Banks with good cultures, decent lifestyles
Is there such a thing? Or is this an oxymoron? Curious if there are known to be any shops, even if smaller boutique ones, that are known to be decent places.
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From what I've heard with a lot of other firms it's on more of a group by group basis. You could get a group with a great culture or a group with a bad one. That being said, I've heard consistently great things about PWP across all groups
Also random point but a group with a good culture to one person could be a poor group for another. A friend of mine who started FT 2 years ago went into a group she never interned in, which was well known for having a fratty culture. Everyone she talked to from the firm said that it was an amazing group, but they were also people who would fit into that fratty profile well. It ended up being two of the loneliest years of her life, per her own description.
bump
Probably more group dependent than bank dependent. The bank might enforce a weekend policy, but it comes down to the group at the end of the day (no different than how each department at the same university is going to be very different). In general, sponsors will probably be pretty relaxed. FIG / HC will probably be on the tougher side.
Both William Blair and Baird are more culture-centric from my knowledge, but will still have long hours similar to the rest of the street.
If the bank or group you are in has great deal flow, then the hours will be long and lifestyle will be bad.
It's simply not possible to work at a bank with strong deal flow, but also great lifestyle and comp. Either you are in a regional office where there are few deals but great lifestyle, or in a top performing group where there are tons of deals but work life balance is terrible. People on this forum always mention EBs that have great work life balance, strong deal flow and high comp. I personally know a few people at EBs and they have been getting crush, especially since COVID.
Not true, I know of strong but relaxed groups at MS, Barclays, EVR.
I don't think I agree with this. As an example, I've spoken with multiple folks at both CS and DB sponsors (both great groups) who have more or less described a decent lifestyle by banking standards.
Everyone including myself can provide anecdotal stories of "good culture moments" from all kinds of banks but at the end of the day, if you've got deal flow or bake-offs, your life will not be great. So that being said, most groups which are executing business or pursuing new business generally won't offer amazing WLB.
I should say that none of the grindy hours are warranted but such is the way banking management works and unfortunately, especially now, will not change. MDs are extra on edge given their team isn't within fingers reach and that a pandemic automatically raises anxiety on their end (could be more dependent on coverage/product) that they will not execute on enough business this year.
I will say though, make sure that you focus more on culture rather than lifestyle. You'd rather work in a grindy group with a ton of deal exp. with a group of people you love working with than a group which works you at a 9-6 schedule and you fucking hate everyone plus walk away with no deals on your resume
100% agree. I never focused on culture (prestige & $) and regret it
It's gotta be a balance. Hard to sniff out both high dealflow and good culture at the same time so the choice often times ends up being what pays more or what is more prestigious since that's what, generally speaking, is perceived to give you the best experience. Luckily I lateraled before joining PE and was able to suss out a group which had both aspects but yeah, in an industry where prestige is valued over experience often times, you are not alone in doing so yourself.
My experience I will say doesn't take into account traditional bulge bracket banking ambitions out of college though given I was at a non-core school and was just happy enough to get a boutique offer before lateraling after a year
GS
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