My bank gives 2 weeks of PTO this year — curious when it would be acceptable to take it. 6 months in? Can we take the full 2 weeks at once (trip to South America for example), or is it better to spread out? How long do we need to notice the team?
| +69 | Wealthy Parents / Jaded | 23 | 7h |
| +49 | How are hours rn for SA (interns) | 29 | 16h |
| +46 | Venezuela Debt Restructuring - LAZ vs CVP | 22 | 4h |
| +36 | A COMPLETE GUIDE TO SUMMER INTERNSHIP RECRUITING | 9 | 17m |
| +33 | Boutique firm wants access to my LinkedIn? | 19 | 2h |
| +27 | Investment Banking in Mexico | 7 | 1d |
| +25 | MM bottom bucket bonus | 9 | 2d |
| +24 | UBS GIG, LevFin, FSG Interns working Sundays and 85 hour weeks their first week? | 12 | 1d |
| +21 | Excel macros for QOL formatting | 0 | 3d |
| +20 | Freshman at Rutgers Newark — Best Way to Get an IB Internship? | 10 | 2d |
Career Resources
Get instant access to lessons taught by experienced private equity pros and bulge bracket investment bankers including financial statement modeling, DCF, M&A, LBO, Comps and Excel Modeling.
After the year 1 mark
Unless your bank has some mandated policy where you are required to take PTO. I have seen a few banks require analyst to take a 4- day weekend or a week off.
God bless those shops Lmao
F that - those vacation days are part of your compensation. If you let any expire / not roll to next year, then you are losing money. Take you vacation days. Who gives a shit what anyone thinks - you have to take care of and look out for yourself first.
^ as someone that got sucked into mentality of not taking all my vacation my first year in IB…you should take every single day you are given. You will not get a bad review for taking vacation time appropriately and with advanced notice. If you do, you should find a new shop
Need to feel out your group's traditional path and then figure out whether you want to adhere to it or not. Our "unwritten rule" was no vacation until you're a year in, then you can take a week. I don't think two weeks off at once will fly ever, but again up to your group.
I gather things have relaxed in IB a bit, so mileage will vary.
So you have to work for two years to earn a one week vacation?
Wow, two straight weeks off for a first year analyst? I know if I were a senior, I'd look a little sideways at that. I mean, yeah, take some time to recharge the batteries... but six months in, two weeks in South America while almost everyone else is grinding 'til 10 pm or midnight? Unless that's the norm, I'd say that's a little indulgent. Even if your group isn't busy, I know that -- right or wrong -- I'd perceive that as a little entitled.
Why does every prospect feel the need to chime in on threads like this
The people have spoken
Fuck you dumbass fucking prospect
I actually don't think I've ever seen a worse MS ratio on my time on WSO. Amazing lmfao
That’s the problem with too many young analysts coming in. Stop worrying about how things were done in the past or how it will look. Just split them up and tell your staffer much in advance. My first year I took 1 full week before x mas, it was totally worth it, another in the spring. You have to set lines and take that time to decompress and re group. Nothing wrong with going with the status quo but the industry will never change if every incoming first year is scared to take a week off after 6 months on the job. I’m a strong advocate for 2 full weeks off a year, and yes you can still rank top bucket
^ no one is going to care that much if you take two weeks and long weekends here and there as long as you A. Do good work when you are available B. Post teams early and space them out properly.
During my first year I took two one weekers (one around January and another in June), and a few personal days. My teams were cool with this and had no issues given that I didn’t do it when a live deal was in full stream. People always told me that as a first year you shouldn’t do this and that… like mentioned above don’t worry about what people did in the past. You have vacation days for a reason, don’t make this job more miserable that it can already be and use the time you “earned” to recharge.
We need more analysts like you. It’s ok to relax for a week when the opportunity is available
+1, this is the right advice. OP, just make sure you’re not screwing over your teammates who are covering and it’s all good. Helps to have a good rapport as someone who grinds and produces excellent quality work.
4-5 months in is a good time. don’t listen to hardos that don’t take it until their first year ends and don’t contribute to that culture. as long as you communicate in advance and do your best to coordinate on any of your active work streams before you leave you should be fine, i’ve never heard taking PTO this way being a problem / causing lower ranking. the grind never stops - this should not concern you - as an individual employee you are entitled to days off so take it
I used to work at a bank that gave 2 full weeks of protected vacation (as in fully unplugged, could choose to not bring phone with you) that you were encouraged to take (all analysts took them). You could take them 1 week at a time with minimum couple months between. Also 20 unprotected vacation days (i.e. you only have to do pressing live work). Pretty sure nobody took all 20, but I took ~5 my first year.
Sweatshop otherwise but the vacation policy was awesome.
is this US? UK opinons?
