Is Apollo not that bad anymore?

Has Apollo gotten better within the past years? Seems like associate classes have gotten bigger, and office is now on a hybrid schedule. Wondering if now the work environment has gotten better/more manageable than before.

28 Comments
 
Controversial

As an older guy, every shop is more lax than it was pre-COVID. Even if the dicks are still dicks, hybrid feels infinitely better than the five to seven days in the office of the past. You cut out the commute, can work in comfy clothing, etc.

I’m going to sound like I’m 60 but you kids have no idea how good you have it.

 

You ignorant boomer. We come to the office to get exposure to senior people for learning opportunities and our devil may care MDs and Directors are nowhere to be found (Nantucket) for any sort of development. Meanwhile due to remote work we have no camaraderie with VPs and then they bitch when we can't read their minds and know exactly when to be online or what weird niche rabbit hole they want us to go down for four hours today. Our team cohesion amongst ourselves is shot (and will have lasting issues in perpetuity due to WFH norms), our development opportunities are weaker than ever, and people are saying things like "you get to wear sweatpants! life is great!"

 
Most Helpful

Apollo is culturally and structurally problematic - seniors are unreasonable and they look at incredibly hairly deals. Neither of those aspects have changed in many years. Look at the public catfight the founders are having, this type of BS is just how they do things.

Their deal flow has slowed along with everyone else's, so the environment isn't as bad as 2021. But unless the bank gets entirely new seniors + changes the types of deals they pursue, they will always crush people the second deal flow picks back up. An extra associate or WFH Fridays is not going to change the work environment.

 

You can expect very regular 3am nights and at least 1 full day of weekend work at Apollo. They are well known on the street for hours being worse than banking, so an 85-90hr average workweek when on a deal is not out of line there. Obviously you can pull those hours back a bit in the current environment, but deal flow won't stay low forever

Principals are a little better since they aren't grinding on the model but with their very hands-on deal structuring you will still have plenty to do... would expect minimum 9 - midnight and a full day of weekend work, on average. There's a reason most APO associates don't stay on, the lifestyle is bad all the way to the top

 

I’m a female at Apollo working remote and yes the hours are insane. Averaging 80 hours per week. You are expected to be on call at all hours of the night. It doesn’t happen often but I have gotten up at 2-3 am when the phone rings. Usually in those cases I prefer to work through the night putting in a 24 hour day. I do enjoy the culture when I’m in the office. They are definitely opening up more. It’s somewhat of a boys club so not for everyone but honestly I prefer that.

 

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