Trending Content
Career Resources
WSO Free Modeling Series - Now Open Through
May 31, 2024
9 Free Financial Modeling Lessons
Get instant access to lessons taught by experienced private equity pros and bulge bracket investment bankers including financial statement modeling, DCF, M&A, LBO, Comps and Excel Modeling.
+Bonus: Get 27 financial modeling templates in swipe file
+Bonus: Get 27 financial modeling templates in swipe file
Analyst 1
Comp: 110k base
1/10
Analyst 1
110k base
-99/10
Looks like I have a lot to look forward to! -Intern
“Incoming Investment Banking Analyst with Incoming 10/10 Happiness”
FT must be miserable smh
Yeah its an endless cycle of delusion that can never be avoided
All the A1s and A2s tell the interns how bad its going to be, consider another role that has same exit opps with way better WLB like MBB, follow your passion instead of chase prestige, etc...
But the interns and networking college students don't believe them and never learn
And then they're an A1 posting on WSO at 1PM about how their happiness when they're at the supposed peak of their life (23, 24 years old) is borderline suicidal
There's no blame, I had all the Goldman TMT A1's in the world warn me and tell me to find something I actually enjoy but I never listened either
its just crazy to think about
I see what’s happening here. First guy that posts 10 will get all the MS for standing in the way of another industry wide comp bump.
2nd Year
currently probably a 5-6/10, I just finally let go of a bad relationship and need to do some more self reflection. Generally, I operate at a 7-8/10 and if everything is going really good about a 8-9/10 (usually this is more during the summer as I just get a lot of enjoyment in being outside).
SB’d for candor
I mean, I would just a 0-1/10 as someone who is on the verge of having a total mental breakdown (not like a panic attack, like a true mental breakdown where they potentially harm themselves) I would find it hard that so many people are there. I would consider a 3-4/10 to be I am depressed and need help. This is where I could see a lot of analyst being and also I want to know I will happily talk to anyone in this thread and hear you out if you are in a rough spot.
Right now I am just a stir of weird sadness/depression, anger, and disappointment. With some good days mixed in there. And I mean, I think it could get worse or it could get better if I handle it well. The relationship had me wondering if I was the bad guy in a lot situations, because I was lead on and treated pretty rudely. It just ultimately dragged me down and put me in a bad spot of me never know where we were going because she would flirt one week then be distant the next. Generally, I am a pretty happy person and only a few times have I felt like I could be lower then a 5, with more being from this relationship than ever before. I am a very fortunate person to have a good head on my shoulders and I am usually excited for what can come next, but sometimes I wish the next step was just here. Werther that is a good relationship, a promotion. Oh well. I have probably shared to much at this point. Sorry for rambling. It feels good to type it out sometimes though.
If you’re an analyst and in bad a place, keep your head up. The 2 years are up before you know it. If it gets that bad where you are physically and or mentally compromised, then definitely exit early
World needs more MDs like you sir
I left the bank I was at a few months ago. The first couple years weren't particularly horrible, as I genuinely enjoyed the projects and processes I was involved in. Would say I was at a 6/10 happiness on average.
Then things began to deteriorate with some changes to my group and I found myself in the 1/10 bucket for a few months straight with no end in sight. I didn't see the situation getting better within the next year, so ultimately decided to leave "early" (at least it was earlier than I would have otherwise anticipated).
I have since spent time focusing on myself and pursuing my hobbies (working out, traveling, etc.) and would say I'm at a 9/10 now and looking forward to the next step in my career.
TLDR: Things can get really bad at the junior level, and often do very rapidly without warning. If you are going through a rough patch try to gauge as best you can how long it will last. If you think you can get through it with a manageable level of sacrifice, I would recommend sticking it out. But if you can't foresee the situation improving within a reasonable period of time, make the decision to step back and focus on yourself for a couple months. I promise it will be worth it.
Not IB but part-time sales in Tech while studying.
Comp: 16k / Happiness: 8/10
A2: 125k
3/10
Not because of work but because of personal life - work is like a 6/10 honestly
SVP
330k
With work, currently? 2/10
With life in general? 5/10
I think this likely suffers from selection bias.
I think you mean selection bias. Adverse selection is when an information imbalance between buyers and sellers creates market inefficiencies.
Analyst in Corporate Banking
95K Base
7/10
Tech: 10/10. Was in MBB (2/10), so the relative change is staggering. I workout regularly, have learned to cook, and most of all have plans on weekdays. My first 3 months on the job, I actually took hour long walks like once a week just so I could listen to birds chirp during the daytime. Shits wild yo.
Oh yeah, comps good too: 150k
Analyst 1, 70K base, negative infinity, thinking about committing suicide in the metaverse.
