Workload in IB - advice
Hi all - I hit the desk a few weeks ago and have been crushed by the workload. I can handle the hours and don’t need a whole lot of sleep but the time pressure and stress has destroyed my health. What is a typical workload for a first year <6 months in and 2/3rd year analysts. Currently on 5 pitches all within 2 days
Wait you’re really working on 5 pitches at the same time ? This is bullshit you gotta speak to your staffer man. Imo being staffed on more than 3 live projects at the same time is a VERY bad idea, especially as each project will have a “all hands on” situation at one time or the other.. and also if you’re working 90h weeks for pitches, how the hell are you supposed to have capacity to work on deals once those convert ?
They never convert
Bump
Bump
Bump - someone please help. I honestly feel helpless
Depends on how in-depth (or # of pages) the pitches are, I guess. 90 hours is a lot, but not unheard of in IB. Do you know how much other kids your class are working?
You also will get a lot faster at common tasks and more comfortable telling associates “I can’t get to this for X hours [or Y days].” Sometimes they’re just checking in so they can plan on their end, rather than demanded the work be done ASAP.
Most people are working less. I only know of 1 other analyst getting grinded. Would it be bad to ask the staffer for less work/more time to ramp up?
1) Over communicate with your staffer and don’t hesitate to push back a bit but in a smart way - ie I already have deadlines at the same time, not sure it’s sensible to put me on this as well.
2) recycle is the way to go - saw you said you had to update a chart, that’s great don’t know what it was but most of your job should be taking an existing page refreshing/adjusting the analysis. In 2-3% of cases you’ll have to start something from scratch.
3) you’ll get fast and do a better job overtime, I understand WFH is not easy.
4) 90 hours isn’t bad man (don’t know if my team is sweaty though, but that’s like 9-3am assuming 0 weekend work (which I doubt) should be more like 9-2am + 10~ hours on weekend.
5) if you get stuck ask - just call you asso/ana2, they will know the trick and will save you 30mins. Normally you’d jus ask the person sat next to you but in the current environment you just gotta pickup the phone (not easy to do at first and then it gets easy).
I know the hours aren’t horrible but it’s the stress that’s destroying me
If you're this worried about doing a good job you're not the worst analyst. Don't forget expectations are very low right now, you're probably exceeding them even if it doesn't feel like it. Talk to your staffer, there's nothing wrong with saying you enjoy the job but it takes you a long time to do things correctly and don't have capacity for all of these projects. 5 pitches and a bakeoff is excessive even for a third year analyst.
Take it 1 day at a time - any time you have 10-15 minutes between comments, get off of the computer and go outside or walk around, don't let yourself sit on your phone or computer if you get a break. Even if this is only twice a day it's a mental break.
clearly cannot help if you delete your post replying to the solutions I offer. I am not here to say that you are doing a bad job - in fact if you are so busy and one urgent stuff it means that your team trusts you.
Hmmm... 9-3am is pretty bad already. That’s 6 hours of sleep at the very best.
That is assuming 0 weekend work, and now we are working from home so it's like 5hours and 30mins of sleep, which quite frankly isn't bad.
IDK if you're doing this but a very common mistake i've seen 1st year analysts make is trying to make somethign from scratch when it's been done a billion times over. Ask around 2nd year's primarily if they've got certain charts / analyses saved down that you can refresh.
Also, idk if your bank has it but if they have the offshore india slide presentation team...make use of it. Slam them with a few reuqests while you work on other stuff even if it's just to grab logo's / match color schemes.
It's the small stuff that adds up over time given the sheer workload
Don't delete the post question after getting what you need, leave it populated in order to help others in similar situations. Dick move on your part.
I gave out info that some would have been able to come to the conclusion on my identity. Basically was staffed on a lot of pitches all due around the same time and didn’t know how to handle the workload and was wondering what a typical workload looks like in terms of the number of projects
maybe take out the revealing information and leave everything else in there? hmm
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