Summer Analysts Under Fire

Tough luck, monkey. You should have been born sooner. That is the reality of today’s SA at his/her Wall Street gig. Though all of you came prepared for the hellish hours and the top-down managerial abuse structure, you probably expected better than what you’re getting. But that’s life once the trickle down faucet ceases to drip it last drops.

I know the article was posted earlier this week, but I still would like to get a poll going as to your opinions on the subject. As Wall Street banks tighten their belts, it is no surprise that the bottom of the totem pole is feeling it the most.


While hard work has been customary among young finance workers for years, after-hours benefits once made the long days more palatable. In 2006, a group ofJP Morgan Chase interns took a firm-sponsored trip in white Hummer limousines to the trendy NoHo nightclub Butter, where they partied before retiring to swank rooms at the Hudson Hotel, according to a person who was present. The next year Lehman Brothers took interns to Jones Beach for a concert featuring OK Go and the Fray, and Credit Suisse paid for its interns to take gourmet cooking classes, according to former interns at the banks.

Does this sort of news make any of you guys think twice about your decision to join the Wall Street rank and file? It is indeed looking more and more like the next generation of monkeys will have a far less prestigious and enjoyable climb up the vines of power, wealth and influence.

I haven’t had a chance to speak to any current SAs about this situation so I want to solicit some opinions. Is this current trimming of the fat something that worries you guys? How have you adapted and most importantly… does it really matter?

 

From my understanding, some of the greatest business leaders were born out of the economic shrinkage that took place during the great depression. I'm really excited about the opportunities that this recession, and its shrinking of the financial sector and its general glut will create for us newbies.

 
ColumbiaKid123:
From my understanding, some of the greatest business leaders were born out of the economic shrinkage that took place during the great depression. I'm really excited about the opportunities that this recession, and its shrinking of the financial sector and its general glut will create for us newbies.

LOL

I hope this is some uber-subtle trolling here.

This is the kind of talk that sounds good to your clueless Columbia professors, but don't ever talk like this at a superday, in an interview, or any time within earshot of a banker.

 
ivoteforthatguy:
ColumbiaKid123:
From my understanding, some of the greatest business leaders were born out of the economic shrinkage that took place during the great depression. I'm really excited about the opportunities that this recession, and its shrinking of the financial sector and its general glut will create for us newbies.

LOL

I hope this is some uber-subtle trolling here.

This is the kind of talk that sounds good to your clueless Columbia professors, but don't ever talk like this at a superday, in an interview, or any time within earshot of a banker.

Why not?

 
leveRAGE.:
futuretrader1999:
dont give a shit as long as i get an offer

This. We still have events, albeit not as glamorous. I'm here to get an offer though, not to go clubbing.

If cutting costs is less perks, I'll take that any day over less jobs.

Non-comp expenses these days are peanuts compared to salaries. This isn't the liar's poker era where briefcases are getting sent to CT in limos. One of the signs I knew I had to get out of a previous company was when they clamped down on color printing. In my area at least, its not like people were printing out tons of stuff in color unnecessarily and then lighting it on fire, they were printing out presentations and graphs that needed to be in color. I can't imagine any significant savings came from it. Maybe firmwide, one job might have been saved by this, and that's a mere rounding error on most MD's bonuses.

The perks in this business are long gone. Last year a guy on my team flew out to HK, and they made him fly coach. When I started at the end of the .com boom, people were flying to Chicago in private jets.

Lately I have been starting to think this business is over. It used to be that you put up with the shit to get the perks and money. The perks are gone, and the money, while still good, isn't it what it used to be. I plan on staying until the next "good period" and see what becomes of the industry. As of right now though, I am very willing to trade a lower paying job with fewer hours than I am right now.

If perks are what you are after, go into advertising. The drink cart still comes by on Friday's at Conde Naste.

 

If you want to be an analyst in China, you need at least a Master's and the perk is being employed.

Ivy kids are so pampered it's not even funny anymore.

"The power of accurate observation is commonly called cynicism by those who have not got it." - George Bernard Shaw
 

new york interns = soft, I'm an SA at a BB in asia and work every sat/sun, up to 120 hours a week, and these kids are complaining about 85....you kidding me?

"The only thing that history teaches us, is that history doesn't teach us anything" -Michael Lewis
 
mephisto:
new york interns = soft, I'm an SA at a BB in asia and work every sat/sun, up to 120 hours a week, and these kids are complaining about 85....you kidding me?

At least in my division, those in asia are borderline incompetent. The 120 hours a week is less impressive when you take into consideration the results that are produced.

 
reddog23:
mephisto:
new york interns = soft, I'm an SA at a BB in asia and work every sat/sun, up to 120 hours a week, and these kids are complaining about 85....you kidding me?

At least in my division, those in asia are borderline incompetent. The 120 hours a week is less impressive when you take into consideration the results that are produced.

HAHA

word.

 
reddog23:
mephisto:
new york interns = soft, I'm an SA at a BB in asia and work every sat/sun, up to 120 hours a week, and these kids are complaining about 85....you kidding me?

