Analyst vs Associate Hours
Hi All,
I was hoping for some insight on the difference in hours worked by analysts vs associates (in London mainly but interested in US too) at a BB. I am speaking with a LevFin team next week for an associate position and want to know what I could be getting myself into.
I went from undergrad into an analyst role with the high yield/ leveraged loan team of an asset manager, where the hours aren’t fantastic but by no means are the nightmares I hear from peers working on the sell side, so I really don’t have much of a view on how the associate vs analyst work-life balance compares.
Not sure about BBs but at EBs in the US, if you’re a good associate you’re working the same number of hours, if not more hours, than the analysts during your first 6-12 months on the job. The role of associate and VP are the worst in this industry tbh
Don’t know if the roles are “the worse”. I think it’s different. Potentially as an Associate you will have less 3-4am nights because the Analysts will work through these while you’ll have to review in the morning. However you will work long hours regularly because you’ll be on more situations and need to be available to respond to clients etc. (and will have to “prove yourself” at the beginning + won’t know the job).
At my EB I would say Associates work the same as analyst, with a small difference in intensity variation (more variation for analysts).
Even if the hours are roughly the same, does the type of work (more strategic vs pure process/formatting) make Associate life more manageable?
bump
There’s a huge difference between 1st year and 3rd year associates
iF you’re first year then you’ve probably got it worst
Not at an EB but can confirm associates nowadays have the worst jobs. Partially due to management not trying to kill analysts so work gets sent upwards to associates who are more captive and also because associates frequently have to play up a level or down a level in their role depending on circumstance. It starts easing up as you become senior associate. Your life as VP varies depending on how strong your juniors are - it can be pretty miserable if you don't have trust in the juniors' work so have to be on 'mistake spotting' mode for every single thing they produce.
Just curious, how does it start easing up as you become Associate 2/3? If you are still staffed with an analyst and he/she doesn't have capacity/ability to do the work, then you still have to step in right?
A huge part of it is just that you know what you’re doing. You know the basics (formatting, modeling, data sourcing, better eye for formatting and errors) but also how to handle multiple workstreams. How to adjust to working with new seniors. Probably most importantly you develop a feel for when stuff is really due.
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