Do you feel like you're discouraged from taking PTO?
Haven't taken a day off in over a year (except market holidays but often work those as well). It probably depends on your PM, but anyone else feel like they need to be always "on" and how have you dealt with it over time?
.
Paid time off aka vacation days
Literally every job uses this acronym....
I wouldn’t say I have ever felt discouraged to take time off or that people look down on it l, but people just don’t respect it. I still constantly get messaged/emailed to take a look at things throughout the day. In my bosses eyes, even though I’m not physically there, if they’re paying me, there’s an expectation to still be available when needed, which is often.
.
At the 3 funds I've worked at I've always taken as many days as I wanted - multiple full weeks combined with a handful of long weekends. Personally, I wouldn't work somewhere that I couldn't - what is the point of making money if you can never enjoy it. This is even more true the older you get - grinding for the first few years out of college makes sense but its unsustainable for a long term career. Also, I'm of the camp that you get what you take. Once you get to a certain level you shouldn't ask permission to take a vacation rather you inform you boss when you are going. This isn't some hardo flex, just saying its more so acting like a responsible adult that has proven an ability to manage time and gets tasks done. You shouldn't feel guilty or thankful to do something that you've earned.
Clearly a lot depends on the firms and PMs. My PMs have always been big travelers - think 2-3 months of vacation a year if you add it all up. But are always available. Thus they don't care if I travel. If your PM is a workaholic that doesn't have a life then you're probably screwed.
Are you generationg sustainable PnL for your firm?
if Yes. then keep doing it and take some time off.
if No. It sounds like you're afraid to take time off because you're not contributing.
Will taking time off fix the root issue? Ask youself this question.
If yes, take time off and muse about the markets and investments on a beach with a cocktail. (The internal conversation one has in order to elucidate abstractions with processes is pretty awesome.)
if no, keep working and revising your investment methodology.
" If your PM is a workaholic that doesn't have a life then you're probably screwed."
Unless the idea of a vacation is being 100% off-grid, then any question asked by the PM should be easily addressable in 1 or 2 sentences, then go back to whatever you were doing. Who really is 100% off-grid these days anyways?
If it's a normal weekday and I'm not "in the office", you bet I'm checking my positions and newsflow looking for peculiarities, slowly buidling a repeatable process.
All day, all hours. It's part of the life.
I think you're missing my point. If your PM is never out of the office and never takes vacations its a lot harder to be consistently taking multiple trips per year. Its irrelevant whether or not you're accessible or whether or not you check the news, etc. Its a cultural issue.
“Multiple”....
Forgot vacation has a plural form.
Smh.
I agree a superstar probably cares less about what his/her boss thinks and would definitely have more leeway for work-life balance.
My point wasn't about being 100% off the grid because that's not what the job calls for. It's more not being able to travel or do anything on weekdays period because the cultural expectation is you're supposed to be in front of your monitor and able to respond to an email within minutes. Theoretically I could be on the beach and have a laptop with data connection and Excel open, but that defeats the purpose.
I do what I want when the book is up and I’m contributing substantially. If the books down, I take less discretionary personal travel
I'm reading all your replies and bearing in mind that you guys are on the buyside and actually have money on the line, deals to be made etc. In that context it makes sense if taking time off could be problematic sometimes.
My situation is pretty ridiculous because I'm in a 100% recurring income role and the only time I can ever take time off is over Christmas/NY. First working day in January I was flat out again, and it's been like that since. I have almost 6 weeks of PTO saved and looking at the deliverables calendar there's no way I can take it until at least August. More than 2 weeks of it expires in June. Thank God I haven't been sick in a couple of years.
I'm in my 20s so I guess I have the time, and I'm learning a decent amount being held to the fire so much, but I'm making well below IB/buyside pay so it feels kinda shit in that respect.
I'm kind of confused, what exactly do you do involves a 100% recurring income role.
Ratings agency.
I’ll echo what a couple others have said, I wouldn’t want to be at a place that requires that of me. I love what I do, I work a lot (including many weekends), but it is on my schedule and because I have thoughts pop up that I want to work on. I think the constant fire drill, late nights, and stress lead to burnout, unhappy employees and ultimately turnover which makes this job so much harder.
Don’t get me wrong, this job is stressful, and you’ll get turnover regardless, but as a PM/manager/etc you should help in the small places you can, and that means setting an example on things like time off (honestly rarely is anything THAT important, you are creating the urgency from nothing). Too often I see PM’s that have the mindset “I do it this way, therefore you should or you aren’t ready for this job” - that’s fine if you believe there is only one way to do it, but I don’t believe that, and you will only get one type of employee. That is a risk in terms of finding and retaining talent, money only motivates a subset of people, especially after a certain point
The last thing I will add, is I also see it from the other side. Analysts too scared to even ask and just assume it is the expectation. I try to be explicit in my emails to junior people when I do/don’t expect a response, as well as try to be explicit on expectations for general availability. But even with that, I find people are just afraid to ask for flexibility in their life and you end up working based on an assumption that isn’t always true. So, if you have a good relationship with your boss, ask them about taking some time off, but make sure to read the person/situation, like I said not all are ok with this type of stuff but definitely more than you think.
Explicabo temporibus qui quis dolor vel alias enim. Minus neque dignissimos nemo tempore ratione omnis autem quae. Dignissimos culpa facere voluptates sed suscipit beatae. Quibusdam vero autem rerum.
Sapiente reiciendis sed accusamus velit ipsa. Alias ullam facere deserunt quidem ducimus perspiciatis. Vel rerum quos sint quaerat esse aliquid quae.
See All Comments - 100% Free
WSO depends on everyone being able to pitch in when they know something. Unlock with your email and get bonus: 6 financial modeling lessons free ($199 value)
or Unlock with your social account...