40 Comments
 

A few weeks before I started, I just started staying up later and later. I tried to do things that would require more attention (reading, looking at models, studying for series exams) instead of just going out and sleeping hard. I think it really helped me survive the first hard week (about three weeks in- it took a week or two to get me ramped up). Also recommend trying not to be so reliant on caffeine right away

 

You can't truly prepare for it IMO. We're humans and we aren't designed to function optimally on 4 hours of sleep with little physical activity. However, I definitely recommend the following:

1. Make sure your diet is clean. Don't have to consume only whey protein isolate but don't eat junk on seamless/uber eats or it'll become a habit. Avoid alcohol during the week, as it can become a habit if you don't monitor your intake.

2. Invest in a good coffee machine.

3. I know some people in finance don't like them, but I found that investing in an Apple Watch was a great boost to my productivity. My phone screen time is down 60% since I don't have to unlock my phone to look at notifications, which often left me distracted. This one is more of a personal preference, thought

 

Please take better care of yourself. This is not your free trial of life. Also, that’s sort of sad you feel like you don’t like something just because others have it. I’ve never understood this mentality. Do people avoid homes when they see that non-targets have them? Listen, if you genuinely have an interest in watches or something, then go for it, but I’m concerned based on the information you provided concerning your health, desires, etc.. You’re very young, please don’t destroy yourself mentally at this age.

 

Because Rolex and Cartier watches are not cliche in investment banking...

Seriously if you are posting this question and you're not being a troll then you're not ready to work in IBD and quite frankly you probably wouldn't be enjoyable to work with or under. You sound like the type of person that will grow up to be a senior MD and then proceed to do interviews telling 16 year olds what your 5 tips are to prepare for 100hr weeks. Just like that entitled wanker Xavier Rolet, chill out and enjoy some of your spare time. Find some hobbies, work out, go on dates, literally anything but preparing for working 100hr weeks. 

 

BRO THATS 50 NIC

In all seriousness should prob lay off the pre…gave me fucking hypertension at 16

 

I am making a pitch deck for tiger global high school competition,

can you advice regarding slides and any other pitchbook details that i wont find on the web

My pitchbook should have maximum 10 slides

I am dividing them by

deal rationale : 3 slides

Valuation : DCF/ synergy/ : 3 slides

Generic corporate finance advice : wether we should issue convertible bonds or try a cash+ stock deal : 3 slides

 
Most Helpful

Sleep a lot. Preparing for it by staying up will just make it more difficult when it actually happens. There is way more than enough research out there that says you need 7-8 hours of sleep per night so by trying to function with  6 hours before you hit the desk, you’re just putting your mind into a fog and it will build up over time. When the time comes, you just deal with it.

I found it be an eye-opening part of the job because you learn really quickly if you have the psychological/mental chops needed to actually handle IB/high finance. You also get out of practice really quickly. About a year and half out of IB, I’d been working 60-70 hour weeks on average (handful of 80-90 but nothing too extreme) and then we got super slammed on a quick fused deal and I ended up doing 110 hours in a week with an all-nighter to finish it out. I was beyond tired, dizzy, had a horrible headache and felt like I was going to have some real problems without resting 20+ hours that weekend. Took me a week for the headache to go away, another 4-5 days for the dizziness to go away and another week to where I was feeling back to 100%. 

 

Honestly, there's nothing you can really do to prepare... other than be mentally prepared for the sacrifice of personal time. Try to go in knowing it will suck but do your best to be positive and find the humor in how ridiculous the job can be sometimes. Best of luck!

 

My family member worked up to a director at a fortune 5 company I will walk you through there journey. As they got a 4th promotion which really meant they were going to transfer to major pay and major hours they had heavy issues with anxiety and depression from the change. Now they are mostly fine but they : workout everyday, meditate everyday, go to massage once a week, and Cryotherapy occasionally, also routine to help sleep such as reading a book. Making that type of money almost always has unexpected cost. 

 

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