Are Investment bankers happy?
What I see is that investment banking is hard, with long working hours and poor work life balance.
So are the bankers happy and enjoy working or they are just their for exit opportunities and the $ they make?
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What do you think champ? Most posts here are about moving from IB to PE. Even those about deciding between IB offers usually have a "what are the best exit opps" component to them.
Yep! Couldn't agree more
Its strange how people slog sooo much to get into banking just to get out of of it
That is the point of a 2 year program
It's only weird if you've never done it, most kids truly don't know what they sign up for then feel the need to justify continuing because of the time they've sunk. Then you end up with 10 front page I'm quitting as a first year posts in 3 months
Don't think many people are happy as IB analysts (work-related). But the opportunities that arise from it are well worth the pain.
I enjoy my work/hours but the opportunities that I have are nonexistent, basically.
Why? I thought sales and trading has an exit opp to HF.
Don't think it can be considered an exit opp any longer.
It happens for star traders or people that work with credit but it isn't as common as it used to be. Also doesn't help that each time there are less players in the HF space.
Generally speaking, people in sell-side S&T stay in S&T until retirement or until they get fired.
Is anyone really happy in a profession featuring client service?
Exactly...I think that the college kids here think that IB is the only stressful job out there where everyone is unhappy.
I hate my life.
I used to hate it. I try to take a step back and appreciate what I DO have outside of work - mainly family and friends, but also the motivation to stay healthy/grind it out. It’s helped me in the past few months during covid. But no. Investment bankers are not happy.
Once in a while, I hear of a banker who actually likes their job. Is there a way to know if you would likely enjoy it? I don't know how you could work 80-100 hours a week doing something you hate.
When it gets busy it passes by faster than you would think. Not to mention the downtume sprinkled into the job. The only way to really know is to try it for yourself. Like you said, there are a few who do end up enjoying themselves. A good friend of mine does, and she enjoys the grind but doesn’t really have good relationships with her parents and IB helps give her purpose and keeps her busy... pretty depressing lol.
Two things. One, I think culture is so important in IB because of the long hours that when your work culture sucks you really really hate your job. There are also banks with good culture where I know people are generally happier but you’re not going to see a post here about how much someone enjoys their work. Two, I don’t really know anyone that is working their first few years out of undergrad who loves what they do. These jobs aren’t really meant to be insanely interesting. You make good money and grow your network which is all you can ask for. I do think IB can suck but at the same time people do a terrible job of managing their expectations of what their first few years will/should look like
I've had several normal jobs prior to IB and I like this one the best of all. I came in as a second year associate so didn't have to do the analyst slog but it's all about what team you work for. I average 70 hours a week as a third year associate so it's not too bad at all. My bosses are chill and my reviews / bonuses have consistently been top bucket. You guys have no idea how bad it is working a 9 to 5 with people who think within a box and get spooked by juniors who are precocious and actively try to slow them down. I've been given the dumbest, most trite feedback at the regular jobs by people dumber than me, while making half the amount I do now. So I'll take the heavier hours in exchange for that.
Ha ha ha ha ha ha! Happy? HAPPY???? Ha ha ha ha. Bless your heart. That’s a good one!
Sure there are some happy investment bankers. I know both of them!
No they aren't. I've been in cars with ED's on way to airport and have seen them completely just soul sucked, tired and trying to muster up the energy to put on a front b4 prepping for a client. It's a tiring job -- extremley extremely competitive at the top.
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