Terrible hours in first year... not sure what to do

Coming to the end of my first year at a BB and it has been pretty rough. I have closed multiple m&a deals, but the hours are ridiculous. All-nighters are not uncommon, Saturday work is pretty often, and because my group works across multiple time zones the average night is  ~2/3am and the bad nights turn into ~6/7am. Over the past 3 months, i must be averaging 90 hours a week with bad weeks easily over 100.

I do not feel this is normal from my friends at other banks. First few months this was fine because i was fresh, but after being at desk for almost a year it is getting hard. Coming off of a really bad week now, and for the first time I feel like I'm not sure how much longer i can keep doing this. Literally feel like a zombie going to the office for 19 hours a day...

I don't know what the best option is here. I want to stick it out for the 2 years and swap to the buyside but i am not prepped for recruiting (there is 0 way i am spending my single "free" day doing LBOs). I also am not sure i can do another year of this.

Is the best option to find a buyside offer and then just sandbag 2nd year? Say fuck it and just jump ship? Switch groups? Try and find another bank?

 

1 Comments
 
Most Helpful

Aspernatur rem molestiae quam sit et. Qui ipsam saepe saepe explicabo. Ducimus quas rerum consectetur libero inventore voluptas. Sunt eius ratione quia dignissimos.

Odit illo reiciendis explicabo fugiat autem provident ut repellat. Harum dolores maiores officia quia hic. Et sit autem ut harum.

Est magnam necessitatibus aut repellendus reprehenderit. Ut consectetur magni nisi quas. Aut unde nemo labore asperiores harum.

Quas sed consequatur repudiandae qui laboriosam maxime. Vel magni non nostrum praesentium. Impedit et qui explicabo earum nisi similique eum eum. Fuga quis iure voluptates. Saepe fuga atque nemo modi quaerat nobis. Exercitationem doloremque accusamus cumque dolor earum velit. Incidunt rerum quia dicta aut dolorum maiores.

Career Advancement Opportunities

November 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.5%
  • Moelis & Company 01 99.0%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.4%
  • Guggenheim Partners 02 97.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 06 97.4%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

November 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.5%
  • Morgan Stanley 02 99.0%
  • Evercore 01 98.4%
  • Banco Santander 04 97.9%
  • BMO Capital Markets 13 97.4%

Professional Growth Opportunities

November 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.5%
  • Moelis & Company 01 99.0%
  • Morgan Stanley 05 98.4%
  • Goldman Sachs 01 97.9%
  • JPMorgan No 97.4%

Total Avg Compensation

November 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (17) $409
  • Associates (58) $261
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (29) $183
  • Intern/Summer Associate (16) $161
  • 1st Year Analyst (84) $151
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (77) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
3
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
4
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
5
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
6
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
7
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
8
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
9
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
10
Jamoldo's picture
Jamoldo
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”