I can totally handle IB level pressure !

Im a second year undergrad student. Ive seen people talk about IB being a high pressure job. Currently i have this mindset that basically goes : people on the internet are exaggerating it, i can totally handle an IB level stress.

Has anyone also have this mindset prior to working in IB ? And how does it change once you actually work in IB ?

24 Comments
 

Yea i understand the naive-ity, i just want to know if other people has had a similar experience and wether or not this is common

 

I believe the only way to know is to actually have an analyst, not summer intern, stint for at least half a year. Being a SA is easy because the end is always in sight so you have something to reassure you when/if you get a 100 hour week. My thinking is: make sure that you are driven and can operate decently on 5 hours of sleep, try it out for yourself if you manage and decide if you can handle it. 

 
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Honestly I think the biggest comparison people make is "I've grinded jobs / studying / exam prep / etc. late for weeks on end so I'll be able to handle the stress"

Being in an office working until 1am isn't even the most difficult part.

Doing that AND making sure you're producing quality work, learning, being aware of WHY you've been asked to do what you're doing are all important. This isn't a question of "which one of you fuckers can stay in the office the longest" but rather "which one of you fuckers can stay the longest and continue to produce high quality results"

This is before factoring no social life, hardly any time to workout, minimal if any time with friends or significant others (you can still hook up but committed relationships are TOUGH), rare if no days off for vacations / family time, last minute canceling trips or weekend plans because something came up Friday at 7pm.

Now remember the "few weeks" you've worked hard in school, add in everything above (which isn't an exhaustive list by any means) and do it 52 times in a row.

 

Facts. To add, one other thing that adds to the pressure is not only having to hang out in the office and do all of the stuff you mentioned for extended periods of time, but when you aren't there, you're always on call, and any plan or activity could be annihilated with one email.

Dayman?
 

I basically knew what I was getting into but that doesn't really change things.

It's sort of like thinking you can run a marathon.  And you probably can with enough training, but that doesn't change how much it sucks to actually run it.

 

I have this mindset that basically goes: i will be a billionaire in the next 5 years. i can totally manage to do it, all the people on the internet and irl are just pussies who dont work hard and hustle and grind. what gives?  

 

I had the mindset I was the top dog at anything and everything I did. Graduated with perfect grades, involvement with every relevant club, fraternity life 24/7, leadership positions etc. I was literally the perfect student and did no struggle with stress or anxiety.

Fast forward 3 months in to my FT gig, I consistently wake up at 3-4A.M in cold sweats dreaming I was getting screamed at or missed a call from my MD.....the stress is very very real

 

You sound like a 5 year old. If you're in a group that executes actual deals and not just generated marketing decks you'll learn what it means to be yelled at for something that isn't your fault, to be told to change something so minor that you think it's completely stupid but will end up taking a good chunk of your evening only to be told the very next morning to run back to the previous version and sent that deck out as your MD disagrees with the VP who gave the first comment. 

^ it's not the pressure, it's the complete garbage and bull shit you need to eat. It's your breakfast fucking lunch and dinner. (BTW it is like this for almost all bottem of the totem high finance jobs, you just haven't relaized it yet).

 

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