Am I wrong to be “content” with bottom bucket?

I was going to say will hamper your growth at your current firm but saw your comment about you looking at exits. Unless it affects those, who cares.

Eventually you're going to have to be a decent employee SOMEWHERE to have a long career and make it to middle or upper management. 

That said, plenty of people fuck off at the junior level knowing that they're good interviewers who wont be staying at their current firm very long. It sounds like that describes you, so go ahead and practice the subtle art of not giving a fuck. Just try not to screw over your fellow juniors. It's not right (and they may be important connections one day). 

Be proactive. Go to your staffer and directly say you feel like you are behind the other analysts, and ask how to get better. 

Financially I don’t disagree with the logic. And you shouldn’t let underperformance stress you out to the point it creates a spiral and leads to more underperformance rather than growth. What will hurt you is if your attitude / work ethic tank. The industry is very small and unless you plan to completely exit finance, your reputation from your IB stint will follow if it’s very negative. If you’re bottom bucket but with a good attitude and work ethic the reputation will still be solid.

I’m in a similar boat. From a non-target with a shit GPA. Took me a few years of working in other shitty analyst roles in tandem with 2021 going ballistic for me to make my break. But I made it.

Now that I’m here, I’m just here to do what I need to do and leave. I knew in my first month this career path is not for me. This culture is undoubtedly the saddest thing I’ve seen in my life. I know having this name and experience on my resume will set me up for a very bright future. All I care about.

If you were trying to be the next 30 year old MD, I’d tell you to step it the fuck up. But it seems like we’re in similar situations. So coast. Do quality work, but don’t bend over backward until you’re forced to (because it will happen). Most importantly, never fuck over your juniors.

Those will be the people we’re running shit with 10-20 years down the road, so best to curate the relationships now so they’re there for you later.

I would like to add that even at bottom buckets (maybe not absolutely the bottom of the pole), if you have a great working relationship and have a positive attitude towards improving and taking criticism, you will be just fine in my experience.

The point is that you already starting to fit into playing the long game instead of the sprint. Most people will be burnt out by early 30's in this industry. If you can somehow manage to take care of yourself and your image/reputation toward your peers and superiors, you will go far (albeit much slower than the ambitious go-getter).

My MO in this point of my career is 

1. Be reliable, create quality work, and try to actively reduce the amount of work so you can focus on produce better instead of being more productive. (Quality > Quantity)

2. Be personable/positive, strive to be a person that people would LOVE to work with. Either by being positive, upbeat, and/or just a great person to have on a team. (Find your niche)

3. Create healthy boundaries & build a reputation of strict professionalism, DO NOT mix personal with professional cause it WILL cause trouble in the long run. Slowly build a reputation regarding pushing-off deadline if it seems unreasonable (this will take some time and it goes hand in hand with Point 1). You'll know when it is successful when people respects your decision and starts to not question every move/asks you made. This is the holy grail of a career since you can start actually have WLB and you will be happier overall which then create a positive feedback loop to help you grind day-to-day.

No one knows where we came from and no one knows why we’re here. But yet we sit at a desk for 15 hours a day reconciling literal numbers. Literal. Numbers. It is all made up. What a waste of life.

I laugh at the people that are killing themselves day in and day out. For what? A couple grand more in a one-time year end bonus? seems minuscule at the end of the day.

this is coming from someone that was a top bucket analyst and associate. I laugh at that old version of myself. Have spent an incredible amount of time questioning this industry since then. Once you are senior level, it becomes even more riddled with BS - travel, cold calls, pitching, sucking up to people you never would care to interact with in your personal life.

I’m leaving this line of work for something more fulfilling, but I can confidently say that if you aren’t getting fired, collect that check and work less than the guy that sold his soul for a bonus that gets him one more vacation that he’ll never use. You’ll learn enough to convince people you know what you are talking about. And you don’t need “high finance” experience to get good jobs. 

that's the way. let others ruin their health for a pat on the back.

When I was in banking, my view was always that I was never going to be a perfectionist, but I would but as much effort as needed to make sure I understood the work product and that people could tell I understood it. Would you rather be the guy known for making a pretty slide / perfectly addressing comments or known as the guy that understands the big picture, nuances in different businesses/deals? This way I was prepared for leaving banking while also maintaining sanity.

I think if you're a Y1 in IB and improving significantly, there is nothing wrong with being bottom bucket. It may sound strange, calling out tremendous improvement and still being deemed bottom bucket, but with the massive learning curve there is plenty of room for meaningful growth and development without automatically being top bucket. 

If your approach is to learn and grow as much as possible while not compromising your health and burning the candle at both ends, I don't see anything wrong with that. Maybe you aren't putting in facetime, dont respond to pings within the first two minutes, dont typically work Saturdays, etc., but you are still deemed a reliable asset on live deals and someone who can see the forest through the trees.  As long as you are learning, improving, and growing, being top bucket does not have to be your top priority.