I hit the desk last month and have worked probably under 40 hours total since I’ve joined. Are any other first years feeling the same (also what type of bank and what you’re staffed on)
| +261 | Earliest you can get fired | 56 | 6h |
| +249 | UBS’s M&A BANKERS ARE DOING TERRIBLY. $200M EXTRA IS BEING CUT | 46 | 3m |
| +224 | Investment Banking is Divine | 38 | 9h |
| +223 | Career Crossroads | 31 | 14h |
| +214 | US 2027 SA IB worried about background check | 52 | 20h |
| +206 | Analyst: Why is UBS IB doing worse than peers?, UBS CFO: No Comment | 41 | 8h |
| +203 | Another $115bn Mega deal for these banks. Congrats! | 43 | 14h |
| +101 | Is UBS really that bad? | 28 | 5m |
| +37 | Is Houston SA 28 recruiting already over? | 32 | 9h |
| +23 | Sweat Group 2026 Discussion | 24 | 10h |
Career Resources
Get instant access to lessons taught by experienced private equity pros and bulge bracket investment bankers including financial statement modeling, DCF, M&A, LBO, Comps and Excel Modeling.
Glad to know I’m not the only one lol. At a BB in what’s considered their top group, but both of my staffings are totally dead.
Please ensure invites to private events are reaching mailboxes in a timely fashion. Thank you!
Are others around you busy?
Same and im in a good EB group
How many deals are you all on?
I started off on one, and had literally zero work for 2.5 weeks, but then was put on another and they both picked up at the same time so it's been a busy 3-4 weeks (tech focused boutique).
Genuinely unsure what ramp time looks like for new analysts at other places.
I’m on 6 live deals, worked nonstop through Labor Day…
6 live to a first year?! What industry group has this much dealflow
maybe O&G/renewables, those guys are always grinding but space is even more active now
R u in tech/HC?
Heh at least FT Partners is paradise, right?
Do not count pitches or other non-mandated busy work as a “live deal”.
A deal is live when you are mandated, ie. There’s a file in the folder with a signed engagement letter an NDA to execute a transaction. There will always be a ton of coverage and pitch work, I doubt you are the analyst on more than 3 deals that are ac to actually live right now.
Analysts (A1) at my bank give all the pitch work to interns and simply disappear (appear as if working from home but offline for hours)
Are you in an equities focused coverage group? I think our (and most people's) M&A heavy teams have maintained decent deal flow, albeit it's slowed down in recent months as spillover deals from 2021 close, but every Equities product group, or Equities focused industry-coverage group (like our RE group) is fairly dead.
It is fine to have down time as an Analyst. Just make sure you approach all of the important people in your group (the one's who write your performance reviews) and ask them what you can get involved with at least 2-3x a week. They're likely tell you nothing, but it makes you look ambitious without actually working any harder lol.
Are you in the office or WFH, and where in the deal lifecycle are your team at? If you're WFH, there's less appetite to loop junior staff in as taking them through things over Zoom is a pain in the ass and takes a lot longer. It's much easier when you're in the office and people can quickly shoot questions back and forth. Before people MS me for being a RTO hardo, I'm a WFH proponent but reality is for your first 6 months they're best spent in the office until you know what you're doing without needing to ask basic questions. Once you can run the basic analyst workstreams without asking for guidance every 30 minutes, WFH as much as you want as far as I care.
If your team are in the middle of a few live deals they're focused on getting closed, it would probably be more time consuming than time saving for more experienced team members to involve fresh 1st years and teach them what they need to do. It's counterproductive longterm, but when you're in the middle of a live deal (particularly in this market) you're not as focused on professional development of juniors. You typically involve them from the start (i.e. pitch) and take them on the journey. It only makes sense to loop them into live projects if it's a slower timeline where there is time to check output / go through multiple turns.
Id iste ratione dolores magnam. Natus nobis eos aut ipsa. Enim quasi molestiae reprehenderit qui amet amet. Consequuntur amet quia pariatur. Sed adipisci pariatur repellendus labore voluptatem. Quam nostrum qui aut aut.
Quisquam voluptate sint mollitia et voluptatibus nulla et. Molestiae nemo omnis sunt ratione. Non ab maxime ad et eos. Repudiandae velit possimus ullam dignissimos id. Nisi iusto voluptatem quia dicta accusantium perspiciatis dicta.
Nulla qui dolorum blanditiis harum iste. Voluptas quo ipsam quia asperiores dignissimos perferendis dolores. Sapiente laudantium et debitis. Est sed ut natus accusantium nulla excepturi quas. Ut nostrum pariatur ducimus voluptates voluptatem. Ab nihil in itaque consequatur.
See All Comments - 100% Free
WSO depends on everyone being able to pitch in when they know something. Unlock with your email and get bonus: 6 financial modeling lessons free ($199 value)
or Unlock with your social account...