Associate complaint thread

Lot of threads complaining about VPs and Principals. I wanted to make one go complain about associates. Some of my top pet peeves:

1) Associates that refuse to check their email or come in before 10am (so I have to respond to all the partners’ questions)

2) Work from home means not being at your computer, never picking up the phone, responding within 2-3 hours, taking a 1 hour lunch

3) Putting nearly no thought into analyses, takeaways, commentary, notes always extremely vague 

4) Constantly asking basic questions rather than making an earnest effort to solve the issue, looking at precedents, trying to google it (?!?!?), forming some potential responses and then asking 

5) Everything is always riddled with mistakes but keep asking about why we need to “be so precise”. Yea homie 1 billion off when TEV is 10 billion is totally fine
 

Add more!

24 Comments
 
Most Helpful

get off your high horse.

guess what, when you shove 100 hrs of monkey work to a junior each week, blow them up on comments, yell at them for eating lunch during the day (heaven forbid they take one hour sometimes), and basically expect them to have the same level of knowledge as yourself (who has been doing the job much longer) "Guys....this isn't that hard, why is this taking so long!"  you will get monkeys who have trouble answering questions/thinking high level/formulating takeaways etc.

they came in after 10 because they were up till 3am turning comments from losers like yourself

they are not being super responsive to your emails because they are working for multiple partners/principals (you are not the only one asking them for things).

Go work in normal corporate america at a company.   see how responsive and helpful the average 24 year old is there.   most companies would kill to have someone who is willing to work at the level of intensity as a PE associate.

 
Go work in normal corporate america at a company.   see how responsive and helpful the average 24 year old is there.   most companies would kill to have someone who is willing to work at the level of intensity as a PE associate.

This is a great point gigachad

 

Agree on points 3-5, but points 1-2 are so dumb and reflect your insecurities. Only insecure seniors/insecure clients create this mad rush to get things done and cause fire alarms when nothing is that urgent. The issue is that in essence financiers are insecure that they add no value so they scramble and work all day to show their value. The fact that you think it's a bad thing to take an hour to yourself to eat lunch just shows you have no life. 

And before you go saying that without this, you can't be successful - take a look at Europe. Look at Spain and Greece. I don't really care if their economies are shit or the people are lazy. They have a tan, prettier girls/dudes, and are just happier than people like you are. Learn how to live a little. If you can't, work yourself, dont hold your juniors back from a normal life. 

 
CHECK6

Agree on points 3-5, but points 1-2 are so dumb and reflect your insecurities. Only insecure seniors/insecure clients create this mad rush to get things done and cause fire alarms when nothing is that urgent. The issue is that in essence financiers are insecure that they add no value so they scramble and work all day to show their value. The fact that you think it's a bad thing to take an hour to yourself to eat lunch just shows you have no life. 

And before you go saying that without this, you can't be successful - take a look at Europe. Look at Spain and Greece. I don't really care if their economies are shit or the people are lazy. They have a tan, prettier girls/dudes, and are just happier than people like you are. Learn how to live a little. If you can't, work yourself, dont hold your juniors back from a normal life. 

Women aren’t hotter in Greece have you ever been? In Spain I’ve only been to Barcelona and Ibiza. I agree Ibiza has the hottest chicks in the world but it was all models on vacation. Barcelona was good but it’s their major hub so if I compare to NYC or LA it fell short. Can’t go to Barcelona and compare to random towns in Montana 

 

lmao greece is a shithole and Spain has not accomplished anything since the 17th century

 

IB is like a bunch of birds perched on power lines. Look down, it’s full of shit. Look up, full of assholes.

 

Corrupti possimus et consequatur iure. Et voluptatem fugit aliquid in occaecati. Aspernatur recusandae voluptates quasi cum facilis. Maiores ratione error asperiores sit nostrum est est.

Perspiciatis non neque et alias rerum rerum qui vero. Suscipit quae dolores autem asperiores. Sapiente omnis maxime quasi excepturi pariatur aut perferendis. Eveniet assumenda voluptas ullam in dolorem laborum repudiandae. Amet et aliquam esse. Fugit ullam minus sunt corporis autem et saepe. Consectetur aspernatur praesentium rerum cupiditate.

Career Advancement Opportunities

June 2026 Private Equity

  • The Riverside Company 99.6%
  • KKR (Kohlberg Kravis Roberts) 99.2%
  • Blackstone Group 98.9%
  • Warburg Pincus 98.5%
  • Bain Capital 98.1%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

June 2026 Private Equity

  • KKR (Kohlberg Kravis Roberts) 99.6%
  • The Riverside Company 99.2%
  • Ardian 98.9%
  • Blackstone Group 98.5%
  • Starwood Capital Group 98.1%

Professional Growth Opportunities

June 2026 Private Equity

  • Bain Capital 99.6%
  • The Riverside Company 99.2%
  • Blackstone Group 98.9%
  • Starwood Capital Group 98.5%
  • KKR (Kohlberg Kravis Roberts) 98.1%

Total Avg Compensation

June 2026 Private Equity

  • Principal (9) $653
  • Director/MD (24) $547
  • Vice President (97) $363
  • 3rd+ Year Associate (104) $281
  • 2nd Year Associate (234) $272
  • 1st Year Associate (411) $229
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (33) $157
  • 2nd Year Analyst (95) $134
  • 1st Year Analyst (271) $124
  • Intern/Summer Associate (37) $80
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (351) $61
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
3
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
4
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
5
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
6
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
7
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
8
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
9
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
10
bolo up's picture
bolo up
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”