Should I stick to ECM or move to M&A
Currently an ECM associate at a BB, I love my role from a personal standpoint. I work 8am to 6pm pretty much everyday and on Fridays I'm out by 5pm with 0 weekend work. I've been working in ECM in this team for 5 years and never once worked a weekend or stayed late. So it's amazing and we have a super nice culture as well which is rare for a large bank.
Additionally we have good deal flow and my pay is very good. It's similar to M&A so my base salary is the same but my bonus is slightly lower. However, after tax this difference works out to be minimal and unnoticeable. On an hourly basis my pay works out to be much better, I'm 100% confident I'm earning more on an hourly basis here in ECM than M&A bankers at the highest paying EBs like Centerview/PJT/Evercore etc. So with this in mind, I view my pay as higher than M&A.
However, I realised the only reason I'm loving my role is on a personal standpoint and I actually really don't like the work itself.. I find my day to day very repetitive and boring and later down the line you essentially just become a salesman. I'm now no longer looking forward to going into work and want a change.
I'm not entirely sure what I want to do long term so feel M&A and its exit ops might be a good idea. I've spoken internally and they've said they can move me into one of our M&A teams as there's a space available. I spoke to the team and asked them about their hours, the associate there said he finishes at 1am on average everyday and there's constantly weekend work.
I'm really not sure what to do because it feels like I should just suck it up and continue with ECM given the pay and hours and that M&A is actually just a complete horror show for less pay per hour - any advice?
The logic in these comments is puzzling. OP sounds like they have an excellent career... great work-life balance, really enjoys the people he works with/culture, great pay, etc. Unless you're looking for the fairytale perfect job (which I assure you is not M&A or likely any of its highly sought after "exits"), then I don't know why one would be so keen on leaving the position you described in exchange for the following (from other users who are telling you to "take the plunge":
"no social time during the week, no dinner dates, sleep deprivation, etc."
"i'm working in M&A and sometimes (often) i question my life decisions when i see my ECM friends logging off and getting drinks and getting similar pay"
"it will surely require you to i) work longer hours (=/= work harder, but you'll surely have less free time) and ii) to rebuild all your political capital (5 years are a long time in a team)"
"Can confirm. M&A hours are a horror show. It's mostly ruined my life."
In what world does someone want to leave similar pay, great hours and good culture for the above? I think these comments are the epitome of 'misery loves company' or something like that. To each their own, just my two cents.