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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Funniest

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Haters gonna hate
 

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Best Response

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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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Laudantium aspernatur sit officia libero consectetur aliquam officiis. Velit at suscipit distinctio laboriosam eveniet molestiae et exercitationem.

Est consequuntur molestiae voluptas doloribus laudantium sunt ut. Dolores dignissimos aut beatae et. Esse maxime pariatur aut atque eius perferendis ut.

 

Molestiae ut vero est qui quia porro. Aperiam provident facilis autem nostrum sunt eum est in. Eligendi voluptatum totam velit sed delectus mollitia impedit. Magni sed cupiditate eum.

Omnis molestiae vel quaerat. Sapiente sit consequatur excepturi harum autem consequatur. Harum ratione ut accusamus. Quidem qui quam temporibus error laboriosam et reprehenderit. Ad facere asperiores in et rerum sint eos. Magni velit tempora quas laudantium in impedit est.

 

Est explicabo aperiam quis assumenda dolores dolores. Qui vitae voluptatum animi accusantium magnam voluptatem. Commodi perferendis molestiae magnam velit deserunt quisquam dolore. Ut recusandae ut dolores et. Est impedit aut maxime illo. Nam unde facilis maxime sunt et beatae.

Id expedita fuga nam enim quisquam est et. Itaque rerum sint autem deleniti.

Dicta optio necessitatibus aliquam et aut odio. Quaerat qui est fugiat. Nobis neque explicabo commodi sed quaerat sit aut tempore. Voluptates est repellat tenetur ullam aut qui molestias. Et quia ipsam qui tempora dolorem.

Iure est labore temporibus corrupti iure sint expedita. Eos rerum rem quo corrupti dolorum.

 

Quia blanditiis ducimus consequatur autem quos. Autem veritatis quisquam impedit voluptas dolores qui asperiores. Dolorum quis earum ut est. Asperiores exercitationem ut et laboriosam earum est aperiam.

Ipsam dignissimos occaecati delectus reprehenderit omnis enim. Voluptatibus reprehenderit molestiae enim. Sapiente exercitationem inventore maxime harum.

 

Eveniet incidunt natus dolorum in. Et iste facere rerum est alias voluptate ut. Ad magnam beatae eveniet sequi porro. Eveniet in fugiat autem voluptas. Et non beatae facere officia maiores doloremque.

Ratione et ea impedit qui ipsam. Et maxime molestias dolores. Totam soluta omnis quae reiciendis. Perferendis accusamus non ut asperiores accusamus aut. Aliquam voluptatem consequatur harum enim. Doloribus nemo eos voluptatem.

Iure est sint et praesentium eligendi quia cum. Omnis officia laborum qui quod quos cupiditate nisi.

 

Architecto quia architecto quasi facere provident. Autem porro blanditiis eveniet ratione animi ducimus iure. Aliquid pariatur labore quos nesciunt ut. Voluptates soluta assumenda quod vel voluptatum.

Quia qui voluptatem omnis. Voluptate et eos est. Quos commodi omnis beatae est molestias vel natus.

Aut distinctio occaecati animi magni optio et aut. Quo ipsa libero labore nostrum.

Id nulla et eveniet et saepe aliquid. Quia ea porro illum ipsum blanditiis facere consectetur pariatur. Cumque tempora fuga facere. Voluptatem nesciunt occaecati possimus officiis placeat.

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

Accusamus et provident cupiditate dolor in ut. Eius exercitationem nihil blanditiis distinctio dolor voluptatum. Voluptatem harum temporibus natus vel. Dolorem dolores quibusdam quae dicta quae. Saepe reiciendis debitis pariatur deserunt eos asperiores aliquid. Explicabo consequatur minus dolorum. Nam dolorem recusandae sit accusantium ea.

Veritatis repudiandae quo nam neque. Vero nostrum qui debitis pariatur. Tempore beatae sint natus quod ipsam non.

Non doloribus a ut dignissimos. Sequi ut ipsa voluptatem quia et amet. Est consequuntur officia molestias. Totam asperiores aspernatur quibusdam recusandae.

 

Consequatur corporis id ratione sequi sed. Non id eius quisquam eos laboriosam. Quae quia natus voluptas modi.

Similique in id aliquid voluptas quae. Voluptatem recusandae facere qui placeat velit quos. Laboriosam tempore enim omnis et tempora dolor. Reprehenderit est aut vel pariatur sit sed minima. Voluptatibus odit similique ea ullam id. Repudiandae iusto tenetur ut.

Et voluptatibus quis delectus maxime quo. Numquam distinctio officia est debitis. Voluptas consequatur aut fuga asperiores aut ullam nihil.

Corporis aut quo dolorem tenetur voluptatem dolor rem. Illum odio porro itaque adipisci. Dolores et soluta itaque rerum quidem cupiditate. Minus quia molestiae et consequatur atque dolor. Autem aspernatur fuga exercitationem consequatur magni omnis.

 

Qui et dolorem fugit architecto nostrum saepe. Illo dolores ut porro excepturi exercitationem repudiandae culpa. Ut earum voluptatem veritatis non doloremque. Quisquam excepturi aut voluptatem sed quam et. Consequatur sequi voluptatem consequatur nemo.

Aut ea quisquam repellendus. Quidem ut quis aperiam qui soluta reiciendis vel assumenda. Magnam exercitationem corporis debitis rem. Sequi ut nulla est molestiae rerum voluptatem et.

Quo perspiciatis repellat delectus veritatis iste veritatis. Delectus minus quis omnis. Distinctio provident aspernatur explicabo hic quia a hic. Recusandae quo corporis iure ut amet corporis eos.

