Why is this acceptable?
Radio silence all day(which is good) then at 1am start firing off emails on deliverables to junior staff.
In what organization outside banking would this be acceptable? Am I expected to be up at 1am ready to receive these messages? Why not send in the morning like a normal human being? I'm convinced bankers are some of the worst leaders in corporate America.
| +394 | Female bankers doing brand deals on TikTok (@emlywang) | 119 | 2h |
| +136 | UBS rolling out Enhanced Clean Desk Policy, bans deal toys | 16 | 1d |
| +76 | Starting FT in a city 3 hours away, dad has progressing Parkinson's. Looking for advice. | 6 | 1d |
| +67 | JULY 2026 CHICAGO BANK RANKINGS | 26 | 10h |
| +64 | Restructuring is paradise (a completely unbiased account) | 6 | 2d |
| +35 | Handling frustration | 5 | 2d |
| +35 | Not Treated Well by Other Interns | 20 | 15m |
| +29 | Taking days off as an intern | 13 | 27m |
| +28 | Thoughts on Intrepid - Houlihan Merger | 10 | 1d |
| +27 | Best books to read as a student/intern | 12 | 3d |
Career Resources
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.
https://images.app.goo.gl/aydmB38vsDy4WURC6
I've been in a few industries - all of which this behavior is 100% fine.
I would encourage you to reframe your position. You are asking someone to adjust their behavior to your preference. This isn't about you.
They are sending an email because it crossed their mind + they are available to take it off their plate and move it forward. It'll be in your inbox when you are ready to move it forward. Why are you so offended that they left you a note that you can read later? I expect if you were to have the conversation, you would quickly find they don't expect you to be up at 1am to receive this message they just wanted to get it off their plate and move it forward.
I think you hit the nail on the head here. One of the biggest issues I have found with junior staff is their unwillingness to ask a follow up question around deliverable timelines and they just assume everything is due immediately. Could the individual sending out the email have said "tomorrow could you start on..." or something to that effect, sure, but it also doesn't sound like it said "I need this in the morning" either. My MD will send me late night emails all the time but he'll typically add "in the morning could you.." and I try to do the same for those I assign work to but nobody is perfect and sometimes expressing timelines is an afterthought.
this is why this is BAD leadership.
BRB its the JUNIOR's job to have to reply and CLARIFY what they timeline is
Or....I know this is pretty ground breaking to some...the senior banker could give CLEAR and understandable guidance on deadlines/tasks/and deliverables (and with foresight rather than randomly at 1AM) since he is LEADING the process and the junior team. If the 22 year old ANALYST has to fish it out of him, then frankly that's a poor leader and communicator.
Have been in this situation a few times with a few MDs that take a few hours off in the evening then get around to comments around 12/1am. Often times they'll specify "In the morning can you..." and if they don't (as Aso3 said, timeline can be an afterthought sometimes), I'll just reply "Thanks, We'll work through this and get you a draft late morning/early afternoon. Let us know of any issues with this timeline" and that let's them know you have no intention on working on it that night but also gives them the chance to tell you it's urgent. I'm just a stupid first year but have learned over communication is critical to maintaining some semblance of a life during WFH.