Just wanted to get everyone's advice on this forum, given how helpful it's been to me. I've been working at an EB (Moelis, PJT, etc) for 6 months and I ABSOLUTELY HATE IT - hate the culture, hate the work , hate everything about the job. I've always thought I wanted to do PE but if it remotely resembles banking, I'd rather shoot myself than work in the industry. Thoughts about quitting? Should I stick it out?
| +145 | Restructuring: Anti-climactic Experience | 38 | 3h |
| +111 | IB Net Worth / Savings Check | 51 | 16h |
| +98 | Woman who emptied Knicks trashcan on street then stole it was DEI exec, worked at JPMorgan Chase | 25 | 14h |
| +79 | Stop sleeping on UBS - it’s pretty good | 29 | 13h |
| +72 | Hot take: I’d rather be at Desjardins than UBS for investment banking in 2026 | 13 | 8h |
| +56 | 2026 VAULT PRESTIGE RANKINGS | 30 | 13h |
| +39 | AI + Financial Modelling | 12 | 1d |
| +34 | Hardest interview experiences? | 20 | 11h |
| +28 | Summer before college | 18 | 7h |
| +26 | Current State of UBS in North America | 8 | 3d |
Career Resources
Get instant access to lessons taught by experienced private equity pros and bulge bracket investment bankers including financial statement modeling, DCF, M&A, LBO, Comps and Excel Modeling.
What do you hate about IB? If it’s long hours you won’t like PE much better.
How sweaty has it been?
hey man - thanks for sharing. echoing above, what is it that you don't like about it? Is it more the admin stuff or being on call 24/7? Is it balancing being friends with your other analysts vs trying to be stand out? The first 6 months is always the hardest because you are swallowing the sizable pill that this is your life. Not banking but for 40 years you will wake up and go to bed working. Most juniors struggle within the first 6 months not loving it.
I just think the nature of the work - I just can't see myself sitting in front of an excel screen for the next few years of my life. And I reallly really hate the administrative, non-thinking nature of a lot of the work. I've always been working weekends a lot and barely have time to see friends. I'm fortunate enough to be in a position where I don't need to make a lot of money in the short-term and each day its just getting harder to justify doing the job
what did you think you would be doing? yes it's a lot of admin work. But shouldn't that be a blessing? You're getting paid to sign forms, send emails, and move shapes. You also have the opportunity to get across models and learn. This is what you signed up for. I'm guessing you didn't intern in this group?
That sounds like hell. Why wouldn’t you want to do something intellectually stimulating for work?
I'd wear a giraffe hat and hold a Toys R Us Sign in the middle of Times Square if it meant I was living in a Soho loft. I try not toe be entitled in to what I want to do. I look at that am I good at, what can I get good at, and who is willing to pay me the most for it. Welcome to IB.
Can't wait for a PE associate to stroke his own ego in the comments by telling you how much more "interesting" and "intellectual" the work they do is in creating IC memos.
Hey, I felt pretty similarly and ended up switching to MBB from an EB after ~8 months. Happy to chat if helpful
Was there a clawback on your signing bonus? Interested in switching to consulting but I have a clawback
Happy to answer that by PM
My bank had a clawback for signing but it was essentially unwritten that no one who left early paid it back. They would chase for a bit and then not contact you any more. Based on N of ~10 across years of analyst classes
For everyone's benefit, can you talk about your lateral process to consulting? I had always thought they would want to see at least a year of experience before hiring you.
I’d say that’s largely true and my case is somewhat of an exception probably given the unique hiring environment in early 2022 (MBB was busy and needed bodies) - this is particularly acute in consulting as you are only staffed on one thing at a time as a junior and mid-level so meeting client demand requires adding capacity.
Process was pretty similar to what it would be coming out of college. I spoke with a few folks at my MBB from my school who had switched from banking to consulting to test my hypothesis around the switch and after that they referred me / I applied. Received an interview invite shortly thereafter and had a first round (2 cases with mid-levels) and a final round (2 cases with senior people) and got an offer. Switched right after.
I will note that 1) your tenure typically gets reset to 0 even if you come in with 1 or 2+ years as an ib analyst 2) lateral hiring likely isn’t happening for the near future given economic expectations
Is mbb that much better?
