Banks where Analysts are really the bottom of the totem pole
Let me first explain a bit. After reading about investment banking culture a bit, I am getting the impression that analysts are no longer at the bottom of the totem pole. Let me explain a bit. Everybody knows that after episodes with junior bankers (some overworking to sadly the point of death) perks such as protected weekends have come into play. These aren't bad, but from what I have read most of the work just gets shoved up. That means Associates and VPs are putting in more hours than the analysts themselves! Career progression seems to lead to more hardship other than anything. I will straight up admit I am in college and having never worked myself in the industry so these are only impressions that I get from reading WSO. My question then is: What banks still have a conservative work culture where people higher up are treated better than those at the bottom (fewer hours, greater work-life balance, greater vacation time, etc)? Thanks
I doubt there are many banks where Associates and VP's are putting in more hours/treated worse than analysts.
If anything there has been a change in the amount of BS work being asked of junior analysts, ie. update a model/deck even though it will need to be updated tomorrow as well for a pitch in 3 days.
Protected weekends are good in theory, but there's still the same amount of work to be done. I'm not in that situation, but a few of my friends are at BBs and they basically said when they have a protected weekend, it just makes the nights longer during the week. Even if assoc is putting in more hours than an analyst (can't imagine VP would be plus most VPs get to do some stuff from home anyway), hours don't necessarily = level on the totem pole. More responsibility can yield more work, and assoc was never really known for having less hours in the first place since they are managing analysts on top of their own work.
I'm not really understanding what the benefit of getting promoted to an associate is then. If anything they seem to have worse of a life than analysts. Whats the point of working hard in a 2-3 year analyst stint only to have it worse?
Because your pay is essentially doubling from An1 to A1, you are learning how to manage people in multiple directions as opposed to just being managed, and you are being groomed to help your firm develop relationships/business and generate revenue.
Definitely the pay boost like the other guy said. 85k-150k(? idr exactly but it's around there) base in 3 years. You also don't have much of a choice if you're looking to become a career banker, either by choice or due to no exit opps materializing. Hours are better as a VP, and pay is also significantly higher, but you have to get through as an assoc first.
Spent over 12 months interning at investment banks (3 different ones) and I can tell you that your comments are wrong. In my anecdotal experience there has never been a bank where the Associate or VP is grinding longer than an analyst. I would be comfortable in making a blanket statement that with the exception of some broken banks, associates and VPs always have better hours and more vacation time. As an intern I was often there until the last analyst left, and let me tell you that at those times, while there was occasionally an associate grinding too, there were never VPs working in the office. Sure, they were at home turning comments at their leisure, or verifying a model's accuracy, but this was likely after they had 2-3 hours to do non-work related stuff. I am unsure where you got this information but I think it is very misguided. Lastly, if you think analysts aren't at the bottom of the totem pole relative to any front office full-time position (e.g. Associate, VP, SVP, MD), you are on crack.
You are only proving my point. Even though a VP is "at home" they are still doing work waiting for the analyst before making comments. Work is work no matter where you do it. So at best the VP is putting in more total hours. I find it hard to believe that most days analysts do not have at least 2 hours where they are not working so that argument that VPs have 2-3 hours off seems flawed.
You are either incredibly thick or a half decent troll, either way I am impressed.
Let me explain a bit. Analysts are at the bottom and the end of the ol pole.
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Only time analysts aren't the bottom of the totem pole is when interns are around.
Every single bank
If you're in college and your impression is analysts have it better than associates and up, why is this question even relevant when you'd be recruiting into an analyst role?
I'm curious about IB culture. I am also trying to think about what exactly I want my career to be long term as well. I want to make an informed decision rather than just joining the IB-> PE bandwagon without really evaluating all the alternatives.
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