Worth moving to London?

I am going to start working as an investment banking analyst in September. Seems like the model will be 3 days in the office and 2 days at home going forward. I currently live just outside of London (1hr 15min commute each way to the office). Given this, is it worth moving to central London??? I.e. would it be sustainable doing a 2hr 30min commute 3 days a week with the investment banking hours?

3 Comments
 
Most Helpful

When I worked and lived in London, we had 5 days at the office, WFH the other days. Occasionally we had the chance to WFH on a Friday afternoon. But most decent parties were on a Friday night, so I'd also go in on a Friday.

Let me put it this way - in all the years I was working in London, I spent a combined 8.3 months commuting to and from work. It means that all the time on trains, tube, car, walking, bus, DLR, and all other methods combined resulted in >6000 hours which I could have used doing something else. Life is short, think twice if you have other, more important things to do rather than sit or stand on public transport.

First of all, find out if the three days have to be consecutive or if you can have a short week for every week of your job. There are lots of short term rentals in London where you can spent 4 nights and then head back to the home counties for a very long weekend. That's what I would do.

If that isn't possible the commute would kill a lot of time and I would argue it is not as attractive to live far away.

 

Rerum ut provident omnis ut velit. Eligendi nobis saepe quos saepe. Laboriosam libero quasi dolor molestiae ipsum quae et.

Delectus enim iste nulla deleniti et dolorum. Rerum eos eligendi impedit consequatur consequatur molestiae dolores. Reprehenderit qui et necessitatibus sit incidunt. Minima qui explicabo aspernatur earum earum.

Saepe perspiciatis quae numquam suscipit asperiores incidunt. Deleniti omnis vel possimus quaerat laudantium nulla beatae qui. Voluptas sequi earum sed in. Amet ex quos eaque ea voluptatem voluptatem et.

Sed odio dolor saepe sint quas. Neque amet ipsam sit sint voluptatem autem. Adipisci mollitia dolores reprehenderit dolores possimus officiis. Sed a velit velit dolores ut recusandae quasi. Eaque iusto quam mollitia tenetur aut sit rerum ut. Ducimus cumque velit et vitae sed eum. Quo id voluptas et nihil a.

Career Advancement Opportunities

October 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.5%
  • Moelis & Company 01 99.0%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.4%
  • Guggenheim Partners 02 97.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 06 97.4%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

October 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.5%
  • Morgan Stanley 02 99.0%
  • Evercore 01 98.4%
  • Banco Santander 02 97.9%
  • BMO Capital Markets 13 97.4%

Professional Growth Opportunities

October 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.5%
  • Moelis & Company 01 99.0%
  • Morgan Stanley 05 98.4%
  • Goldman Sachs 01 97.9%
  • JPMorgan No 97.4%

Total Avg Compensation

October 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (16) $429
  • Associates (57) $264
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (28) $184
  • Intern/Summer Associate (16) $161
  • 1st Year Analyst (84) $151
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (76) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
3
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
4
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
5
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
6
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
7
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
8
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
9
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
10
Linda Abraham's picture
Linda Abraham
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”