Took one week off this past June when I was an An1. Planning on taking another week off near my end date as an An2
I think it’s worth noting that things are definitely changing. My bank went from being the typical style of not really taking vacation until the summer after 1 year, to mandating 2 separate week-long vacations (you get shut off the company network during this). And encouraging us to take the full allotment of days.
I happened to be in the last wave of the former, didn’t take a single day until June. I think one analyst in my class took a week in spring, but that’s about it. After the change, everyone loaded up on PTO. I took a week in summer then another week in winter, along with a bunch of weekends sporadically. I left this summer, so this past spring I aggressively took every last day. Our first years were definitely more liberal with vacation as well, with some taking weeks in fall/winter and almost all utilizing long weekends. Idk what anyone senior thought, but our analysts generally aren’t super hardo, so we were all genuinely happy for each other getting time off.
IMO it really depends on your bank/group and there’s no one answer anymore. Different banks are in different points in this shift, and some answers you’re getting here might be outdated while others are ahead of the curve. I would consult the older analysts or your own class to see where everyone’s head is at vs. anything you read on here.
I took 2 weeks last dec and no one bothered me
You CAN take vacation whenever you grow a pair. Work hard, be pleasant, cash checks repeat. - TJ
End of August, end of December
From my personal experience, it was easier for me to spread it out.
For example, taking multiple long weekends. Typically I would take off Thursday/Friday, have a nice 4 day weekend. This was pretty easy to manage and I wasn’t “out of the loop” on any active work stream and could hop right in once I got back.
Another time as a first year I took a 5 day weekend. Same as above.
That was my playbook as an analyst and it worked well for me.
If your plan is to go A2A, I highly recommend at that point fully taking the additional A2A vacation time that is granted to you. I took a full 3 weeks off when I went A2A, left my phone and laptop at home, was 100% unplugged and traveled the whole time.
Just my 2 cents
Thanks. How do you schedule this though? Do you have to officially click in 1 vacation day on some random Thursday with HR? You have to let your group weeks in advance for one day too?
I just communicated it with my team about a month in advance.
“Hey I’m going to X this weekend next month and plan on taking off Thursday/Friday”
Don’t ask, always phrase it as a statement.
Our group is pretty informal so never has to do anything with HR.
Banks aren’t paying shit this year. Take as much vacation as you want, brother
2 weeks of PTO per year! LMAO
I am at a BB in London and I have 25 days! God bless Europe!
PD: Don't be silly, and spend those days of PTO. As someone mentioned above, these are part of your compensation and honestly no one will give a f whether you spend them or not, as long as you give sufficient notice.
What are you laughing at?
He makes $110k a year + aprox $70k of bonus while at current exchange you probably make around $75k base and 48% of your bonus will be wasted on taxes to finance the healthcare for people you don't know.
God bless America!
“Oi m8, they just raised owah base to 65 thousand quid!!! Oi!!! I fink I fuhgot to brush me teef again tuday bruv!!!”
“Ohhh mighty chap!! Yee’ won’t believe my bonus this year. 30k and some fish and chips mate.”
My EB is harsh but we’re known for long hours lol
Sed sed labore reiciendis voluptas deserunt ducimus quibusdam doloribus. Sed voluptatem itaque facilis sed omnis. Veniam perspiciatis omnis tempore corporis est veniam. Quis quam deserunt saepe sint. Facilis accusamus omnis et officia nostrum nobis nihil. Maxime rem quis et velit est laboriosam impedit.
Ullam consequuntur maxime vitae perspiciatis sed nihil recusandae eos. Perferendis deleniti voluptas ut dolores aliquid.
See All Comments - 100% Free
WSO depends on everyone being able to pitch in when they know something. Unlock with your email and get bonus: 6 financial modeling lessons free ($199 value)
or Unlock with your social account...
Cupiditate iste consectetur doloremque sunt qui. Consequatur porro recusandae sint necessitatibus necessitatibus possimus ut. Illum consequatur omnis aliquam ipsam quidem. Corrupti eaque ipsam nihil omnis recusandae inventore. Maiores maiores voluptatibus molestias possimus dolor aliquid enim. Error debitis optio et quam quos.
Minima aut illo laborum eos cumque quas. Neque atque qui modi. Dolores pariatur accusantium autem voluptatibus quod. Ipsam doloribus ab dolorem voluptatibus molestias est. Et magnam illum magni et vel ducimus dolores. Dolore illum pariatur voluptatem ducimus dolor est aut. Corporis nemo hic aut et.
Molestiae provident atque doloribus ex. Omnis officiis ducimus ratione animi doloribus. Nemo aut blanditiis sunt illum sed. Inventore aut non corrupti corporis. Sequi unde tempore similique consectetur consequuntur cumque libero. Et ab sit autem nihil.
Nesciunt perspiciatis fugiat dicta nisi et. Sit qui doloribus nulla molestiae ab aliquam. Et sed aut non quo. Id reiciendis voluptatem voluptatum sit itaque totam.