Hey everyone. I've been following this site for a couple of years now and always found it to be pretty entertaining and informative. This is my first time posting a question so here we go.
About me: I came out of college and started working in back office operations. After just a little over five years and a couple of promotions, I got sick of the crap pay and the unsatisfying work and started looking for more analytical work. I took the CFA Level 1 and got my foot into the door of a credit rating agency (Fitch/Moody/S&P). I like the work I'm doing now, but feel like I could take my career up another notch and make more money. I still like the sell side credit research aspect, but think it could be more lucrative going into sell side equity research at a bank or even buy side for an asset manager. I'm currently waiting on Level 3 results that are due to come out in a month.
I think I've gotten too used to the easy work life balance that I had in the two positions I've worked in post undergrad. Has anyone ever had some worries about not being able to transition over from 40-50 hours per week max to something that demands 70-80 hours? I think mental and physical health is really important to me and I don't think I'm young enough to keep up with the demands of something like IB.
I switched from a less demanding job to a more demanding one. First off, ER hasn't been, at least for me, 70-80 hour weeks. It's usually 11-12 hour days for a 55-60 hour week. I've hit 70-80 maybe a couple of times and its entirely different to 60.
60 hour weeks aren't too bad, things feel a little compressed in the evening but I still workout and get dinner with friends every so often. There wasn't much of an adjustment period honestly.
Thanks for the insight, do you think the equity research work/life balance definitely varies amongst the different shops? I recently interviewed at a pretty decent reputable name where the analysts cover 20 names at a time. Made me wonder how stressed out it would get when it comes to earnings season.
It matters a lot group to group. It depends on who the managing director is and how they want to run their business. I would say your maybe putting the cart before the horse. If this is what you want you should try to get ER interviews first. You can learn more about the work as you go but getting interviews can be tough.
If you really love what you do the hours aren't a big deal at all. Try your hand at a few different jobs and see what you REALLY love.
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