Leaving Desk During Day

I am more familiar with S&T jobs where you have to be at the desk all the time during the hours of 6am - 4pm, give or take. You basically have no time to go off the desk and do w/e. However, in banking, is this also the case? I know that you basically are playing a waiting game until you get work later in the day (usual case) a lot of the time. If you leave the desk for an hour or so to get lunch or to do w/e, will people care / notice, even if you always do your work well and on time?

I'm just curious what the culture on this issue is in banking.

9 Comments

That's what I'm asking no need to be a jerk. I am asking if its ok to leave the desk and get lunch with people. In S&T, it is not. Can't leave desk for long

 
 

Yup, it depends on how much the group interacts. Honestly, if the analyst just sit in their cubes crunching excel, nobody will notice if you ever left. However, if you have multiple meetings and people need to ask you questions and your gone for a few hours, well people will be pissed.

Array
 

I think a lot depends on placement within the office. When I interned, analysts were quite far from VP's/MD's, so barely anyone would notice if they left for a few hours as long as they were always accessible by Blackberry. You're spending so much time in the office at your desk anyway that I think it's fine to not be there if you're busy; people would also routinely leave, for example, to get coffee with prospective interns and such that were trying to network. I also heard one horror story of a summer analyst going to the gym during the day when he had nothing to do and seeing his MD there (luckily, he got the hell out before the MD noticed him).

 
Best Response

Hahaha, something similar like this happened to me. I was in the middle of a deal and most of the people were in the office at the time. This was a weekday around 6:00, but it was getting dark outside. A few of my friends go to a bar right near my office and they start texting me and tell me to come. I was somewhat stressed about the deal, so I decided to go and take some shots to relieve some stress. I only planned to be there for an hour. Anyways, its like 6:30, and I am at the bar drinking, and we do a round of shots. I put the shot glass down and immediately notice my SVP walks in with someone. I quickly turn around and go to the bathroom. While removing a large amount of urine, I tried to concoct a plan to leave without being seen. I walk out of the bathroom and I see the doors. I see a clear path and go for it. I thought I was in the clear and then all of a sudden I notice my SVP is sitting with some guy at the table...it was too late, we locked eyes with each other. I give a slight wave and then decided if I should keep walking or should I atleast go up to him. It was one of those moments where you couldn't really wave and leave, but at the same time he was with someone. Anyways I was fairly close by them, so I just stopped by like an idiot. It turns out the person he was with was the client we were doing the deal with. I introduce myself. The client starts talking to me and he asks where I went to school, I tell him, and it turns out he was an alum from the same school. My school is a non-target. Anyways we talk about our alma mater a little bit and he looks at the SVP and says he is happy about them recruiting from our university. The SVP smiles and says "He is one of our best analyst." I give a slight smile and then peace out ASAP.

Array
 
TeddyTheBearHahaha, something similar like this happened to me. I was in the middle of a deal and most of the people were in the office at the time. This was a weekday around 6:00, but it was getting dark outside. A few of my friends go to a bar right near my office and they start texting me and tell me to come. I was somewhat stressed about the deal, so I decided to go and take some shots to relieve some stress. I only planned to be there for an hour. Anyways, its like 6:30, and I am at the bar drinking, and we do a round of shots. I put the shot glass down and immediately notice my SVP walks in with someone. I quickly turn around and go to the bathroom. While removing a large amount of urine, I tried to concoct a plan to leave without being seen. I walk out of the bathroom and I see the doors. I see a clear path and go for it. I thought I was in the clear and then all of a sudden I notice my SVP is sitting with some guy at the table...it was too late, we locked eyes with each other. I give a slight wave and then decided if I should keep walking or should I atleast go up to him. It was one of those moments where you couldn't really wave and leave, but at the same time he was with someone. Anyways I was fairly close by them, so I just stopped by like an idiot. It turns out the person he was with was the client we were doing the deal with. I introduce myself. The client starts talking to me and he asks where I went to school, I tell him, and it turns out he was an alum from the same school. My school is a non-target. Anyways we talk about our alma mater a little bit and he looks at the SVP and says he is happy about them recruiting from our university. The SVP smiles and says "He is one of our best analyst." I give a slight smile and then peace out ASAP.

Lol very funny story

 
eleutheros
TeddyTheBearHahaha, something similar like this happened to me. I was in the middle of a deal and most of the people were in the office at the time. This was a weekday around 6:00, but it was getting dark outside. A few of my friends go to a bar right near my office and they start texting me and tell me to come. I was somewhat stressed about the deal, so I decided to go and take some shots to relieve some stress. I only planned to be there for an hour. Anyways, its like 6:30, and I am at the bar drinking, and we do a round of shots. I put the shot glass down and immediately notice my SVP walks in with someone. I quickly turn around and go to the bathroom. While removing a large amount of urine, I tried to concoct a plan to leave without being seen. I walk out of the bathroom and I see the doors. I see a clear path and go for it. I thought I was in the clear and then all of a sudden I notice my SVP is sitting with some guy at the table...it was too late, we locked eyes with each other. I give a slight wave and then decided if I should keep walking or should I atleast go up to him. It was one of those moments where you couldn't really wave and leave, but at the same time he was with someone. Anyways I was fairly close by them, so I just stopped by like an idiot. It turns out the person he was with was the client we were doing the deal with. I introduce myself. The client starts talking to me and he asks where I went to school, I tell him, and it turns out he was an alum from the same school. My school is a non-target. Anyways we talk about our alma mater a little bit and he looks at the SVP and says he is happy about them recruiting from our university. The SVP smiles and says "He is one of our best analyst." I give a slight smile and then peace out ASAP.

Lol very funny story

lesson of the story...taking shots= top bucket bonus/brownie points. Hooray for alcohol!

I don't throw darts at a board. I bet on sure things. Read Sun-tzu, The Art of War. Every battle is won before it is ever fought- GG
 

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