How to enjoy your analyst stint?
I am about to start my career in Investment Banking, I will join the M&A group at a BB, I am currently undertaking my training and I will be on the desk in 3 weeks.
As someone who is starting, I want to ask for honest advice on how to enjoy my analyst stint and be happy during these years. 90% of posts on here are rants about how rough is being an IB analyst, how long are the hours, and how silly are most of the tasks, but I refuse to believe that everybody hates this job.
I am well aware that the job is very stressful, the hours are long and very unpredictable, that there will be many ups and downs, and that junior analysts will not be doing the most "glamorous part of the job", but I would like to hear from those people who successfully made it to Associate or VP level how did they make it to be happy during their Analyst years, and how did they get the best out of this experience.
This may be unorthodox, but I’ll put it out there anyways: I entered the industry years ago with the mentality that: the bank needs me more than I need the bank, because I’m intelligent enough to get a good job in another industry (i.e. tech, real estate, F500) and my life is not tied to the company.
With that mindset, I didn’t have the “mental handcuffs” that some of my peers had (i.e. it’s finance or bust, this job is my sole ticket to greatness, must get an offer from BX/APO, that type of thinking) and I was a lot more “chill” during my analyst days (didn’t mean I didn’t work hard though). With overall less stress, learning on the job became more fun and it was easier to have a good time in the bullpen.
Anyways, I did well at my job, learned lots, got paid good bonus and made good friends (peers + MDs who still wish me happy birthday every year).
Can I PM you. I love this mentality
Yup sure thing
Yep, similar mindset on my end with the one addition that I busted my ass (and still do) for the right people and mentors. Work hard for people, not firms.
JPM!!!
Fuck your MD
If you seriously want to enjoy your analyst stint then you have to accept that you’re okay with a bottom-mid bucket bonus. Which is fine, and if you can accept that upfront then you really can get by in banking as easy as possible.
Strategies include saying you’re more staffed than you are, pushing back on associates (especially on weekend work/work that doesn’t need to be done at ridiculous hours), and rolling into the office late/leaving early. These are all things that you can get away with but that will hurt you if you want to be top bucket.
Also I’m making the assumption that enjoyment = better WLB = bullshitting your way through it. You could also improve your enjoyment by landing onto a good team, having a good analyst class (friends = much more enjoyable work), working on deals/with teams that are interesting/respect you - but these are all things you have less control over.
Honestly, depending on the group you're in, this would land you mid / upper mid if you're good at communicating / have good office politics skills. You will probably never enjoy life as a top bucket analyst but imo a decent chunk of top bucket analysts wouldn't enjoy life whether they were in IB or not because of how they're wired.
Are hours less for someone who is bottom/mid bucket? Is it possible to be closer to 60-70 with that mindset to just get through
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