Cannot do another year in IB....my life has already completely faded away and I am in a quite dark place.

I second the above, just quit. You got some good experience now go use it at a better place.  You can go into any corporate, make decent money now, and get your life back. 

In a similar position and probably going to quit at the end of the month to avoid having to move to the office. Just curious though -- what is the 1.5 - 2 year line you mentioned? I feel like the one year mark is all you need to get credit for being in IB, but would love to hear if companies actually consider the extra months in their hiring decision.

What's your biggest worry? Is it your girlfriend leaving you or the all-nighters that you are expecting? If it's your girlfriend, I wouldn't quit but instead would communicate with her about the reality of my job. Tell her that you only have a year or so left until your work lightens up. Hopefully she will be understanding.

If the horrible work schedule worries you, then maybe listen to the advice above. Search for new jobs before you quit. Maybe one year is enough to get a great PE or corporate gig?

I'm still young and I don't know everything but that's what I would say. Would you guys say that OP is having the typical experience for someone in IB? Is this fairly common or is he just in a bad group? I'm trying to decide myself if this is the right career to go into so I'd love the insight.

Fuck.

"just want to obtain good work experience to move on to a corporate or PE"

PE is the exact same.

And I'm yet to see a single person just walk out of IB and straight into "corporate/startup/strategy" etc. which are total  slogs in their own right. You'll get anecdotal evidence from WSO, but it is not the norm.

Of course you went into IB because of prestige. That’s why you are now thinking about moving into PE - which is just the same as other people here pointed out.

Maybe you’ll realise there is something more important than prestige though - focus on your relationship if that is what makes you happy. Hoping other prospects with similar set-ups pre-IB would think more about this. 

J ghost your employer and the. Find another job in interim. You can also lateral to a place that is like 60-70 hours a week. The current place sounds not worth it 

09 am - 04 am*

DM me and we can have a conversation about this. Happy to help

I would take a moment and think about why you chose the job in the first place and what you hope to get out of it moving forward. For me it was just taking advantage of the learning curve and becoming more confident about my own value in the industry.

Like you, in the first year, I was absolutely miserable, despite being a very solid analyst. The way that I pulled myself out of the funk was to start focusing on what I said in the first paragraph. For example, I started to take more time between turns, lower my response time, and actually think about what I was doing and how it could be applied later in life. The main thing is that I just stopped worrying about being the best analyst for the firm and instead on becoming the best version of me.

Part of this comes with confidence. If you know the group generally values you, and that it would be more difficult to replace you (maybe as a result of the txns you’re on), then stop worrying about being perfect. So what if you end up being middle bucket next year? At least you’re happy and following the goals you set out from the start.

Would suggest that while you’re doing the above, you should start looking for another role. Think long term. You don’t need to be a process monkey to make money and be fulfilled. Think about what you’re good at and what makes you valuable. I left banking following the above and it’s worked out of far.

It can be really existentially jarring moving from school and basically your entire life before that as well having 100% time for your social life into a job that consumes everything.  Further, people that haven't or don't do it usually don't understand.  It can take its toll on all of your relationships.  If you're going to work in finance (including PE) your job is going to basically consume your life.  In banking as an Analyst and Associate that happens literally, since you're the one spending all the time putting stuff together.  As you move up you're grinding less but it becomes even more consuming as it becomes increasingly difficult to step back from it.  Even as an MD if you're on a live deal you're on calls like every day, and talking to all kinds of people regularly and thinking through the process.  You can't just up and leave for a two week vacation.

The only way you can really make that work is to have a support system of family and friends that understand.  And to have a partner that also understands.  If it's not for you then you should get out ASAP, because not everyone can be this plugged into their job all the time.  Go somewhere else where you make less money but have more work life balance and you will be infinitely happier if that's the case.

But it also sounds like you're in a horrible group, so you could also try moving to a different bank and seeing if that helps maybe?  If you've got the same problem then you know it's the industry that isn't for you and not just your employer being horrible.

I'd look for a different bank. Firms are dying to hire experienced IB juniors (mine included) and not all VP's are huge pricks. See if you can find a better situation, especially if you aren't at the BB for the money or prestige. Plenty of good deals at less sweaty shops. Good luck.

Really reflect on what you want to do and if you see a path towards finding more balance at your current role. If you don’t see yourself in banking or if the sacrifices are too great, seriously just quit. Take some time for yourself. Exercise, rebuild your relationships, and then take the time to really consider what you want to do long term. Once you’re in a better place and figure out what it is you want to do, put your full self into the recruiting process. Trying to determine what you want to do and putting your best foot forward in the interview process is pretty difficult when you’re getting destroyed in investment banking and are in a bad place. You would be surprised how little people care that you quit investment banking early, especially given all the recent news flow. 

