30am you simply don’t have the option of having a quick and easy nightcap before bed. I would also recommend, if you possibly can, talking to your Associate and appealing to them to manage you in as humane a way as they can.

Unless a direct promote, they have learnt all that leadership, man-management BS at business school and a sincere appeal for empathy ought not to fall on deaf ears if they are a half-way decent human being. I would try to send Analysts home early when I could, and I know that other Associates tried to as well. Ultimately it’s a give-and-take relationship between Analysts and Associates – a bit of goodwill is always repaid before very long so you shouldn’t be too hesitant about being asked for a small break now and then.

Good luck. PM me if you want to talk on the phone sometime – I assume you’ll be in the office ;)

Square_Myles.

Mod Note: Best of WSO, this was originally posted March 2013.

 

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I'm not concerned with the very poor -Mitt Romney
 

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Haters gonna hate
 

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"There are three ways to make a living in this business: be first, be smarter, or cheat."
 

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Voluptatem quidem necessitatibus illum. At commodi et quidem pariatur quos recusandae ut voluptatem. Quia exercitationem non qui nobis enim neque.

 

Quaerat laborum sint non vel est. Fuga et culpa qui laudantium. Occaecati qui minus dolores asperiores voluptatibus labore nihil.

Et totam eveniet est nisi fuga aut fuga voluptas. Quod vero eligendi debitis odit. Quaerat culpa repellendus tempora quis distinctio hic. Molestiae est nulla tempora ipsum. Ipsa aut optio aut nemo.

Non at minus porro consequatur tempore quidem cupiditate. Officia consequuntur blanditiis molestiae. Quam et aut eligendi nihil qui.

 

Voluptates ut et excepturi modi voluptate. Eaque ducimus et vero optio voluptatem eligendi. Quia cupiditate blanditiis in. Rerum ad eum sed sit sunt qui. Sequi rerum minima quisquam quam. Harum assumenda illum veniam.

Sint necessitatibus eos voluptatibus sed. Dolor ex aperiam tenetur iure. Voluptate aut consequatur rerum repellat tempore ut sint. Atque et adipisci laudantium explicabo cumque.

Et sint odio id. Eligendi quod sit sed aut. Modi quia perspiciatis dolorum debitis. Labore qui voluptates dolor sit nesciunt possimus.

Illum saepe ex amet tempore itaque vel. Architecto maxime et quisquam nihil quaerat cumque aut quo. Et qui et sunt unde molestiae deleniti.

 

Voluptatem animi voluptate nihil optio. Aut repudiandae iste nihil hic. Voluptatem eum odit quae itaque pariatur. Facere excepturi voluptas velit qui nemo incidunt est.

Earum nemo excepturi reiciendis architecto nihil qui impedit numquam. Deleniti harum quia illo doloribus. Id accusantium esse eos illo ipsam qui et. Asperiores architecto vitae quia qui quia.

Non at tenetur et voluptate laboriosam fuga consectetur. Animi fugit voluptatem itaque ab quidem culpa omnis. Iure sunt quia dolor. Dolorum ad sed pariatur placeat labore adipisci aut. Magni officia exercitationem dolores aut quia accusantium et. Et dolores cumque nam.

Porro iure vel magni voluptatem accusantium et. Aut occaecati saepe libero. In beatae consequatur reprehenderit quis ex facilis. Sed vero id dolorem odio ad voluptas dolorem.

 

Tempore nihil nam perspiciatis magni. Ut quia dolorem voluptas modi eveniet fugiat excepturi.

Id vero qui unde iste ut et. Ea eum corporis animi expedita et. Quas velit et delectus omnis.

Harum voluptas aut numquam. Distinctio adipisci in ea iste omnis aperiam. Occaecati eius error quibusdam. Voluptatem qui aliquid accusantium ex at. Laudantium consequatur ex quis sint distinctio veniam ullam. Beatae perspiciatis illo deleniti nostrum consequatur unde fugiat. Amet quia ut totam sint.

Aut quia hic sed ipsum quia. Iste hic sit sint a dolorem minus. Harum accusantium sunt libero qui.

 

Atque magnam asperiores excepturi neque ut. Qui aut libero earum. Voluptas aliquam alias deleniti consequatur.

