Bored out of my mind

Didn't manage to get into a BB/EB/MM because of lack of relevant experience despite good/excellent academics. I ended up at a boutique which is more of a corporate finance shop - I don't work IBD hours, and I don't get paid IBD comp. The work itself is repetitive and although I am consistently asking for more work, I find myself having literally nothing to do at times, so I just endlessly browse the web and read WSO. This feels more like a "lifestyle" job. The team is friendly, we have lots of perks, but the work in itself is slow-paced. And I'm bored out of my mind. I've been trying to lateral to BB/EBs to go through the actual IBD grinder and get nice exit opps, without much luck for the moment.

I feel kind of lost. Not even sad, but I feel like I'm waiting for something that's not coming and I don't know what to do. It's kind of ironic that I want to work 100 hours a week but don't even have the opportunity to do so, isn't it? I feel like I'm wasting my time, that life "hasn't started yet". I lack momentum and am bored out of my mind. What the fuck should I do?

 

Any random idiot who can type up a stupid post isn't entitled immediately to a response. Chill the fuck out.

 

I'm in a similar spot and yes, I work in banking. Not BB or EB though. This sounds absurd right? It doesn't. My current teammates are extremely incapable except 1 fellow analyst.Work itself is super repetitive --- that is what investment bankers do.

Worker harder, broaden your options. Learn and develop new skills. Don't limit yourself in corporate finance type jobs. 

 

Let’s put up a quotation and see what we think of it, just try to judge it for a minute: “if you’re bored, you’re boring.”

Although this sentiment can be a bit tough to handle (it turns something that you thought was a state imposed on you and instead turns it into an essential characteristic of yourself), there are elements of this notion that are true. We are bored because we are so unimaginative that we cannot fill the void. You have internet connectivity. Find a genre of movies or music you like (might not be able to pull that at work, I understand). Read articles on Wikipedia on topics you never thought you would read about, then dive into footnotes and other articles and broader searches. Pick up some weird hobbies. One of mine is celestial navigation. I’m not a sailor, but I like the idea of using star measurements to determine where you are without GPS and only using centuries old techniques. Find something you can do that other people aren’t. Novelty is bestowed to all those who are imaginative enough to receive it.

 
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I mean the first thing that comes to mind besides just directly trying to lateral to BB/EB is to build up relevant side projects that can signal to recruiters that you have a passion for finance outside of just your existing work experience (especially since it seems your existing work experience doesn’t cut it).

This can manifest in a variety of ways - grinding the CFA exam, writing on a platform (a blog, medium, seeking alpha, ect.) and getting reps in via diving into stocks or businesses (a friend of a friend actually wrote such great medium articles that a tiger cub straight up reached out & gave him a first round while he was still a senior in college), taking online classes like Aswath Damodarans Corporate Finance or Valuation course, reading books with great application (Rosenbaum Investment Banking Book, Mckinseys Valuation 7th Edition, ect. ), self learning other skills that make you more marketable like knowledge of cryptocurrency & blockchain or programming, starting projects on the side (maybe pool some money with friends and start a small hedge fund; that’s what im currently doing and I love it.

The list goes on and on. The point is there are definitely many things you can be doing to help improve your long term prospects - they might take a while to bear fruits, but that’s just how it’ll have to be sometimes. Plus, if you’re really grinding & are producing high caliber work, it shouldn’t take long. If it takes longer than expected, than that’s probably indicative that you need to learn more before you’re prepared to make some sort of lateral elsewhere. Now if you’re asking for an easy fix I can’t really provide one other than suggesting you look down your list of 3rd degree relatives and hope one of them has some connection and can get you through the front door at a better firm.

Hope this helps!

 

I already work out, but the rest of what you mentioned isn't very productive.

 

Find more productive things to do at work. It doesn’t sound like you’re trying hard enough. 

"If you always put limits on everything you do, physical or anything else, it will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them." - Bruce Lee
 

Had a similar job. I just spent time picking up new skills - after 6 months I had developed a bunch of programs to automate the more mundane tasks of the work...which ironically led to me having even less "actual" work to do.

 

You can’t bitch about not getting to work 100hrs and bitch about being bored. If you wanted it that bad you wouldn’t have time to be bored.

Flip your mindset from I should be in banking to they’re not keeping me out of banking and you’ll be in much better shape. If you really enjoy 100hr weeks that should be easy :)

 

You have free time to pick up new skills and start some side hustles. Take advantage of it.

 

Start a side gig boss. I get it, you don't wanna do something that doesn't produce income. Flip houses if you have to

 

In the same shoes as you were and broke into EB. Trust me, you’ll wish you were bored again instead of getting worked to the bone like a monkey.

 

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