Hit the desk a few weeks ago and I find banking extremely boring. I haven’t been on a live deal but the thought of doing this for another 100 weeks is going to kill me. I don’t mind the hours (most weeks aren’t too bad (leave by 11/12) and can get 7-8 hours of sleep) but it’s the days where I have nothing to do but wait for comments or more work. Also, the thought of messing something up gives me extreme anxiety.
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It'll be more fun in the office if your group has solid culture.
its complete shit. I'm thinking of leaving and joining a startup soon
1) Fill your dead time with something productive. Sneak out to the gym, go for a run, read books, prep for PE (or research other exits), study for the GMAT/CFA/dog-walking license, or day trade. Waiting for comments doesn’t have to mean staring at the WSJ or just moping around.
2) Without becoming flippant, don’t worry too much about mistakes (especially on turns). The bankers above you are far-better compensated and more experienced — it’s their job to catch, correct, and teach re: your mistakes. If you spend 5 minutes freaking out before every internal email i) you’re making yourself miserable ii) you’re wasting everyone’s time and iii) you’re not going to catch everything anyways.
3) The job does get a lot better as you gain a bit of experience (and prove yourself to be semi-competent). You’ll get faster, be asked to work on cooler stuff, and the nervously formality with your teams will wear off. If you can avoid becoming jaded — and I know COVID is probably increasing the garbage grunt work you’re doing vs. ‘real work’ — second year might be something of a revelation.
I'm sure you meant this a different way, but bankers aren't allowed to day trade for the most part.
Appreciate the other points though. Well said.
Sorry this may be stupid but couldn't you daytrade futures or something? Doesn't have to be equities, and I'm not sure they would flag you for trading ES, not like you're going to inside trade the whole market.
You have to preclear every trade
Really depends on the bank. Preclearance can mean 1 more instance of ticker entry, or an insurmountable hurdle.
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