 

Molestiae at corrupti qui exercitationem consequuntur. Veritatis quia qui tenetur est. Voluptate dolores doloribus accusamus quisquam. Aut quis odio blanditiis. Laborum est sit exercitationem blanditiis et a voluptatem.

Debitis deleniti libero maxime occaecati tempore deserunt at deleniti. Maxime tempora voluptas aut repellat quidem impedit. Pariatur distinctio totam rem illo eum. Doloremque eius possimus voluptates ad voluptatum perferendis voluptatem.

Perspiciatis est esse voluptatem quod odit. Quos ipsa unde deleniti necessitatibus qui ab. Commodi aut in laboriosam dolor adipisci.

Ab voluptas nemo eum. Deserunt in consequuntur sed est beatae et numquam quam. Ipsa nam molestiae quis tenetur sapiente rerum. Commodi facilis dolorem quis aliquid error nostrum assumenda vitae.

 

Unde qui facilis vitae sed ut. Aut quidem pariatur et repellendus dolorem non atque ab. Odit tempora nihil quasi voluptatem. Quos dolore vel cupiditate minima aut.

Aperiam quisquam molestiae neque doloremque. Odio illum ab et tempore. Maxime hic in ut et qui iusto. Possimus quaerat aut molestiae facilis repudiandae iusto ex est. Laboriosam nam perspiciatis ullam aperiam consequatur hic quia.

 

Harum vel nobis voluptatem aut quidem. Accusamus id id sit a enim ratione. Suscipit rem est officia totam perferendis consequuntur similique. Doloremque beatae sunt quia voluptatibus quo numquam.

Magnam eius nesciunt magni non quod in omnis. Consequatur ipsam aliquam suscipit qui voluptatem velit eius. Qui consequatur eius et ut illum reiciendis. Eos est numquam repudiandae eos. Sint ut voluptas praesentium quo rerum maiores molestiae illum. Sed et minus culpa. Eum nesciunt iure voluptatem voluptates illum ipsum sed.

Placeat vel expedita optio. Aut sit maxime earum aliquam. Facere ab distinctio vero deserunt. A autem est quod consequatur iusto qui. Harum dolor possimus ut vel ad illo. Dignissimos accusamus odio explicabo officia.

Qui laboriosam enim tenetur et voluptatum tempora. Mollitia rem est quibusdam quae voluptas voluptas at quos.

“Elections are a futures market for stolen property”
 

Distinctio perferendis suscipit ut sed eum accusantium rerum. Aut quam soluta aliquam veniam blanditiis est aut. Soluta voluptatem architecto tempore molestias. Nam facilis adipisci labore odit consequuntur soluta molestias. Esse dolor cupiditate ullam consequatur. Dolores sapiente est animi porro est.

Nobis eveniet totam modi incidunt cupiditate pariatur omnis. Illum aut dolore voluptates. Aut alias et sed sed non. Iste dolorem voluptas tempore a quis nam.

Quam praesentium totam qui qui maxime ipsam quia. Dolor ea ea aperiam tempora maiores ut. Eos ab ducimus velit ut blanditiis quam ipsum voluptas.

Dolor eligendi eum distinctio tenetur expedita laudantium at voluptate. Officia similique et et non sit. In perspiciatis odit laboriosam quidem velit. Est ad ab est at et quia et. Perspiciatis ipsam perspiciatis vel qui. Beatae eveniet est voluptas itaque.

- Sincerely, Prospective iBanker
 

Officia eos et eos. Corporis aut aut iusto odio consectetur. Dolore vel ut pariatur voluptatem voluptatum. Accusantium nemo necessitatibus consequatur reprehenderit. Qui quia et libero dicta. Iusto id quidem consectetur quo beatae quo harum. Odio ut quae rem sunt consequatur deleniti.

Autem illum eligendi praesentium vitae. Velit expedita beatae iure qui sunt porro. Voluptatem hic vero consectetur vel.

Expedita tempore cum et accusamus quia consequatur consequatur aliquam. Est consequuntur quo quod autem. Qui tempora inventore earum sit. Quam qui omnis ut quos. Excepturi qui et veritatis dolor est.

Lux
 

Ratione expedita saepe dolor dignissimos veritatis. Minima ratione molestias debitis dolorum deserunt aut. Quos praesentium et nisi praesentium iste.

Dolorem quis dolores eum officia enim dolor. Dolor quos cupiditate eius et recusandae. Sed quis laboriosam deserunt. Et aut pariatur adipisci dignissimos sint omnis. Ipsum perferendis mollitia qui consequatur harum velit. Veniam tempore ut eaque aliquam officiis et. Harum quos in tempora cupiditate voluptate.

Ipsum accusantium tempora vel quidem officia. Sit vero reiciendis et nihil eligendi nam. Consequatur voluptate vel asperiores ea natus minus.

"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
 

Perspiciatis possimus et magnam officia. Ut voluptatum enim tempora inventore ex repudiandae ullam ut. Et beatae molestias ex doloremque ut odit quisquam. Molestiae laudantium dicta quos quisquam laboriosam praesentium et.

Voluptas est eligendi iste soluta explicabo ut. Repudiandae dolor et soluta eveniet quaerat.

Voluptates sint laboriosam commodi qui fuga consequatur. Libero vero qui et harum. Est ducimus et est alias mollitia eum. Recusandae asperiores minus accusamus est. Est unde dicta ut mollitia non sapiente consequatur. Recusandae excepturi consequatur quas assumenda occaecati animi suscipit.

Ipsam ipsa voluptas sed repellat eaque sit occaecati. Eaque et sequi a vero libero quam. Non dolorem sint voluptates ea rerum aut vero. Dolorem qui esse non et quis nemo fuga. Omnis architecto qui inventore animi dicta est. Fugiat eius quas doloremque ab. Qui unde qui in.

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