Just stop whining
Look being an IB analyst is a hard job, im not denying that. But you’re 22 getting paid 2x the median household income so stop complaining. The cherry on top is that your earning potential after the 2 years climbs so ridiculously fast that you’re making more than most people know what to do with.
Personally, every time i whine about my job i think to myself “what if i was making 65k working a 9-5?” - and the reality is that so many things i dont think are a luxury really are. Going out for dinner and not worrying about ordering a 3rd beer? Gone. Going on 2 dates in 1 weekend? Gone. So i think while people hate on the analyst years, and this site has a bias for people to rant, it really isnt all that bad.
Hi bofa hr!
Getting ready for the downvotes because historically WSO has loved Jefferies from back in my recruiting days, though this might've changed as more info has come to light recently.
This is the most obvious Rich Handler/Jefferies sponsor post of all time. Nobody should ever go to Jefferies over any respectable platform unless you're an MD. Their entire comp structure is basically: give fat stack guaranteed bonuses to MDs and have juniors that crank out the most on the street for the least pay. They don't even promote their juniors; Jefferies basically has no MD promotes. Their exits are still mostly MM and every BB/EB has still historically higher reputation than them and is held in higher standing by others in the industry and PE firms. Jefferies has been having the same issues since I was a college student recruiting; I do not get why people chose Jefferies back then over any other respectable offer and I sure as hell don't now. I would rather even be at a "worse" league table bank like DB because at least they promote internally, aren't notoriously toxic, and have arguably a stronger reputation.
Ah yes, the classic “Jefferies sweatshop” rant brought to you by UBS, where you’ll never have to worry about junior comp because youll want to quit long before you earn a bad bonus.
Jefferies may work their juniors to death, but at least they get real deals to put on their resumes. UBS juniors? Congrats on spending two years formatting pitch decks for group heads who still think Lehman exists. Want an exit opp? Hope you enjoy explaining to recruiters that, yes, UBS technically still has an investment bank and not just a wealth management firm.
And let’s talk about deal flow, Jefferies might grind their juniors into dust, but at least there’s something to grind for. At UBS, the biggest live deal you’ll touch is a tombstone for the investment bank itself.
Am an intern recruiting but holy shit are some people on this forum wild; can't believe something like this is even being said.
Ah yes, because nothing says ‘elite finance career’ like bragging about being worked to death as per the part where you explicitly say "Jefferies may work their juniors to death". Jefferies juniors may get real deals, but at what cost? Hope you enjoy explaining to recruiters why your biggest exit opp was straight to the emergency room.
never thought I would see the strawman fallacy live
Stockholm syndrome.
Skill issue. UBS's top bucket paid well, and I can confirm that some legacy UBS folks were top bucket at least in my non-tech group. There are analysts here who’ve closed multiple deals across products, including M&A. If you didn’t? That’s on you.
If you ended up in a weak group with no deal flow, you picked groups wrong. If you landed in the bottom bucket, you performed bad relative to others in the eyes of those evaluating you. Either way, blaming the firm won’t change the outcome. And let’s be real—UBS still exits better than Jefferies. Analysts I worked with in the past couple of years landed at UMM/MF PE and UMM/MF PC. Jefferies exits historically? Mostly MM. And since PE recruiting is inertia-driven, that’s unlikely to shift anytime soon.
At some point, you have to take ownership of your career. If you’re constantly blaming external factors, maybe the real issue isn’t UBS—it’s you. If you’re not getting on deals, ask yourself why. A victim mentality won’t get you staffed, won’t get you promoted, and definitely won’t get you better exits. Own your situation and take action—either improve your positioning within your group or make a move internally or externally.
The reality is, that plenty of UBS analysts close real deals—especially in LevFin, Sponsors, and Industrials, and likely in other coverage groups outside of M&T and Tech. If you’re not in that boat, it’s because you either picked the wrong seat or didn’t make yourself valuable enough to get staffed. Either way, recognizing that and fixing it is on you.
Ppl from UBS able move to Carlyle recently, thoughts?
Have you ever worked at Jefferies?
The reality is much more complicated than this. Let's say that an analyst is slated to make $100K + 100% target bonus in NYC. The $100K is is 1.25x the median household income in NYC. A 9-5 job is 40 hours a week, but the investment banking analyst is going to be called to do work anywhere from 70-100 hours a week depending on the week. The expectations are going to be a lot higher. Until the bonus hits, it is entirely discretionary, and the threat is always such that if you don't do what the overlords say, then that can be zeroed out at any time, bringing you back to 1.25x median household income while working double the hours of a normal person under far more stressful conditions with more difficult managers. If you tick off your manager in a normal job, the most you lose is the future income from the job. If you tick off your manager in investment banking, you can lose half of your compensation for the entire year which was the entire premise of doing the work in the first place, and that reality gives the boss far more leverage, which then leads to emotional abuse in many instances. The cultural acceptance of verbal and emotional abuse is high, as well as the prevalence of sexual harassment. People are commonly expected to work on the day of a relative's funeral. I've had co-workers who were joining calls on the day of their wedding. The expectations are very high.
If you're FINRA-regulated, the firm that holds your license has a lot of leverage on you on what they write in the report about your departure, so it leads to people taking very bad deals (not drawing unemployment in certain instances, leaving rather than getting fired), all to avoid getting a dark mark on their record.
At any point, yes, you can get an FP&A job that has more normal hours and levels of compensation, but while you are in there, there is a very particular set of stressors.
There is a difference between hard work and long hours, and the blatant disrespect of juniors time and verbal abuse… the former is acceptable, the later is not.
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