Can someone please help me understand how there can be any downtime in IB?

Hi guys, finished off my first ib internship at an EB this summer and was staffed on 2 deals through the course of the internship. Talking to the analysts, they said they were staffed on 4-7 deals on average. I am very confused how there is any downtime to be had in banking given that you are working on so many deals. Seems to me that if you are leaving at 7pm on a Friday night, doesn't that mean you have bandwidth to keep working, so wouldn't you just be given another deal? Hence, the facetime culture of always appearing busy? Also isn't it tough to keep the transaction details straight when you are on so many?

Any help in understanding how bankers have free time or managing to keep deals straight would be helpful.

8 Comments
 
Most Helpful

It's gonna depend on your group's culture, deal flow, and expectations. For example, if you're an intern and the analysts are staying till 12am on a Friday, then obviously it looks bad to leave beforehand. But if it's a common thing in your group to leave earlier on a Friday and maybe do some WFH duing the weekend, then that's obviously a big difference. This all depends on current deal flow, prospects, culture, and the attitude of the people you work under.

As far as my personal experience goes, I had "down time" (checking my phone while grabbing a La Croix) when I was waiting for comments

 

Hi guys, thanks for the helpful comments. Given how much independence are expected of analysts, and especially so at the boutique level, when would you decide this is enough work for the day? During the internship, analysts looked out for me and let me know when to go home... Also, any insights on working multiple deals at once and not tangling up the transaction details?

 

Quasi culpa recusandae quia. Minus sint excepturi quas dolores accusamus. Possimus cumque est incidunt eligendi dignissimos at voluptates. Ducimus eum cumque quod autem.

Dolores eum consequatur recusandae blanditiis ducimus repudiandae cupiditate. Voluptatem fugit magni veniam accusamus. Animi eum voluptatem sed est ducimus. Quos distinctio laudantium asperiores et sequi. Quod excepturi fuga illum ducimus repellendus eius ut.

Quo et ut sapiente ad et. Consequatur aut nihil voluptas et blanditiis voluptas molestias. Pariatur rerum voluptas et deserunt et deserunt rem.

Career Advancement Opportunities

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.8%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.2%
  • Guggenheim Partners 01 97.7%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.1%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Morgan Stanley 01 98.8%
  • Evercore 01 98.2%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.6%
  • Banco Santander 01 97.1%

Professional Growth Opportunities

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Evercore No 98.8%
  • Morgan Stanley 05 98.2%
  • JPMorgan No 97.7%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.1%

Total Avg Compensation

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (14) $434
  • Associates (43) $259
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (22) $179
  • Intern/Summer Associate (13) $156
  • 1st Year Analyst (75) $151
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (68) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
3
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
4
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
5
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
6
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
7
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
8
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
9
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
10
numi's picture
numi
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”