What is WLB like in small firms in tertiary cities?
Currently work remotely in REPE, but considering jumping to a local IB because my pay would double and my PE firm is on the West coast (I am in the Midwest which adds 3 hours a day to my schedule) so I am already working ~70 hours a week.
I am trying to get a sense of what hours tend to be like in these smaller cities (Think Cleveland, Detroit, Indianapolis)? Pay is proposed to be around ~$250k for an associate with 2 years of IB experience, I am coming in with 3 years of PE experience (Pay is around $130k).
Are working at these firms worth it? Want to find a firm I can stay long term.
I have some experience with this and the #1 thing I would look for is good MDs who are young and want to stick around for a while. I started at a local boutique but didn't do my diligence and the Managing Partner ended up being a bi-polar fucking maniac who tanked the firm about 16 months after I joined. He also at one point was hospitalized after making national news for Redacted during one of his episodes. None of the MDs would ever show up to the office and were all borderline senile, which made for a really demotivating and shitty learning experience. Being a small group is fine, just make sure you feel like the MDs, VPs and/or Senior Associates above you are actually bright & motivated guys who you can learn from and that the firm has a future beyond the next five years.
Even if you join a shitty boutique that falls apart after a few years, you can still lateral reasonably up-market. All of the three junior employees at the bank I was at, which collapsed, found exits to namebrand MM firms. That said it's a really shitty experience working for horrible MDs.
Did you find that the hours emulated those at the more brand named firms?
I appreciate the advice and I agree, I see this in my own firm within RE which is why I am considering the move. I like being part of a small group as long as it's structured. The group I am looking at are fairly young and the firm has been around for 15+ years so there is some stability there. I want to get a sense if you can get away with 60-70 hours like I am doing in PE or whether I should still expect a typical 80-100 work week.
Hours were waaaaaay better and typically tend to be for small boutiques. A lot of times the MDs at those firms chose to gravitate to them specifically because they have families they want to be with and don't want to deal with the hours and bullshit that come with namebrands.
In this day and age I think it's fairly appropriate to ask an employee around your age about WLB during the interview process so you can get an idea about the specific firm you're targeting. I wouldn't expect it to be 80-100 hours a week. More like a solid 60 if not less.
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