Analyst 1
Comp- 100k
Happiness- 7/10
Work has been Ight. Girlfriend is great. Finally able to support my parents and myself after being broke af my entire childhood.
Only thing that would make me happier is getting back in shape. Which I’m tryna work on rn.
Is the average IB analyst really this miserable?
Like ya work kind of sucks and I’m tired all the time, but I have friends/GF/family, do fun things during the protected day I get each week, get paid really well for a kid one year out of school, and just feel like life is good even though work sucks
Spent last Sunday turning comments on some deal materials but I did it in a friends living room watching football the entire day- maybe it took me an our longer without my monitors but who cares. Got to find joy in some places with this job and it’s a little scary that people on here are all 1/10
Would say I’m a solid 6 or 7 /10
I mean right off the bat most banks don't have protected sun/sat. Having even one day where I can make plans would be huge, I can count on one hand the number of weekends where I didn't have to work thus far.
Hanging with friends is cool but it doesn't cancel out the sinking feeling you get where you see them happy and progressing well in their careers while you're depressed, have to cancel plans for the nth time this month, and have everyone above you see it as totally normal in this day and age.
---
---
VP @ PE MF
Total Comp 600k
9/10, c.50 hours work weeks, done with MBA and CFA so study years are behind me, 8/10 wife, 8/10 gf, 2 kids, see bros quite often, earnings will keep increasing in the ST while hours will decrease
Title: VP
Comp: Straight to Joint Checking Account
Happiness: 7/10
Married, have kids, in the burbs. Mostly whipped. Survived the test of time / two cycles and able to maintain 7/10 on most days. Doing my best to keep analyst/associate at same happiness level as well in ways I can.
JMD. High six figures/low seven figures (not including cents... not cool, "The Gap"). 10. My comp is light given my productivity, but my lifestyle f'n is great. Last year, I only made a junior work on a weekend ONCE (and that was to fix a pretty big f'up that he did on a deal).
I feel like Brad Pitt at the end of Mr. and Mrs. Smith: "Ask me the sex question".
PE Associate
Comp in-line w/ MM PE
4/10. Haven't been too busy these days and the WLB is actually decent for now, so it's started to seem a little strange to me that I continue to be unhappy. I've always told myself that I "liked" the job/work, and all I would really need is better WLB and fewer hours to focus on my personal shit. Turns out, even when I'm on slow weeks I wake up and go to sleep extremely depressed and pretty much dreading the next day. Oftentimes, I find that dreaming is the best part of my day, which is ultra sad.
One aspect is that I've really been too burnt over the past 3 years to have the energy to do significantly interesting things in my free time - it's a fundamental change in life outlook, and I think it's hard for a lot of jr. folks to break out of the cycle (e.g., I've only recently started making weekday dinner plans - I've never been able to do this before). Or on the flipside, sometimes you finally get "free" for a long weekend and you do a huge trip to "make the most out of it," which is super fun until you're back at work but more tired and sad than you were when you left. When I quit in a few months, hoping to take time to self-reflect and find the joy in simply living my life again on my own terms for a bit.
Strategic corporate finance bum here.
$78k base. 45 hours a week. Side hustles bring me to around $105k all in before my wife’s salary.
happiness 9/10. Just got a new puppy and marriage is wonderful.
AN1, EB
0/10 - there's nothing in life that I look forward to
Perhaps an alternative perspective to provide a light at the end of the tunnel for a lot of the people on this thread:
Title: Retired
Comp from Employment: Nothing, $0.00.
Happiness when I was an analyst: 1/10
Happiness today: 10/10
Happiness tomorrow (projected): 10/10
The early years in this industry are brutal. Pretty much every single member of my analyst class wanted to quit. However, if you stick it out, the amount of money you can make is truly life changing. The problem is most people adjust their lifestyle to their earnings level as it grows. If you manage to maintain a reasonable lifestyle and with some degree of luck, you can get out of this industry early and do whatever it is you please in life, or do nothing at all. Live where you want, travel whenever you please, work out every day, play sports, cook, sleep in til 10am on a Tuesday, you name it. Don't want to check your email for a week? No problem. Friends want to get dinner and drinks on Tuesday? I'm in, without a caveat that I might need to cancel if something comes up at work.
Everyone is motivated by different things. It seems most people in the industry find motivation by thinking about that enormous house they will build or the fancy vacation they will take. For me, the motivation didn't come in the form of what I could buy with the money. Instead, it came in the form of how much time I could save and freedom I could gain from accumulating the money. So start looking at your bank balance as future years of freedom and you might just find the extra bit of motivation you need to make it through the long hours.