VP Hours
What hours are you / VPs on your team pulling on average? I've been a top bucket A>A>VP at a BB and after 5 years in the role and grinding it out, I struggle pushing past midnight anymore. I'd say hours have definitely gotten better now that I can delegate (most) of the analytical work / slide creation, but this comes with juggling more files, execution & client management, and being more "on". I'd say on average I can clock out at 10PM on good days, and still have my 1-3AMs here and there. Curious if I'm being overworked in my team
it didnt get better with VP in terms of hours. Probably pressure went up due to being final check
Only major positive (asides from comp) is that I have more control on my time. if i need to be at a dinner I can make others work around that time to make sure I am free for that slot
This job is so ass… doesn’t even get better at VP… like tf
Doesn't sound like you're overworked for a VP, but I do empathize with not being able to constantly push past midnight... One 3-4am night will mess me up for multiple days now whereas back in my A&A days it was nothing.
I've found at the VP level, yes I have more time, but the weight of the incremental responsibility and my wheels constantly turning negates it. Even when I'm not working, I can't stop thinking about work. Not in the sense of "oh damn, I just have to put some time in to complete this menial task that's coming due" like it was as a junior, but nowadays it's "I need to revise xyz before it gets distributed and it better be perfect because it's got my name on it and my reputation and livelihood rides on this"... If shit blows up, it's coming back on me. Or another example - the client wants some ridiculous ask and I have to figure out how to creatively structure something that has no precedent to make everyone happy.
VP shit is way more exhausting even if it takes less time. Tasks are too complicated to do anything other than singularly focus on said task. Gone are the days where we could build graphs and models and fuck around in ppt while having the TV on in the background.
My advice would be to continue to invest in developing your most promising juniors and steadily delegate more senior-level responsibilities to them. They'll struggle at first and it's more work on the front end than if you just did things yourself... but after a few reps you'll be able to trust the high performers to handle things without you having to scrutinize every single little thing before it goes out.
Vp level is the easiest level if you have great juniors, but the worst if juniors suck.
In most cases the average junior on a team is mid at best. All the best analysts leave and you’re left with new analysts and mediocre a2as and mbas to supervise. Basically forces you to check work super closely to avoid blowups because all your juniors are new or mid
Hours wise I would hope VPs sit around 50-70 hours a week. Any more than that has to be a deal sprint
VP years are way better. I work like 50 to 60 hours a week, deal sprint I can do 80 to 90 but its rare.
Ive been around the block enough and am respected by my MDs (who have specifically chosen me to work for them) that I can push back when I want, or call them out if something doesnt make sense. they in turn treat me more like a peer.
If my analysts or associates can't handle a workstream (modeling etc), I can generally do it faster and better than them and dont hesitate to just get hands on and do it. often its easier to just bang out the LBO in 25 mins then let them spend a few hours doing it and me spend 30 mins checking it for the all mistakes.
I am under more pressure to make the client happy - really just depends on what seniors are involved. occasionally get on a deal that ruins my week but thats just life. others MDs are great and dont take things too serious.
I also sort of care less too. oh...so and so MD is mad at me about something. phuck off then. what are you gonna do...fire me (good I have a nice severance from years acrrued and deferred comp ready to go).
since I generally know what I am doing - its just generally more fun. IB was not fun when I was always confused and felt like I was barely treading water. Now, I can zone out on calls and when someone mentions me I already know what to say and its correct.
Last sentence goes hard
I agree with all of this. I'm largely working 8am - 6/7pm and responding to emails on my phone after hours. I'll work until 10pm once a week and work a couple hours on the weekend here and there. All-in-all, I'm working 50-55 hours a week on average. High octane pitches or deal blow ups will push that to 70-80 hour weeks, but that is not the norm.
Best answer right here ^
Not in banking but I posted about the same phenomenon ~3 years ago when I was a newer VP (https://www.wallstreetoasis.com/forum/private-equity/vp-work-life-balan…). Obviously the market was probably at its peak when I posted so some of my "success" may be due to that but I ultimately reduced hours worked/week from ~70 to ~50.
My main things were 1) getting better at prioritizing what was actually urgent, 2) upskilling the juniors on my team and delegating more, and 3) simply doing lower-quality work.
For #1, you should have/develop a filter for what actually moves the needle on revenue drivers for your firm. If it's a last-minute thing on docs for a deal that's closing next week, you're going to have to burn the midnight oil. If it's e.g. a pitch for a prospect you're so-so excited about, it's okay to say that you're swamped and you'll get to it later (or give a long-dated deadline in the first place).
#2 was maybe the most effective in terms of time returns. I would give more workstreams to Associates on my team and frame it as a "learning experience," starting as hiving off a discrete portion of what I was doing, and eventually just giving the whole thing over to them. FYI there is a balancing act here as they were all excited to grow their skillsets at first and most got promoted to Senior Associate (in some cases on accelerated timetables), but eventually turnover got worse... not catastrophic, but definitely up from where it was
On #3, I'm a pretty Type-A person who was spending a bunch of time covering every possible angle in the deal, making sure every conceivable threat was airtight, making sure we'd evaluated every growth opportunity, etc. I stopped doing anything besides what IC had highlighted as a focus area and nobody noticed or cared.
My VP is literally online later than the analysts almost every night. See him on from 12-3am constantly.
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