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May 31, 2024
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Congrats on signing! It’s extremely common to feel this way - I’d wager even the biggest hardos in my analyst class took their foot off the gas for at least a month or so, especially since the grind of recruiting is so tiring.
That being said, I would advise against cruising too much. Short-term it is fine (bonus differential largely immaterial), but long-term, continuing to crush it will pay dividends down the road. For example, you’ll get the most interesting staffings which will help prepare you for PE vs. doing pitch work for 1.5 years. Also, in my case I continued to work hard and developed a very strong reputation within my group, which has led to additional career opportunities I never would’ve considered as an A1.
My 2 cents is to cruise a bit until the holidays and then hit the ground running in the new year until you finish your analyst stint.
Thank you! Appreciate your response on this. I have been able to get good staffings (still performing well) and the MDs I work with trust me with the work. I’m just no longer killing myself for MDs that are known for just grinding juniors
I think staying at the exceeding expectations threshold is the right approach. Keep doing good work as the PE firm's expectation is that you develop good experience in your IB stint, but since you are set on an offer, you have more ability to push back on BS and perhaps not do the last 10% of work that adds no value but kills your work-life balance.
This is exactly my situation. I’ve started pushing back on the bs work that is not at all stimulating or challenging me intellectually (just keeping me up later)
I would also spend your marginal hour focusing on things that will help you develop a stronger foundation and to think like an investor than busy work that won't be relevant for PE.
The odds are very low that reducing your effort will hurt you. I personally continued to push equally hard up through my last day at work and while it didn’t materially impact my career, I never regretted it. That said, I got my PE offer a few months into my second year (much more common back in 2008) and the Great Recession reduced my work load pretty materially in January 2009, so there was a few month period in my second year where I couldn’t have worked late even if I wanted to.
A few things that you should consider:
1) It is almost certain that you will need a good reference from someone at your bank in the future, whether it be for a job application or MBA application or whatever. Make sure there are 1-2 people that you always perform well for so you can have an iron clad reference in the future. If you don’t have any good references from the bank, this will hurt you down the road.
2) The skills you learn in banking are important and will partially dictate your success in your PE role. Make sure you continue to learn and hone your skillset. I’m not talking about perfecting your logo alignment skills, but if you have opportunities to step up and participate in things such as legal document negotiations, try to pay attention even if it doesn’t impact you.
3) A number of people had their PE offers rescinded in 2009 / 2010 due to market conditions. Who knows how severe the current recession will end up being, but in the low likelihood that you get your offer rescinded, you’ll be in a very bad spot if you slacked off completely as an analyst. Similarly if you get laid off by your bank a year before your PE start date, you’ll need to disclose this to your future employer. While there is no guarantee they will rescind your offer in this situation, it isn’t a situation you want to find yourself in.
I’m not trying to scare you into working hard when just chilling is unlikely to impact your career, but you should at least be aware of the risks that exist.
Considering that after a year of banking you’ve learned anything that would be useful for PE -> take the foot off the gas. Better to come in well rested vs exhausted
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