I’d say so. I find the work interesting and the culture / people are fantastic. On CDD’s hour are like 55-60 and corporate work is like 45-55. No weekend work and light Fridays. Only staffed on one project at a time with sometime significant beach / bench (unstaffed) time between projects. Great about mentorship and professional development with attractive MBA sponsorship packages, externship opportunities and short term office transfer opportunities to try working internationally. As a mid-level and senior, other perks start to matter more incl. generous parental leave ,short-term sabbaticals and opportunity to take chiller internal roles (like staffing or recruiting) on a temporary basis. Obvious but the main thing you will give up is pay vs. IB / PE
Not trying to shit on you, but curious as to why did you join IB knowing the lifestyle is as you mentioned, I’m sure when you interned you experienced that lifestyle
Not trying to shit on you, but curious as to why did you join IB knowing the lifestyle is as you mentioned, I'm sure when you interned you experienced that lifestyle, and PE has similar lifestyle unless you join a MM/LMKK
not everyone knows what it's like to work 100 hours a week until they start...
Lol this is absolutely the case - the summer was diff. b/c it was virtual. My group is very heavy on facetime and I didn't know what it'd be like to do this for more than like 2 months.
Quit so somebody who actually wants to be there can keep their job.
If that isn't facts idk what is
ok imposter syndrome??
If you want to be successful/happy, you need to figure out where you want to be in 5 years and work towards it. it's plain simple stupid advice.
Investment banking is not supposed to be fun. You're not supposed to have free time and you aren't supposed to absolutely love what you do. You probably went into the job having different expectations and are now just learning the reality of the industry. That's where I've seen most people fail early on in their careers. Happened to me as well. I did my few years in investment banking at a similar "elite" firm then jumped to the buyside at a large multi-manager hedge fund (think P72/Citadel/Millennium/etc.). Thought I landed my dream job on the buyside, but after a few months I quickly burnt out and realized it wasn't for me.
My expectations of that buyside job were completely different than reality. You need to just shift your mentality of the job you have today. Be grateful that you have the opportunity to work around smart/hard working individuals. And think of investment banking as just a 2 year stint, have a plan to exit after those 2 years and work towards that. Investment banking is undoubtedly the best job to have out of college as it teaches you so many skillsets in such a short amount of time (attention to detail, excel, presenting in PPT in a clear manner, not making mistakes, etc.). Be thankful you have the opportunity to work where you do because not many jobs out there provide the same experience that can accelerate your career like investment banking can.
But yes, it absolutely sucks in the moment. I worked countless 4am nights and overnighters during my time in IB, cancelled dozens of events with friends/family, and barely took any real vacations. But looking back I know for a fact I wouldn't be where I am today without it. The job is hard to do in your late 20s or 30s, but fresh out of college is the perfect time to do a job like IB as it sets you up very well later on in life.
Now over a decade later from my IB stint, I see that the kids I work with who had a banking background have such a better skillset than those who didn't. So don't quit, just change your mindset. Think of it as a temporary job that is going to give you so many different skillsets and figure out your exit plan at the end of your analyst program. IB provides so many exit opportunities, so you can practically do whatever you want afterward. More resources below
What do you do now? What did you pivot to from the MM?
Work at a distressed/value oriented investment fund. Longer-term focused, no speculation.
What exactly are the skills you see that people who worked in banking have and people who didn't work in banking don't have?
Mainly attention to detail (not making mistakes) and ability to put format/together slides together well in PPT. Higher ups appreciate when you can clearly present analysis in a clean/formatted spreadsheet or ppt slide.
What was your experience like on the buyside? What made you decide it’s not for you?
are you talking hard skills such as excel / ppt / financial statement maneuvering or more soft skills like office expectation management / politics
If you could redo anyhting about your career pathway what would you do differently ?
Everyone's advice is not going to help you in building your career. Better stick to 1 or 2 close mentors whom you know personally and vice-versa. There is nothing good and bad about any profession; it's just about the job fit which is important. It's a holistic thing and those who get it right would generally do really good in their careers. Find out your behavioral and cognitive traits and see what would fit the most. Based on that and your passion, look for options. Good luck!
Any thoughts as to finding a good mentor?
There is no scientific method to finding a good mentor. Each one has to develop his or her own path in finding a true mentor. However I can suggest few steps to get started:
1) Follow people who are alumni from your college or school on Linkedin and Twitter with strong careers and academic qualification. Build relationship with them by interacting regularly. Try to build that emotional connection. Inform them about your current career status. At the right time, reach out to 1 or 2, asking for career guidance. Generally, people are always there to help juniors and when it is about career path, they are more than happy to do the needful.
2) Attend seminars & conferences and network with senior talented people. Continue the relationship by interacting regularly. Help or support them in any small work of theirs if possible on pro-bono basis. Once you have built a good rapport with 1 or 2, update them about your current status, your career goals, your plans to achieve them. Good mentors will always be ready to guide and shape careers.
