Can someone please help me understand how there can be any downtime in IB?
Hi guys, finished off my first ib internship at an EB this summer and was staffed on 2 deals through the course of the internship. Talking to the analysts, they said they were staffed on 4-7 deals on average. I am very confused how there is any downtime to be had in banking given that you are working on so many deals. Seems to me that if you are leaving at 7pm on a Friday night, doesn't that mean you have bandwidth to keep working, so wouldn't you just be given another deal? Hence, the facetime culture of always appearing busy? Also isn't it tough to keep the transaction details straight when you are on so many?
Any help in understanding how bankers have free time or managing to keep deals straight would be helpful.
I think downtime refers to waiting between comments. Make use of your PTO days for the recharge.
It's gonna depend on your group's culture, deal flow, and expectations. For example, if you're an intern and the analysts are staying till 12am on a Friday, then obviously it looks bad to leave beforehand. But if it's a common thing in your group to leave earlier on a Friday and maybe do some WFH duing the weekend, then that's obviously a big difference. This all depends on current deal flow, prospects, culture, and the attitude of the people you work under.
As far as my personal experience goes, I had "down time" (checking my phone while grabbing a La Croix) when I was waiting for comments
Hi guys, thanks for the helpful comments. Given how much independence are expected of analysts, and especially so at the boutique level, when would you decide this is enough work for the day? During the internship, analysts looked out for me and let me know when to go home... Also, any insights on working multiple deals at once and not tangling up the transaction details?
You're making this a lot harder than it is - whenever you finish your last deliverable for the night, go home. Common sense, please.
But what about being proactive and working on your sleeper deals? I was told this is the hallmark of a top bucket analyst.
But what about having a life and seeing your friends? I was told this is the hallmark of being a normal human being.
I’m a second year at an EB - there will be rough periods and chill periods, banking at its core is a highly variable business. When things are active I’d sometimes be pulling consecutive 7 day work weeks of 90+ hours. Conversely, when things are chill I’ve seen my hours dip to 50 ish, for multiple weeks in a row even.
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