Are long working hours in banking exaggerated?
I understand Investment Banking is a stressful business with tight deadlines.
But what I read is every week they are Working 100+ hours, no holiday, no work-life balance, no recreation time.
Is this exaggerated, what I think is few weeks may be a 100ish. And others would be normal working.
And if the above stated is true, then why people get into banking, cause I believe no money can compensate for a life like that.
All the bankers out their please share your experiences, would definitely help people like me, who want to get into banking get a clear picture.
And Thanks in advance :)
Great comp right out of school, exit opps, prestige, steep learning curve (at the beginning), etc.
70hrs average, varying between 50-110hrs, with less “effective hours” than that. Most weeks will be 60-80 hours, I would say 9-12 + some weekend work is pretty standard
Generally, yes, I think hours are exaggerated, but they're still rough and I'd advise that you think of things less in terms of hours and more in terms of a weekly schedule. When you're working those hours is just as important as how many you're working. My schedule is usually:
That probably works out to around 80 hours, but is at least somewhat manageable. The problem with thinking of it in terms of 80 vs 90 vs 100 is that the real metric you care about is your amount of free time (and how much time you can spend disconnected). Going from 80 to 90 might not sound bad (only 12.5% increase in hours), but it could just mean that you don't get Saturday off or that you're barely sleeping during the week.
Your protected Saturdays are actually enforced? Please tell me where you work lol
Depends what you mean by "enforced." If a client asks to meet on Saturday, no partner ever is going to say "oh sorry, Saturday is protected for my junior bankers." So if you go by the strictest sense of the word, then no, its not enforced.
But there's direction given from the top that people shouldn't ask juniors to work on Saturday. That does actually mean something to people. Believe it or not, not everyone in banking is trying to haze you by making you finish profiles and back pocket slides until 4am every night, so having it put into writing does actually help.
What it means in reality is that you don't have to be responding to emails every minute, and internal work can slip. Which is a lot more helpful than it sounds.
The hours are dependent on the group and bank. Most people exaggerate the hours because they like wearing it as a badge of honour but the lack of work life balance and stress is verifiable.
I used to work 80 to 85 hours on average with some weeks close to 110 on live deals but now I am working close to 100 hours weekly. Covid has made everything so much worse and permanently destroyed the morale in my group.
That being said - if you can cut in ib then you can cut it at any other corporate job. You are thrown into the deep end on the first day and are forced to adapt to the deadlines without guidance from senior level bankers. If you accept this uncomfortable feeling and frustration you are going to develop thick skin and an insane work ethic.
I got into banking because I grew up poor and did not mind being treated like a work horse. The hours suck and the people you work with are hit or miss but I am too money hungry to leave. The upside is that I love helping out students from my non target that demonstrate interest - it actually brightens my day receiving the generic email that I used to send when I was in their shoes so I always make time for a call.
Tldr - Banking is great for someone that has the time and energy to work long hours and does not mind being under pressure. The compensation trajectory and exit opportunities are appealing so many bankers will work through the endless nights of frustration and agony without leaving.
I usually work from 9-(12-2) everyday. Usually maybe 10% downtime or taking a break. Friday is usually 8:30-(7-10) and no work on Saturday or just sending an email and maybe 6-8 on Sunday. Problem isn’t the average week it’s the bad weeks (usually come in stretches) went a live deal blows up or multiple deadlines. I actually started to track my hours since starting and if I remember I’ll post my chart of it tonight
Yeah Looking forward to your charts
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