it just doesn’t make sense
okay so IB is filled with smart people but I honestly don’t get the structure of the day for an analyst. like come in at 9am do your work and finish by 3pm then wait around for comments that come in at 7pm and then finish up? what is the point at staying in the office like that? if IB has so many smart people why hasnt a more efficient way of work been established? also, dress code wise - being in a suit for 12 hours a days or more? yuck.
any thoughts?
Nobody wears a suit 12 hours a day...
what do ibankers wear to work from 9am-11pm? is it a casual dress code
Patagonia lol
People in this job aren’t not smart enough to be efficient. Your MDs don’t care about a 22 years time enough to be more efficient.
If you hate IB so much why are you trying to do it....
didn’t say I hate IB. I just don’t get why you can be more productive and the option is not there. Guess it’s true that MDs don’t care enough.
it's referred to as face-time and paying your dues
That and facetime culture. Dont believe the no facetime BS some firms try to sell you. See what happens when you try to leave at 5PM cuz youre done with work and everyone else is still plugging away. If you even show you have capacity, youre gonna get staffed up
It's not that lower level people aren't smart enough, it's that the point of the job (and reason you get paid highly) is precisely to be on call practically 24/7. The work itself isn't that difficult at the lower level once you've had a few months experience (assuming a baseline intelligence of ~70th percentile or above). What's valuable to your MDs is that they can tell you to do something at any time and reasonably expect to have it in the next X hours.
Sure, we could all step away from our offices or go out of pocket or whatever for 4+ hours of a typical workday maybe 80% of the time, but if we fuck up and aren't available those 20% of days, that's fireable (or bottom bucket-able, depending on the severity.)
Banks generally don't pay for analysts' brains, they pay for analysts' time.
You need to realize that while bankers are prepared/expected to work 24 hours a day, clients are not. So during regular business hours (e.g 9am - 5pm), senior bankers are first and foremost focused on filling their day with meetings and conversations with clients, not to mention the travel required which can add hours.
When you add it all up, on some days there is minimal-to-no time for an MD to review your latest draft of the book sitting in his/her inbox aside from 30 mins here and there, or while on a plane that doesn't land for another 3 hours. So while the junior banker has been waiting since 2pm, they may not actually get the turn for tomorrow's meeting until 7-9pm, and then final sign-off may not be given until much later
It sucks for sure, but unfortunately a solution has yet to be discovered
it helps if you can find a bank/group with no face time so that you can step out and hit the gym, grab dinner etc while you're waiting for the turn
There are multiple things to think about here. I agree with Valk in that you should be available 24 hours a day because you are simply trying to please a client. It also depends on what you are currently working on. If I am just re-hashing a few pitchbooks and that is my work for the day then it will likely be an incredibly laid back 8-12 hours (read the paper, read some industry coverage, maybe get ahead on some updates that I know are coming up). On the other hand, I may have an M&A deal where I have 8 hours of diligence calls a day, then afterwards have to work through the diligence request list to get up to the vdr, while also having a converts deal, plus a couple of rehashed pitches.
What Valk said is 100% correct where your MD's cannot always immediately check things. I have found in my time as an Analyst that there is rarely only one thing that you COULD be doing. For the job, if you want to get a ton of brownie points, as you find some extra time you can do market mapping exercises, profiles of prospective targets, spin up an M&A model for the most interesting combination (which has strategic merits) that you can find.
Nine times out of ten the MD will say it can't work for one reason or another, but the industry is all about touch points with clients (for MD's) while the jobs of Analysts and Associates are to make the lives of those above them a little bit easier.
If you find that you are a clock watcher or want to simply do what you are told, then it is unlikely that you will thrive in this job. Facetime cultures exist, but I find that it is best to make the best out of the situation. Utilize your downtime, create projects for yourself (which you believe will be helpful to your MD or Partner) and you will find yourself enjoying the job much more.
Just my $0.2 feel free to DM me with specific questions.
^this is a guy that actually loves banking. most people on here from the general threads are just doing banking as a ‘necessary’ step to get to the buyside. if you like banking as a job inherently and want a career in it then yes you should follow what this guys does and get rewarded for it over time. the guys that look at the clock and hate the general lifestyle/work will never be in it for more than a couple years. even then it’s not like things are much better lifestylewise anywhere else.
Idk about you guys but I'm on a bunch of deals and always something to do. Once I finish comments on one deck I turn to the next set of comments on another deal. By the teim I finish those, the original person comes back with other comments. That is my whole day until the early morning of every day after which I rinse recycle and rewash my dishes.
I don't knkow how you guys are that laid back that you have one deck you work on and are just chillin wiatin for comments on that. I would just go home for a few hours if I had that much tiem on my hands.
Est et facilis sint omnis qui molestiae tempore. Quae perspiciatis sed quo itaque dicta. Voluptates vitae qui sed vel.
Eveniet dolor quis ut quae tempore molestiae rerum nostrum. Vero quis enim rerum.
Quia quod vel possimus sequi qui tenetur. Est similique et earum ipsa. Vel repellendus non dicta minus.
Quod omnis beatae eos. Exercitationem cumque quod exercitationem possimus ipsa. Delectus architecto aut consequatur saepe assumenda sequi. Dolorum quas aperiam quos sit.
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...