At least in my division, those in asia are borderline incompetent. The 120 hours a week is less impressive when you take into consideration the results that are produced.

that's why GS is firing a thousand in new york and hiring a thousand back in singapore (strong SGD actually makes it even more expensive)...because you guys are sooooo efficient

"The only thing that history teaches us, is that history doesn't teach us anything" -Michael Lewis
 
Best Response
mephisto:
reddog23:
mephisto:
new york interns = soft, I'm an SA at a BB in asia and work every sat/sun, up to 120 hours a week, and these kids are complaining about 85....you kidding me?

At least in my division, those in asia are borderline incompetent. The 120 hours a week is less impressive when you take into consideration the results that are produced.

that's why GS is firing a thousand in new york and hiring a thousand back in singapore (strong SGD actually makes it even more expensive)...because you guys are sooooo efficient

All that means is that there is more business in Singapore right now. It really says nothing about the quality of employees in either place.

 

Interesting that you think people at the bottom of the pile are getting it the worst in the current situation. In a recent and particularly brutal round of job cuts at a certain BB, I know for a fact that it was the middle that was squeezed the worst.

When word comes from the top to cut 10% of your budget, unless you're a small team, canning an analyst or two isn't enough. Firing an director won't work either, because you'd far overshoot your target. So it's the associates that get squeezed out.

That said, it isn't funny to come into work one morning and find you're suddenly expected to do someone more senior's job (and your own) - for your salary.

 
British:
Interesting that you think people at the bottom of the pile are getting it the worst in the current situation. In a recent and particularly brutal round of job cuts at a certain BB, I know for a fact that it was the middle that was squeezed the worst.

When word comes from the top to cut 10% of your budget, unless you're a small team, canning an analyst or two isn't enough. Firing an director won't work either, because you'd far overshoot your target. So it's the associates that get squeezed out.

That said, it isn't funny to come into work one morning and find you're suddenly expected to do someone more senior's job (and your own) - for your salary.

Doing a senior's job is easy - small talk in the office, make phone calls to foreign officials and bone hookers in the p.m. What am I missing?

 
karypto:
Doing a senior's job is easy - small talk in the office, make phone calls to foreign officials and bone hookers in the p.m. What am I missing?
By a senior I didn't mean a partner. I meant it more from a trading floor perspective. It's traders at the BB who are leaving in droves at the moment - there simply isn't the need (or the incentive) for them to stay.
 
British:
Interesting that you think people at the bottom of the pile are getting it the worst in the current situation. In a recent and particularly brutal round of job cuts at a certain BB, I know for a fact that it was the middle that was squeezed the worst.

When word comes from the top to cut 10% of your budget, unless you're a small team, canning an analyst or two isn't enough. Firing an director won't work either, because you'd far overshoot your target. So it's the associates that get squeezed out.

That said, it isn't funny to come into work one morning and find you're suddenly expected to do someone more senior's job (and your own) - for your salary.

At the BB I was at... WAS... Many IBD people did not receive offers.

 

Molestiae magnam velit dolore rerum qui illo. Ut quia natus dolores est. Qui minus facere exercitationem molestiae. At minima blanditiis eveniet inventore minus.

Atque distinctio totam iusto necessitatibus dignissimos. Eligendi consequatur veritatis commodi sed quis. Ex quod perspiciatis ipsum fuga expedita.

Sed nihil ratione praesentium facere aut. Consequuntur voluptatem saepe quibusdam illo molestias. Dolore ut dolore eum non. Quisquam modi ut recusandae qui. Laudantium qui qui recusandae numquam explicabo doloribus quia rerum. Voluptatem error dignissimos tempora delectus eligendi et at quia.

Eos aliquid asperiores eos nihil ut aut. Et quisquam error laboriosam nostrum impedit ad ad.

Career Advancement Opportunities

March 2024 Investment Banking

  • Jefferies & Company 02 99.4%
  • Goldman Sachs 19 98.8%
  • Harris Williams & Co. (++) 98.3%
  • Lazard Freres 02 97.7%
  • JPMorgan Chase 03 97.1%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

March 2024 Investment Banking

  • Harris Williams & Co. 18 99.4%
  • JPMorgan Chase 10 98.8%
  • Lazard Freres 05 98.3%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.7%
  • William Blair 03 97.1%

Professional Growth Opportunities

March 2024 Investment Banking

  • Lazard Freres 01 99.4%
  • Jefferies & Company 02 98.8%
  • Goldman Sachs 17 98.3%
  • Moelis & Company 07 97.7%
  • JPMorgan Chase 05 97.1%

Total Avg Compensation

March 2024 Investment Banking

  • Director/MD (5) $648
  • Vice President (19) $385
  • Associates (86) $261
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (13) $181
  • Intern/Summer Associate (33) $170
  • 2nd Year Analyst (66) $168
  • 1st Year Analyst (202) $159
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (144) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
3
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
99.0
4
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
5
kanon's picture
kanon
98.9
6
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
7
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
8
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
9
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
10
Jamoldo's picture
Jamoldo
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”