As I said, look for not more than 2 mentors to guide else you will get confused. Have patience and don't jump immediately to ask for career guidance. Give them space and be balanced in your interaction and reach-out. You may also find few of them who perceive to be good but are actually not. So stay away. Don't loose your confidence and keep your morale high. You will get good mentors to support you. Good luck!
Also a 1st yr at EB, and have had similar thoughts about generally disliking the job and not being what was expected.
I've decided to focus on the learning opportunities/takeaways while keeping in mind my stint in IB will amount to ~2.5% of my time on earth, assuming I live to be approx. 80 yrs old. There's a saying that goes something like "sunny days wouldn't be so good without the rainy days". This part of your life is the "rain" part, which might be better characterized as a thunderstorm, but will definitely make your "sunny" days that much better.
Yes, the admin BS sucks, dealing with office politics, the hierarchical and antiquated structure of IB, sitting in the office all day and night, etc. However, what I've tried to focus on are things like what do I like that my manager(s)/bosse(s) do, what don't I like (and take note for when I'm a manager someday lol); how senior bankers are thinking about different scenarios vs how I think about it; why certain asks are coming down the pipeline; how bosses are managing client relations; how my associate pushes back on dumb senior requests; etc.
I'm going to stick it out, and pursue a role at a PE firm where I expect it to be much of the same (would be then at 5% of life) with the exception that I'm hoping that I'll be able to voice my thoughts and use my brain a bit more.
The other thing to consider is that you are currently surrounded by many very intelligent hard working people that may be future business partners, clients, etc. so try to build some relationships too, and keep in mind there is an army of kids that would kill to be in your position. Additionally, IB/PE experience will make any other career path you choose to pursue seem relatively easy.
As a counterpoint to thinking about your time in IB/PE as a % of your life, you might find it reasonable to "weight" your younger years differently than your older years (so years in IB should be thought of as >2.5% of life because you can do more "fun stuff" now than when you're 75). The weighting of having fun in your 20s vs having a comfortable/relatively abundant life when older almost guaranteed is the tradeoff you need to come to terms with when deciding to stay in the industry imo.
Quit. Life’s too short and there are plenty of ways to make money.
Try to make it through the next bonus milestone as that will give you an infinitely larger amount of flexibility in what you do next. I know that may sound daunting (as it was for me when I was in your shoes), but try things like therapy, exercise, potentially anti-anxiety meds to make it as doable as possible. This will sound dumb but buy an old-school calendar and fill out days you are looking forward to as a way to motivate yourself to get through the weeks / months.
Next, try to isolate what you do and don't like about your job. Do you still like finance / investing? Do you still like working more than 60 hours a week and want to keep earning? Do you like the prestigious feeling your job give you? Do you care about money at all anymore? Are you a deal junky? Do you like working in Excel and PowerPoint? Is FP&A a better fit (budget modeling, etc.)? Do you like your industry?
There are no right or wrong answers to any of these, all just a matter of your personal feelings. For me, switching from PE in an industry I didn't care about to a job with a big pay cut but a huge raise in interest level and quality of life was more than worth it, but I wouldn't have had time to figure that out if I didn't contemplate what I wanted along the way. Journaling was particularly helpful for me in figuring this all out.
Omnis repellat libero voluptates animi repellendus similique aut eum. Repudiandae sunt assumenda temporibus est facere mollitia nam. Quo incidunt adipisci doloribus minima nobis pariatur. Eum cupiditate aperiam laudantium nemo.
Dolores vel nobis odit non voluptas qui minus enim. In eos enim nisi nulla. Et ut praesentium optio dolorem reprehenderit et et. Quo consequatur ad iusto nemo.
Tempora blanditiis sapiente aut nostrum commodi. Qui labore voluptatibus quod minus cumque qui illum inventore. Ipsam iure non illum natus. Eum molestiae rerum eum. Aut quo eum natus temporibus repellat.
Aut consequatur quidem ut veniam. Est quod et eum ea. Eum consectetur laudantium blanditiis dicta velit. Hic quis enim dolorum sit quod.
See All Comments - 100% Free
WSO depends on everyone being able to pitch in when they know something. Unlock with your email and get bonus: 6 financial modeling lessons free ($199 value)
or Unlock with your social account...
Asperiores aspernatur amet eum quis dolorem. Sapiente voluptatem ad deserunt et. Quasi culpa enim eum rerum. Voluptates sit vero cum.
Quia cupiditate tempora impedit et corporis. Repudiandae facere explicabo aut ipsam similique necessitatibus.
Magnam sed velit accusantium voluptatem quas vero rerum. Sed aliquam maxime quae velit aut. Totam molestias similique non voluptatibus consequatur. Magni reprehenderit et et quas explicabo.