Walking on Eggshells, Scolded

Hey everyone, been wondering this for a while.

Some background:

  • No in a major city - graduated from a good undergrad 2 years ago. Did buy-side for 1 year before making the jump the IB. Been on the desk for a year, enjoying the work so far, but I’m scratching my head if this is a “normal” environment for banking

  • joined with no IB experience, team is extremely lean - no associate or VP (I’m an analyst)

  • There’s no teaching / mentorship, I’ve had to learn by looking at past materials, ask questions when I really can’t figure it out on Google or whatever

  • I’ve been scolded a few times. Now I feel like I’m walking on eggshells every time I come into work. I ask around the other analysts and they feel the same.

  • My question is: is this normal in banking and I should suck it up? Or is it abnormal and some shops are generally more “nice”? Just trying to understand, thanks

Edit: apologies if format is off - typed on phone

4 Comments
 

What sort of firm is this? The walking on eggshells feeling is pretty much normal in IB, but working in a small city on a team with no associates or VPs is not. It is relatively common at relatively amateur lower MM boutiques though. I wouldn’t advise you to stick around at one of those for very long.  

 

OP here. It’s a boutique MM IB shop - lots of seniors from BB / EBs.

To clarify, and I know this is a bit absurd to ask - submitting work and feeling anxious whether I’m going to get reprimanded is normal in IB? I’ve been told I’m doing well, but if 1/50 deliverables I’ve done isn’t perfect, I get yelled at

 

It was normal for me. Bankers are psychopaths. They’re also assholes. They pretty commonly have this “I got hazed so you’re going to get hazed attitude” and in general, they just have a really high standard for everything are more than happy to chew you out for the slightest mistake. I think it’s normal. That’s to a degree obviously. If it’s really excessive or nasty then that’s not normal. I’d be more worried about whether you’re even getting good experience at a small MM boutique in the middle of nowhere with no associates or vice presidents. That reeks of boiler room. 

 

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