What are the hours/culture like at Starwood?
I am being offered an interview for an analyst/associate level role at Starwood. (I don't want to be too specific as to exactly what the role is, but let me know if more clarity is needed). I have seen comments on here before that the hours can be 90-100 per week in the Greenwich office and that the culture can be pretty intense. I am wondering how much truth there is to this.
I assume that total comp would be in the ballpark of 200k, but I probably wouldn't be able to handle those kinds of hours on a sustained basis so I don't want to put myself in a situation where I will burn out.
Thanks for any insight.
If you're even wondering whether you are going to burnout at a place like this, you're almost certainly going to burnout at a place like this.
Lol game over from minute number 1
I’d say take it, worst case you look for a new role at 6 months to a year. You have a great name, just deal with the hours for a few months. Maybe you’ll find ways to adapt to them.
I'd disagree with this for a few reasons OP. If someone only spends 6 months at a firm, even if it's a name brand like BX / Starwood etc, all it tells me is they had a good resume and could interview well. It raises questions such as why are they leaving? Is it because they can't handle the hours / culture (not a bad thing, I wouldn't choose to work at Starwood for this reason) or is it because they're doing shit, know it, and are recruiting before they get asked to leave or let go. You wont get significant transaction experience in this time, so you wont develop the pedigree associated with these firms.
It's different if you've spent 2 years there, even in the highly unlikely scenario you haven't closed a transaction you'll definitely have been through the process on a lot of opportunities (analysts typically have little involvement in closings so the difference between being underbidder and purchaser isn't significant). It also means you've been through 2+ reviews and haven't got cut. Low bar but this isn't applicable if you're recruiting less than 12 months in.
I'd agree with the comment above from Developer in RE - Comm. If you're wondering can you hack it, you probably can't, or certainly wont enjoy it anyway.
Thanks, I agree that leaving after 6 months wouldn't look great. Anyways, I already have a pretty good job with room for continued upside, and I wouldn't want to give it up for spending a few months at a firm like Starwood on the chance that I'll have good exit ops after burning myself out. I'm making closer to 100k than 200k right now, but I'm also not completely killing myself doing it (I would say I'm working 60 hours per week on average). They reached out to me on LinkedIn, and I was thinking about it because Starwood is obviously a very well known company and I'm sure I'd get exposure to some very interesting and high profile deals, but it seems like this would not be the right move for me.
Happy to chat about this over DM
Acq/AM have it the worst. Consistently 1-2am nights. PM has it a little better but both AM and PM have 4-6 week sprints at quarter end where you’re working 100 hour weeks back to back. At the Analyst level, A1 clears $200k all-in (15k signing bonus, 110k salary, 70% bonus).
A2 - A3 comes with a 5k raise (or so I heard), and Associate comes with a much bigger jump to the 250-300 range.
Hope that helps.
Is it me or is that pretty bad? A1 making $200k all-in isn't that crazy and I know Starwood is known for the long hours.
Idk if I'm jealous of the people that are capable/willing to work those hours or feel bad for them.
Feel bad. 99% of them are barely keeping their heads above water. You really, really gotta rationalize your way into giving up your personal time and social life in exchange for just enough prestige until undergrads cold call you every two days, which feeds back into your rationality. It’s very circular, and incredibly depressing. But kudos to those who truly don’t have a problem with completely intertwining personal life with career—and stay for the long haul. My ex-MD at the megafund I worked at has done 60-70 hours a week minimum every week of her professional life and she’s pushing 60. Built different.
Looks like they got a nice Miami Beach office coming up....
some beautiful NYC offices too: https://officesnapshots.com/2021/01/18/starwood-capital-offices-new-yor…
not worth the apparent brutal culture tho.
nice, can look at the beach from the cube all day. At least you wont get sun burned
Can anyone elaborate on what they mean by tough culture? Are people screaming at you, calling you an idiot, embarrassing you? Are juniors willing to step on each other to advance/ not help each other? Or by tough, are you saying it's long hours and the pressure to perform is there? Would be really helpful, thanks.
Usually tough culture as in hours and the pressure involved. You somehow have finished your work at 5pm but you better damn not leave the office or else heads will turn, fire drills late at night or on weekends, etc. I’m sure there’s some places where you can have a shit boss or team screaming at you.
Imagine having a job where you wake up on Saturday morning and are stressed about work.
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