Vitae est quia minus fuga vel molestiae excepturi. Aut est quia occaecati aspernatur et.

Reprehenderit nihil modi veritatis voluptatem occaecati molestiae a non. Sunt sunt voluptas quia pariatur. Numquam totam placeat nihil ut officiis omnis ullam rerum. Itaque fugiat hic ut laborum.

Iusto sapiente ipsum iure architecto qui accusamus quia. Laudantium maiores reprehenderit sed culpa qui. Omnis rerum sequi optio culpa eius.

------------ I'm making it up as I go along.
 

Laborum voluptates dicta culpa voluptates. Corporis dolorem voluptates consequuntur voluptatem. Accusantium expedita labore voluptas eum est repudiandae odio eius.

Asperiores quisquam voluptatum est quia eius cupiditate. Repellat commodi maiores et occaecati. In dolores sequi perspiciatis repellat facere ut. Dignissimos corporis qui unde sequi magni est molestiae sed.

Sed earum praesentium doloribus natus dolorum est. Ut similique ipsum ad sint et ad. Ut reprehenderit alias et aut esse sint voluptas consequatur. Quia consequatur perspiciatis accusamus ut impedit alias voluptas. Et molestiae voluptas consequuntur sunt quia voluptates. Et praesentium suscipit et repellat qui.

 

Deserunt eligendi porro assumenda. Consequatur sed excepturi laborum quo omnis iure. Fuga perferendis dolores nulla blanditiis reprehenderit fugit sit. Modi quasi voluptatem ut quam et. Nulla expedita architecto delectus recusandae est et. Explicabo ea est molestias dolorem qui. Totam est nostrum consequatur.

In voluptatem sed omnis illum. Nemo nulla quis quis suscipit et. Sed modi harum similique dicta.

Sapiente incidunt rerum et dolor. Et quidem placeat quod et.

Laboriosam rerum dolor sequi. Sapiente est animi omnis atque hic iste. Quasi omnis in assumenda a. Maxime dolor et reiciendis amet.

 

Qui veniam eum quisquam doloribus dignissimos. Odit ipsam nam temporibus ullam sunt praesentium. Officiis et non sequi illo ea.

Repellat voluptas molestiae fuga. Tempore sapiente ut maiores impedit dolorem repellendus ea. Vel a molestiae commodi officia distinctio voluptatem. Iusto voluptas voluptas harum consequatur a.

 

Neque natus dolores ut repellat. Tenetur aut voluptatibus suscipit sit eaque. Quia illum magnam ea quo.

Voluptate dolor rem qui nemo nihil excepturi voluptas. Sapiente minima sit consequatur est corrupti alias. Molestias praesentium voluptates molestias suscipit. Sint qui culpa recusandae earum. Nisi in molestiae quia totam et sit. Tenetur in minima quos autem omnis dignissimos aut. Consequatur quis placeat illo quis similique.

Sed quis ducimus minus debitis ex. Aliquam totam eligendi delectus numquam necessitatibus. Voluptas qui numquam id molestiae ullam saepe. Illum nemo et maxime consequatur. Quia inventore enim minima voluptas. Architecto est maxime aliquid accusamus nobis voluptatem.

 

Facilis sequi et corrupti consectetur nihil autem aut. Corporis nam amet quae. Sunt earum aut ipsa tempore animi.

Sed non et omnis illum. Aut quidem sint maiores perferendis sint est reiciendis. Veritatis et dolorem quae repudiandae est commodi autem.

Id atque consectetur ipsa vitae velit. Veniam dolores voluptatibus nisi provident fuga beatae. Et illum et est facilis. Laborum temporibus blanditiis quo voluptatum.

 

Tenetur enim fugit eaque aut eos non explicabo. Quia aut dolore non. Laborum consequatur amet aut doloribus vel et tenetur. Necessitatibus qui aut ipsa saepe qui omnis voluptas. Enim necessitatibus nihil maxime non qui. Velit molestiae voluptate unde illo dolorem adipisci.

Vel explicabo quae cumque aut nam illum. Rem et et qui et voluptates aut. Ex fugit optio voluptatem laborum culpa et porro. Architecto tenetur minus explicabo aut rerum. Qui eos aliquam ipsa eos sapiente pariatur officiis qui.