I've seen alot of these posts over the last 18 months and firms are starting to try and slow churn and have better work life balances. I used to be a relatively OK at best analyst, hated my team and 1 VP in particular, had no mentors, and no one pushing back on BS requests from Srs. I left the firm to join a better bank but made it clear that culture and being there long term are important to me. Fast forward a few years and after another move, I'm at a top bank, about to be a VP and always look out for analysts and push back on time consuming, low value add.  

What I'm getting at is that it is possible to make it in IB, even after a total shitty first year. As someone mentioned, you need to have those low maintenance friends who dont care when you are late and GF who sees the long term goal.

Given that, I am myself starting to feel Covid catch up to me, not enjoying the job as much from home but its not the first time. There are highs and low, its like being sick, you take for granted being healthy until feel like shit. Now that you have felt the bottom, you can try and climb out and not take for granted enjoying even the smallest parts of this job. Bonus checks also greatly help..

I gave this advice to someone else here recently, and that was to speak to someone who specializes in mental health. Your firm's benefits package may include these services at no charge and it can be done online. See if you have something like Talkspace offered. Best to do this sooner than later. 

Obviously Target -> IB signals that you are smart & competent and will be able to do well anywhere. Corp Dev, Strat, LMM PE (if it's less sweaty) may all have the answers you are seeking. 

I urge you not to overlook tech either as you can transition into Corp Strat team at an F500 and then lateral into one of these roles: Product Management (50-70 hour weeks, make 85% of what a SWE can make, comp ceiling is about 1 mil for group heads but many IB VP equivalents make 350-700k at FAANG). 

Staying anon because this forum will crap on me but as someone who has been at MS/GS FO I kind of dream about going into PM or PMM (Product Marketing). PMM has even fewer hours (rarely exceeds 55) & although I would cap out at 600k it seems like really interesting work.

Sorry about the tangent, my point is you are smart enough to do whatever you want. There are lower stress jobs that are debatably more interesting and potentially fun that you can make alot of money in that are not IB. 

Why do people still go into investment banking lol

You said you're not in it for the prestige or money.  You've done a full year. Quit and move to something with a better work life balance.  You're overcomplicating this way too much.  You'll be fine when you find a good fit.

You have the experience now, you can move into a corp dev/strategy/insert significantly better WLB job that pays well for the rest of your life where you have your life back. People leave before their 2 years are over

You have the experience now, you can move into a corp dev/strategy/insert significantly better WLB job that pays well for the rest of your life where you have your life back. People leave before their 2 years are over

You have the experience now, you can move into a corp dev/strategy/insert significantly better WLB job that pays well for the rest of your life where you have your life back. People leave before their 2 years are over

I see these kinds of posts a lot on this site. I think a lot of people here have a hard time of saying no. I completely understand that this can feel difficult to do, especially when you're still on the first year of the job. But if you are truly looking to just stay here for 2 years, you should take a completely different viewpoint/strategy for surviving the two years.

I can only summarize it as "not giving a fuck". By this I don't mean slack off and turn in poor quality of work, but instead to not take certain aspects of the job personally and to not let them stress you and affect your personal life. For example, your asshole VP that CC's the MD when you don't immediately respond, approach it with the mindset of "who cares". What is the worst that can happen? I strongly recommend not replying to new asks after 1/2AM. Additionally, in the mornings, don't immediately respond to emails and start working on the asks. Take your time to get into the day. The key here is to push back on obvious BS. As someone who did 3yrs of junior banking and now works constantly with bankers, I can promise you that the majority of work is BS. You "slowing down" the timetable is really not affecting anything; the majority of the time banking is all fake deadlines.

Don't be afraid of complaining if things get really bad. Banking is having a tough time recruiting junior talent; now more than ever senior team members will be receptive to accommodating you. So take advantage of it. Don't be afraid to also speak directly with the VP; just point-blank, in an email, ask them to stop CC'ing the MD just because you don't respond immediately. Make it clear that you are stretched thin and are trying to accommodate and make everyone happy to the best of your abilities.

In general, to be happy in this industry, you can't let work issues bleed into personal stress. You have to keep them separate. This might sound harsh, but if you are not able to do this, do not do PE. PE is significantly more stressful than banking; it is imperative that you are able to keep your work and personal life separate.

DM me if you want more specific tips; there are a lot of tricks I used to do in banking to lower my workload while still producing quality work. Good luck!