Loneliness in finance jobs?
Currently working at a top boutique, my weeks often push 80+ hours, with work stretching past 2 AM regularly, and that includes most weekends too. It's been making me reflect on the nature of finance and its impact on personal connections. When I first graduated, I tried to regularly catch up with my college friends who also found jobs in NYC. Now, as an A3, I find that the limited free time I have over the weekends is primarily spent looking for other opportunities, particularly a position in private equity.
It's a bit of a shift, focusing more on career advancement rather than social outings. Does anyone else in the finance world feel this way? I'm keen on moving buyside, hopefully at a middle market hoping it might bring a different pace or environment although it could possibly also be equally as much work
Once you're +20 the way you make friends is different. You need to hangout and just meet : Krav Maga class, meetup.org, church etc
This is an issue for almost everyone in banking. There just isn't that much time to meet other people when you are locked to the desk from 9 am - 2am the entire week and then also locked in the entire Sunday and some Saturdays. Obviously, this will depend a bit on which bank you are at, but in my case the only time I am free is after 10pm on Fridays and on some Saturdays. On Friday night I am completely dead after the week and not in a mood to go out with friends. That leaves Saturdays, where I am free about 50% of the weeks. During that time I often have to catch up on regular chores like doing laundry, paying bills, shopping, cleaning etc. and once again I do not feel energized to pack my 2 off days per month with a bunch of activities. As a result, the time to connect with friends & family is very limited. The time to build new relationships and pursue your hobbies or even fitness is also very limited. I personally believe this is a key reason as to why most of my peers in banking are pretty unhappy. Most people require more things in life than just creating slides and stacking up cash in the bank to be happy.
In order to have a sustainable banking career imo you need to:
Otherwise, it’s really a pretty miserable existence. The job doesn’t give enough time to meet new people which makes creating a friend network or dating near impossible. There’s a reason a lot of people on the IB -> PE path get an mba and I’d argue it’s really to gain control of their live and further personal goals.
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