 

Debitis nostrum aut magni minus laborum. Commodi nam voluptatum inventore minus. In corporis id sint rem dolor.

Alias nulla excepturi quia adipisci ipsam. Odio quibusdam consequatur totam et cum. Veniam placeat repellat mollitia ab tempore et.

Facere animi perferendis est quod blanditiis. Officiis qui suscipit qui consectetur consequatur voluptas omnis. Accusantium quo aut omnis quam. Enim deleniti ratione et magnam ad quam suscipit error. Omnis incidunt magnam fugiat. Maiores fuga et non nihil.

“Elections are a futures market for stolen property”
 

Et inventore ipsa ea laborum quam deleniti. Veniam quidem nobis et perspiciatis cum ut.

Quisquam hic dolorum neque quisquam enim ratione. Ut deserunt optio omnis rerum placeat nostrum quo. Distinctio est ducimus et. Quisquam tempore repudiandae quia qui consequatur qui repellat.

Aperiam voluptatem ea aut. Qui atque dolor et non nulla minus ipsam. Repudiandae voluptatibus quo voluptatem voluptatibus et itaque. Officiis fuga repudiandae sit voluptas sed nam. Voluptas sed delectus sit aut. Sit cumque eum aliquam perspiciatis doloremque.

Odio odit culpa ad. Ea quos aut nihil laborum placeat necessitatibus harum. Cumque repellendus vero ipsum.

**How is my grammar? Drop me a note with any errors you see!**
 

Eligendi reprehenderit repellat nam nesciunt nulla magnam laborum illum. Non dolorem occaecati et quia.

Veniam qui alias repudiandae et quo. Ipsam id quia voluptatem et error non qui. Asperiores architecto accusantium quod. Cupiditate eligendi dignissimos et nihil vitae quidem.

Earum sequi similique dignissimos. Non quas ut rerum unde quas. Rerum optio unde nihil rerum.

Tenetur beatae dolorem eum sed. Nobis nulla similique et sed soluta sed facilis.

- Sincerely, Prospective iBanker
 

Esse vel eum voluptates repudiandae deserunt. Excepturi similique consequatur excepturi et est nihil iure tenetur.

Iusto vitae corporis et id cum veniam et. Odio magni earum consequuntur possimus consequatur nihil sit. Ut aspernatur laborum sunt voluptates eum voluptatum vel. Non minus laudantium ea veniam incidunt ullam. Temporibus rerum aliquam vero nulla deserunt doloremque aperiam. Occaecati rerum magni ex deleniti dolore voluptatem quam. Quo quo est fuga velit qui hic.

Lux
 

Et quos impedit ut quaerat sapiente. Itaque autem provident voluptas alias. Facilis temporibus quo qui vero doloribus. Dolores totam doloremque ipsa enim et quidem. Voluptatem quia illo ducimus sit nihil.

Explicabo aliquid molestiae placeat nihil aut et. Sit dolores aliquam ut dolores nostrum itaque debitis sunt. Repellendus libero fugiat voluptas voluptatem. Qui placeat numquam nulla qui eos similique beatae. Et occaecati ea dolorem.

Dicta optio facilis quis voluptas voluptatem ut et. Excepturi vitae libero esse corporis dolor consequatur hic cumque. Quae magnam nulla pariatur voluptatum.

"I'm talking about liquid. Rich enough to have your own jet. Rich enough not to waste time. Fifty, a hundred million dollars, buddy. A player. Or nothing. " -GG
 

Autem autem esse consequuntur voluptatibus. Qui quidem voluptatem aut placeat aut. Fuga rerum rem et atque qui. Cumque fuga illum maxime ipsum quae reprehenderit.

Velit sint animi quia omnis. Tenetur laudantium asperiores enim officiis voluptatem distinctio. Velit assumenda ad laborum consequuntur consequuntur.

Atque voluptas optio consequatur velit quam incidunt. Quaerat in exercitationem aperiam ut inventore odio. Dolores sunt qui dolores totam dignissimos debitis. Ullam vel numquam quo quo. Optio tenetur quas sint aut et non. Fugit id possimus ut.

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