My Life - Back to work..
when I do actually get to go to sleep, I wake up in the morning completely disoriented. I stand in front of the mirror at my bathroom sink trying to muster up the energy to either shave or turn on the shower. I can never remember if I've already done one or the other but eventually I drag myself into the office by around 9-9:30. If it's 9:30am i get some dirty looks but don't give a shit since I can barely see straight. I sit down and try to catch up on some email, then find my way to some caffeine.
My girlfriend is about ready to dump me (I don't blame her) since I am more intimate with my transaction comps than with her. I can tell you how to calculate a WACC but I can't tell you what day of the week it is.
.,..back to work.
That's depressing bro
Seriously
Are you really happy or staying in the job just to keep up with your peers
Suck it up.
Your company should be sending you to the recruiting nights so that all the college juniors and seniors can gain your perspective on the job.
that's the stuff the banks don't want said at recruiting
Sounds terrible. If you like finance and banking, try to get a different job at another bank. Or move on to PE or VC. If you can't enjoy life it's not worth working those hours.
Man, you seriously should think about quitting your job. You know, there are things just not worth it in life. You just got one some 80 yrs on earth to make the best of it, don't shoot yourself at work. This might help:
"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover." - Mark Twain
It is two or three years out of your life. You just need to tough it out and try to stay positive about learning as much as you can in that short time. Maintain a good attitude, do your work and keep your mouth shut and the rest will take care of itself. You will either move up if you desire or on to better things. Either way, try to stay positive about the job.....it will make the time pass by a little faster.
I love that Mark Twain quote. Nice touch.
analysts work like crazy, but what about associates?
associates typically will work just as hard as analysts. they might get to leave an hour before the analyst, but they're usually side-by-side with the analyst. it probably gets better as you spend more time at the bank and get ready for a promote to VP
Do hours get much better at VP level, or are you on the road more instead of at your desk?
Associate work harder than analysts. They ahve way more responsibility.
im sorry
Wow dude that sucks, sorry to hear about that...you better watch out or you'll get sick or something.
I guess I can;t wait till I start!
gotta see the forest through the trees
if you dont like the work hard/play hard lifestyle, your DNA is not in banking, or any finance for that matter. jobs in finance are not 9-5 jobs. get out while you can.
Before you smash your computer against the wall and take off without talking to anyone ever again (true analyst story), you should also know that 90% of analysts absolutely hate their jobs. In order to like it, you probably have to get stuffed on some good deals with good people that are willing to show you a few things and take you to meetings, or you're simply in a wimpy group that lets you go home by 7-8pm because there's nothing to do.
If you don't like it at all as an analyst, it doesn't mean you're not cut out for finance. Most analysts actually stay in finance throughout their career. It's not the hours that you don't like, because I assume you have the work ethic -- and you will be amazed how far ahead you will be of non-banking types when you move on -- but the mind-numbing type of work that they have you do. Unfortunately, and I'm sure you've wondered about it a lot, it can't be avoided and it needs to get done; unfortunately, you often figure that out years later.
My advice would be to try very hard to focus on one or two things that you find valuable on the job and make yourself happy. Try to think bigger picture, i.e., you're not simply a translator for the powerpoint people, but an integral part to a merger transaction, you are interested in the clients and read up on some news, some reports etc., to start getting into it. The more into it you get, the more it will show and your associates will notice, and your attitude will change. If you can't (I couldn't either, but I think it's a piece of advice I could have used), just think of it as a right of passage and then you can move on to PE or HF, or even back to banking in a few years, when the scars have healed.
Also, try to get a champion in your group: see who is well-respected and has done the best deals and next time you work for him bust your hump to make sure his stuff gets priority over other stuff on your plate and that you make him/her look good.
Sucks dude... but its a springboard to better things, right? :-)
ouch.
that is horrible
you're a loser
put out for a few more months til bonus season, then quit. hopefully you saved money.
Dude that's awful. I actually got dumped via vm. My boyfriend said it was indicative of our relationship.
me too!
beat the system, its just that easy
Why don't you move to not such a demanding place? You know there are banks other than where you work, and they do have much better hours.
Try going to a Boutique bank, much better hours, and I hear that more of the money trinkles down to the junior levels.
