What Separates the People Who Manage 80+ Hour Weeks until 40's Vs. Those Who Can't?
Obviously, priorities like SO, Kids, wanting to see friends etc.
But I'm talking about other traits. Interested in hearing anecdotes about how some made it work despite the brutal hours .
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The scientific term is conscientiousness, although choosing to work that much until your 40s means you either enjoy very much the job or the money attached to it.
This is the process:
Step 1: Complain about 80hr+ weeks
Step 2: Brag about 80hr+ weeks
...
profit
-
If you're working 80+ hours until your 40's and it isn't because you desperately need the money to survive, I think there are some greater issues at hand. It is not healthy to be so addicted to money, prestige, power, etc that you work that much while neglecting family, friendships, and life experiences. Most successful F500 CEO's don't work nearly that much, the only people I know who work that amount are IB analysts right out of school or entrepreneurs. Your brain can only take so many hours until it functions worse.
The wording in the original post is kind of toxic because you imply that people "can't" work 80+ hours per week as a negative, while I honestly think it's a positive that one would realize that they are working such an insane amount for a 40's guy and change their career/company.
So to answer your question, I think people in their 40's who "can't" work 80+ hours often have more introspection, confidence, maturity, and an overall more balanced life than those who "can" work 80+ hours.
*This is specifically for people in their 40's. Obviously young analysts doing their IB stint will work that much, but that's a temporary position and should not extend until one's 40's.
wow what a crock of shit. I've met workaholics who neglect their families and I've met incredibly driven and passionate individuals who manage to make it work in spite of their demanding schedules. How are you so sure that the latter doesn't exist? In fact, the people who are addicted to the prestige/money are often the first to exit because those motivators all of a sudden melt away for non-psychopathic individuals when you have to cancel your first vacation in years for the nth time.
Life can be sad for many.
The fact that so many people are not happy with 150K salary at 21 says it all, that money doesn't buy happiness. Those who raise up the rank, have a false pretense on life.
You value money in your bank account more than your time. It's that simple.
Do bankers actually "work" 80+ hours a week and not just lounge around in the office while being on call and occasionally updating a model or pitch books and just calling it working? I work in AML where the full eight hour work day requires 100% of my attention because I have to reach production requirements. After a ten hour day of analyzing 40+ spreadsheets and writing 25+ pages I can hardly think straight. There's no way bankers actually spend all of that time in a spreadsheet or PowerPoint without waiting for clarification or feedback, let alone producing quality work if they are working those hours.
would be interested in hearing what the bankers have to say if you posted this in the IB forum.
Based on my experience at a middle market firm, there is very little down time. You might catch a slow week once in a while when all of your deals just happen to be on pause at the same time, but usually the work is constant from 8:30/9:00am until you go home sometime after midnight. It’s very common for me to eat lunch at my desk and only take a half hour break for dinner. It really is an absolute grind. If we didn’t get “protected” Saturday’s I would not be able to survive, and when things are busy it’s even worse than what I’ve described. Obviously this will vary group to group.
wow. that is insane. surprised you can even survive as is with that setup
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