Comments (64)

7mo 
nyctooexpensive2, what's your opinion? Comment below:

I heard Goldman stopped timing juniors' bathroom breaks. Seems like they're on the cutting edge of protecting talent 

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  • Analyst 1 in IB - Gen
7mo 

This is always a bad question: it's group dependent, deal flow dependent, and team sizing dependent. 

For example, a few months ago a previously chill group at a more relaxed bank was mentioned on here in the sweaty groups thread. Their deal flow was quoted at being up 700% YoY. 

Deal flow can vary year by year. Sweaty groups can become more relaxed for months on end due to market dynamics or several MDs leaving. 

Finally, it's team sizing dependent. If a team underhires on A1s, those A1s can get smoked (even in chiller groups). On the contrary, if a sweaty group overhires A1s and forecasted retention issues do not pan out, those A1s might have it way easier than the class before them. 

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7mo 
anotherm7, what's your opinion? Comment below:

Many people don't wanna admit it, but current WLB is really good in most BB coverage groups such as BofA CS Barclays given deal flow is down 50% with a dead leverage finance market. Been in my group for 3 years and it has never been this quiet.. particular this month till thanksgiving. We know most coverage groups over hired with tons of asso/analysts not doing much. Lay off has to happen mid next year.

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7mo 
anotherm7, what's your opinion? Comment below:

How many years have u been working? Everything is relative - this is without doubt the quietest ever. If ur team is crushed right now, they prob never slept during covid times as it was easily 2x as many deal. 

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  • Analyst 1 in IB-M&A
7mo 

Any product group at a BB. Barclays and BoFA are pretty good in general too. All EBs have terrible hours

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  • Intern in IB - Cov
7mo 

Based on this forum I've p much come to the conclusion that wlb is inversely correlated with prestige

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  • Analyst 1 in IB - Gen
7mo 

I think alot of people misunderstand work life balance does not equal good culture. A bank can have a good culture (respectful seniors, good analyst class, caring associates) but bad WLB because the deal flow is high.

So in conclusion, if you want good WLB, you go to a shop that does not have great deal flow. Top groups in BB and EB will all have bad WLB because of the sheer amount of deals they get.

  • Analyst 2 in IB-M&A
7mo 

I agree, but no one ever talks about that some groups constantly have high deal flow but never enough people. Their culture might be good, but it shows that they still don't care about analysts, else they would hire more bodies for the high deal flow

7mo 
bluecollarfinanceguy, what's your opinion? Comment below:

I am in cap markets at a BB and have great WLB.

2nd year associate and most weeks are 50 - 60 hours. Virtually no weekend work.

We are consistently 1 or 2 in league tables, so not like I'm just in a group with no deal flow either.

Would envision other cap markets groups at BBs are similar. Great option for career bankers.

7mo 
monk4242, what's your opinion? Comment below:

With current deal flows, most banks wlb is great right now. As above poster mentioned, WLB really ebs and flows with broader markets

  • Analyst 1 in IB-M&A
7mo 

EVR is getting fucking recked. No deals and insecure MDs chasing everything under the sun

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  • Analyst 1 in IB-M&A
6mo 

Yup. Fuck EVR and especially fuck my group. Miserable group of lifeless dorks

  • Analyst 2 in IB - Cov
7mo 

UBS TMT. No MDs. One Associate I know (who recently left) did 0 work and traveled around the world for a full year. He/she still got paid. 

  • Intern in IB - Gen
7mo 

Lol I feel like I know who this is

  • Intern in IB - Cov
7mo 

Idk if its changed but every thread I read on Truist was them not actually having much deal flow but having to do a lot of these like internal meeting things that I'm 100% blanking on the name of that would eat up crazy amounts of time.

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  • VP in IB - Cov
6mo 

Former employee and this is accurate. You'll spend a ton of time on "client planning" which is basically just b.s. internal work and on leverage reads which are sometimes sponsor agnostic. Your mileage may vary, but it's surprisingly sweaty in many groups. 

  • Analyst 1 in IB - Cov
7mo 

I've been "working" 40-50 hrs a week at Jefferies for the past few months. Some days really having nothing significant on my plate. Fridays, during WFH, I usually go to the gym, go out to lunch, join a call or two, and call it a day.

Really curious what 2023 is going to look like.

  • Analyst 1 in IB-M&A
7mo 

At a 30-40 person boutique. Over street pay, low volume/high quality deals, culture is great, protected Saturdays, etc. Think this is an underrated path. Planning to exit to VC with even better hours. Still not easy of course, but I cope by thinking of this as basically 2 more years of school that are going to set me up for the long term.

  • Analyst 2 in IB - Cov
7mo 

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7mo 
carerthosetoyou, what's your opinion? Comment below:

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6mo 
Jamie_Diamond, what's your opinion? Comment below:

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