Being an Associate is the shittiest position to be in. You get blamed when analysts/VP's/MD's screw up.
Agreed.
I would have to agree on the associate comments. As a analyst at least when you go home you (likely) sleep. As an associate you are worried about so much you can harldy sleep.
wow... some of these posts make me think twice about going into ibanking
I think someone needs to watch Office Space.
You're right about the Associate stress. Sitting in meetings watching your MD flip pages, praying that there are no screwups, is no fun. Analysts at meetings just sit there quietly enjoying a few hours away from the office.
If you are someone that needs 8 hours of sleep, why don't you look for a job teaching High School Phys Ed?
BSD123 --- why are you speaking about such extremes? there are jobs in Wall Street that let you sleep 8 hours. trading? Investment Management?
Maybe he isn't physically fit to do so.
Indeed
your life is sad
such is the life in this industry
Reading all these comments, it does sound really bad, but why than there is competition getting into the industry in the first place?
Are there lots of people for whom it's worthwhile or all the newbs are just plain simple ignorant and quit after a few years even if they get that far?
A newbs myself, please clue me in :)
You all are a bunch of little girls complaining. I have not heard one horror story yet. Try having to drive from Charlotte, NC to New Cannan, CT to deliver a Management Presentation because your fucking associate was chewing your ear off and he knew you would miss the fed ex deadline. Try hearing your fucking VP say, "welcome to banking, hit the road and don't forget to bring your corporate card because you can charge back the gas."
I can't wait to start next summer. Lets do this thing!
I1Beast is a Charlotte banker huh?
That's a shame...a damn, dirty shame.
there are other jobs where people work worse hours and have to worry about paying bills because pay isnt nearly as good. i am not an investment banker yet so i cant speak from experiance, but it seems like it requires hard work and dedication, but what doesnt. i dont know, i guess it all depends on what your willing to sacrifice
Say "Oh Let it Go Be A Man If You Can"
I want to hear some more horror stories! haha....j/k
Aren't "banker" and "Charlotte" mutually exclusive?
papakons, great advice.
to the original poster-- sorry to hear of your plight.
take a vacation. poor you :( can't believe that i'd probably be in your position a year from now.
Great idea! He should just take a few weeks off and chill in the Canary Islands. Nobody at the office will think badly of him for it.
I don't want to sound out of place, but someone made the comment it is only 2 or 3 years out of your life? For you to absolutely despise your life that is quite an unfotunate situation, when you are old and rich you'll probably wish you had 23 and 24 back instead of a gold-digging wife and an unappreciative 20 year-old spending your money having more fun in college than you ever dreamed of having.
but there just is not way around this. either you do ibanking or spend your 20 worrying in your sleep how the hell you are gonna pay for the rent.
such a non-sense comment. dude there are jobs in wall street which pay enough to easily pay your rent and still make you work 8-7. why do you think I banking is the only way to a nice life.
What's with the assumption that anyone who makes money is doomed to a miserable life? What about doctors, lawyers, or anyone committed to a career?
Hey bro, I feel your pain, having gone through the banking experience last summer. I guess you did not realize what you were getting yourself into? In any case, I really hope that things are picking up for you these days. Just look at the bright side and keep your eyes on the prize, buddy.
I dont get this -- Why "banker" and "Charlotte" are mutually exclusive?
Fucking A, leaving College is depressing enough, now I'm gonna have to go through this bs everyday for the next two years.
ouch
Dude. We bankers are a strange breed.
We all go through weeks/months like that. But you know what, we fuckin like it. We hate it at the time, but we feel good about it later.
I remember back when I was a summer intern. The first guy who pulled an all-nighter was looked at as awesome. I was looking forward to my first all-nighter. Now I'm not SO twisted that I stayed all night for no reason, but when the shit finally hit the fan for me, I ended up working straight through with nothing but piss breaks until 4PM the following day.
I was exhausted, but I kicked ass. I felt great about it.
Only the truly sick want to work all the time like this, but when it's necessary you want to be the guy to deliver.
It's certainly messed up, but I get off on telling my "regular" (i.e non-banking) friends how much I work. I love the looks on their faces, because they are too pussy to handle it, too lazy and unmotivated to handle it, too content to handle it.
