Little Known Tidbits/Advice For Incoming IB Analysts (not work related)
Incoming FT analyst for MM IB starting in June...
WSO has done a great job preparing me for what to expect on the job and some specifics to get by/make my life easier on the job.
Im less informed when it comes to things outside the office like networking events, how to spend weekends, interacting with coworkers (how personal to get with superiors), and even what the post-Covid dress code is.
Some questions to give a better idea: Is it a mistake becoming best friends with co-workers, as in joining friend groups for weekend events etc or even welcoming them to your own friend circle? is that a work-life balance that should be separated? I get each relationship is different but wondering sort of the rule of thumb when it comes to social relations and a few other things that I mentioned earlier.
All responses greatly appreciated
Bump am curious
Is this actually a real post?
I’m the same guy that posted a controversial thread the other day about not being friends with your coworkers. Here’s my advice hopefully more nuanced so people agree with it more uniformly this time:
Being close friends with your coworkers is like dating in the office. You can do it, but there are a lot of ways it can go wrong and you need to be careful. From my personal experience, during your role, you should remember a few things:
The story I explained was one about a female analyst who got a little tipsy at a happy hour and then analysts were telling associates, VP’s, and MD’s, that that person was a sloppy drunk and that carried to senior individuals characterizing the person as sloppy or an unreliable silly girl, despite her being very much on her shit. I think there was an element of sexism at play, but the point is from working in various finance settings and hearing from friends, there are a ton of insecure finance professionals looking for an edge or looking to bring people down. I actually don’t think they intentionally mean to do it, but I think if one middle bucket or bottom bucket analyst hears someone else getting praised as a star analyst, they will start to look for ways that person falls short even unconsciously. That said, I also worked with people who I know for a fact were malicious and behaved with bad intentions, so they do exist and I’ve been surprised by how high it is in finance. I even had analysts in one of my firms purposefully pump drinks into interns to get them to behave stupidly so they could not give them a return offer/ see who is a sloppy drunk.
Now, that said, one of my closest friends was a manager I had when I was an analyst (who I had known before), I almost dated a fellow analyst years after our stint, and I lived with a guy in my analyst class after our banking stint. So you shouldn’t be afraid to go to a happy hour and it’s actually important for your professional network and reputation to socialize with your coworkers to a degree. You also will spend a ton of time with them. Further, being known as the antisocial guy isn’t a great rep. So really you need to strike a balance.
My personal take, I was friendly during my analyst stint going to happy hours, being kind to my fellow analysts, and not being standoffish, but I also didn’t reveal any personal information about myself unless asked and massively restricted my alcohol intake and didn’t consume any other drugs (like nicotine or the devils lettuce). These are people who will likely be professional references the rest of your career. As a result, you don’t want someone 10 years in the future to say, “hey, did you know analyst 3?” And the fellow analyst in your class thinking, “I’m pretty sure they did coke in a bathroom, or I remember them getting blacked out at some bar.”
Additionally, from my experience, you benefit massively from being friendly but guarded and potentially opening up later because then you will realize 2 things:
My point in the past post was I was very friendly, but I don’t think I was friends with my co workers during my stint. I went to happy hours and interacted with peers, but I was a very watered down filtered version of myself. I would advise doing the same so that you protect your professional reputation. I don’t think you can be really close friends with coworkers until there isn’t that weird dynamic underneath the relationship and there isn’t different rules of engagement. To my original post, it’s not summer camp or a freshmen dorm even though the hours you all spend together can at times make it feel that way—don’t expect these people to be at your wedding or for them to be your best buddies, they are coworkers. That said, don’t be the guy saying no to happy hours otherwise everyone will think you blow. In fact, if someone suggests a happy hour you really should go—just maybe have 3 beers instead of 6. Also, time will tell whether the people are actually good friends and don’t be surprised if one of the people ends who being a long term connection in your class.
Thank you this is good advice and an answer I was looking for- confused why the other guy thought this was a joke post.
Any other important things to note aside from that tidbit that doesnt directly relate to the actual "work" part of work
yeah, the mental health side of things and the toll IB takes in general on people.
I don’t know what industry wide retention numbers are or what great retention is, but anecdotally, it seems like less than 10% stay. That means 90% of people (even the biggest hardos that come in) look around and think, holy shit this isn’t worth it. They either feel they aren’t paid enough, or the sacrifice no longer makes sense. Be aware that feeling miserable is kinda normal, and it’s worth it to do the job for the learning and the brand benefits until it isn’t. For most people, it isn’t worth it/ the trade off breaks as the learning falls sharply from 1.5 years- 2 years. The way I’ve described it is, the first year all the second years explain how to do the job, then the second year you are explaining how to do everything to everyone. This in itself is a learning experience, but after like 6 months of teaching people, it becomes just you doing other peoples job and explaining it, while working way more than you’d like. The first 8 months is just hard and you might hate it, but I’d argue it’s worth it because even if you don’t think you are learning, you actually are. You will do a lot of admin bs, but having a seat at the table for a process and seeing like 3 of them changes the way you view the world and all of business. It does take like 3 reps to really get it though.
My advice to stay sane is a few things:
1) Its really easy to fall of a cliff health wise, watch your weight by eating healthy (as much as you can)
2) Try to religiously exercise every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday (you likely won’t have time for other days and not doing any physical activity at all is really really bad and will make you feel like garbage).
3) Get friends outside of banking that ground you. It’s very easy to get completely absorbed and not have an escape so it can be helpful and important to have friends that think you are a banking teller because they don’t get or care about IB.
4) Try to get a hobby or something you can escape to on saturdays. Even the sweatiest of shops will give you a few hours off on sat and you need to use that to recharge.
5) Try your best, but accept much of the role is out of your hands (even though this is hard to accept). Top bucket is about preparation meeting opportunity. In my class, I think half the middle bucket could have been top bucket had they gotten the right staffings/ lucky with processes. Staffings are oftentimes out of peoples control and there is a lot of luck that goes into people getting good assignments. I think analysts take the job personally when it’s not that personal, they might have just gotten unlucky. Don’t blame yourself for random luck and take being top middle or bottom bucket as a personal indication of you value.
Finally, know when the job is too much and have a plan. Several people I know went to the hospital during their stint and many others had mental breaks panic attacks etc. Its a job and it’s not worth going off the deep end so someone else can get wealthy. If you have thoughts of self-harm get the fuck out of the job, seriously. It is totally not worth that. Also, if you reach your breaking point know you can do 2 things:
good luck!
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