Is this shit for everybody, HELL NO. If you want 2.3 kids, a dog and a Tuesday night bowling league, then quit now. And there is nothing wrong with wanting that, but each person is different.
But if you are one of the lucky, messed-up-in-the-head, semi-masochistic souls who loves this (however bizarre to normal people), then hang in there, and rock on.
This reminds me exactly of hollywood's ibanker-becomes-middleclassfather "The Family Man" with Nicholas Cage, haha. Your description matches the plot of that movie exactly Alexey.
Haha, great post, Alexey. I know exactly what you mean, especially regarding telling your regular friends how much you work, and watching the look of horror on their face.
Risk aversion is one thing when you're managing someone else's money, but I bet the people you idolize on Wall St. didn't reach the positions they are in because they let the term "risk aversion" define their lives.
Define "nice life." By the way, risk-averse people go to law school and become lawyers. I am/will be one of them. My definition of "nice life" would consist of me earning about $20k a month after taxes. I have no intentions of marriage, nor do I intend to have kids, so that's actually a huge sum of money.
"We are lawyers! We sue people! Occasionally, we get aggressive and garnish wages, but WE DO NOT ABDUCT!" -Boston Legal-
It really makes me angry that there are so many college students calling the OP a loser...when the college students are in fact looking forward to wasting 2-3 years of their life and working 90+ in the hope of having enough money to have people like them - which I believe would be the definition of a loser.
I've not done I-banker hours yet, but I did 70+ this summer, and it was fucking hard..and it just really perturbs me that people who only have worked 40 hours a week and have done maybe one bullshit internships have the nerve to lambast other people because they feel it makes them look badass (you need some SERIOUS insecurities to find the need to look badass on a message board...) I hope all these people suffer.
sTern,
Why do you want people to 'suffer'. Relax man. Don't take things so seriously.
Did she dump you?
I am enjoying this thread --- keep it going!
Ouch, that's sounds brutal hope you get through it.
funny how ibanker shooting rampages are unheard of....
where is this guy now?
post was written in 2006 and it is now 2009.The world has changed. And we must change with it.
Yes, it is a really old post. Hope he's happier these days.
Did Kirilov say something about 1st all-nighter and being cool? A lot of 4.0 students pull all-nighters in college
I really miss those days of pulling all nighters.
you're getting paid well for this...so stop complaining..I know people who would give a left nut to be in your position....so suck it up!
In life shit happens....you just have to wipe it clean and move on!
The 'suck it up, this is banking' responses are nauseating. There are a great number of people who take on a analyst job not fully appreciating the consequences, namely the how long 2-3 years actually is. I can remember thinking 'I can do anything for a couple years' when I was in school, and at this point, with the benefit of hindsight, I believe that to be a terrible way to look at things, not to mention completely untrue.
Alot of the comments on this board seem to take a 30,000 foot perspective on the situation, looking the time in the context of your whole career, etc., which of course is a logical way to look at things and the reason many of us ended up doing this in the first place. But it can truly be unbearable at times for many people and it's ignorant and/or naive to assume otherwise and ridicule people for not 'sucking it up.'
Also, you are not 'paid well' to do this relative to the other opportunities available to the people who end up going into IB, particularly in this market. As far as the money goes, it is the upward trajectory of your future earnings that potentially justifies the time spent, and those are far less certain these days than they have been in the past.
I will be a 1st year analyst this upcoming year. The best advice I have heard so far is to always take pride in the work that I do. This way, even though I will be working extreme hours, I will feel accomplished with my work and hopefully others will notice.
I have heard some horror stories, but it really isn't that bad when I take a bigger picture view. There are tons of people who would kill to be in the position you are in. While at the moment you may want to kill yourself, in the long run you will be the guy in the best position, assuming you went into banking for the correct reasons.
Almost 4 years after the original post was created, this still is a legendary thread. I like to read it every couple of months -- gives me some good laughs.
Checking the OP's profile, says hes a VP in PE now. Good for him...Im sure it was worth it (or I hope it was).
Whats truly astonishing is how he captures (with emotion) what an IB analyst feels almost every single day, in just 5 or 6 sentences. One of the best posts of all time.
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