I never write anything down and I barely use social media, but today I felt the need to post on this site, because I have a good feeling people may relate.
I've been at this IB gig since the summer of 2017, and have been doing WFH since March 2020. Not gonna lie, I have loved every second of it - until recently.
It's getting more and more difficult to wake up and feel motivated to do my job.
Why? The people are toxic, passive agressive, out-of-touch, and just plain rude. I'd say I have developed a pretty thick skin, but everyone has a limit and there's a line.
There's no respect for people's time and personal life. I've been feeling extremely jaded and dissatisfied with life. I could say I'm doing well professionally and financially... but I think I may have missed the class on how to achieve happinness.
It's 3am on a Thursday and you ask yourself: "What the hell am I doing?". At least when we were at the office you could shoot the sh1t with the other analysts / some associates. You can't even do that anymore.
COVID-19 has made me realized a couple of things: 1) Family is vital, I need to spend more time with them, 2) I need to make more friends in NYC, haven't made any new ones (besides work) after ~3 yrs, 3) I need to normalize preserving / boosting my mental health, that will help me clear my mind and find my true passion in life.
So my question is: is anyone having a good time? Because I'm not, but I'll give it another shot.
Cheers,
P.S. Sorry for the long post, I needed to vent.
keep ur head up king
I think he dropped something 👑
Not really and it is hard because we are super lucky to have this job but there are lots of small fixes that could be made to make life so much better and it doesn't happen. Of course we're going to get blasted for any complaint, but the boos are 100% coming from the cheap seats/people who couldn't hack it. I'm trying to take care of myself, look out for the analysts below me, and remember that this too shall pass.
Thanks for commenting, I'm always actively trying to mentor the new analysts - especially now since times are tough.
Realize this was posted a very long time ago, but these types of comments are very frustrating to see.
There lots of seniors and mid-level people that would welcome reasonable suggestions to make life better for juniors, but struggle because no one speaks up when asked for suggestions and frankly priorities for analysts have changed from when they were juniors, so what they would have wanted when they were juniors doesn't necessarily correlate to what people are hoping for now. If you've tried and it hasn't worked, disregard, but a lot of people with this complain have never even given people a chance.
A few important considerations:
You need to come to people with both a problem and a suggested solution, not just a problem
Behavioral changes take time and require reinforcement. If the change is correcting a director's bad habits, you have to be ready to remind them repeatedly and the seniors can only remind them if you're willing to speak up
Spoken like a true Associate -- I was on the junior committee at my bank the entire time I was there and got to work on and implement things that did make impacts on the junior banker experience. It was more commentary on the industry as a whole.
If you're not having a good time... it's good that you've recognized that you're not here for a long time... as the song goes.
I wasn't having a good time but put my foot down and left to a place that sure was it a bit of a pay cut absolutely. Am I 1000x happier now because I've gained back a substantial portion of my day and can sleep 7-8 hours daily absolutely.
Not meaning to make this is a gloating party about me, merely important to add to your findings that YOU are in CONTROL. You've been doing this thing for a while you have options on options on options to change YOUR situation. Go out and find something better if this is no longer working for you - so you can have a good time... because the sun can't shine everyday...
Thank you, that makes a lot of sense - we'll see what the future holds.
Are you in PE? Is it better?
Still in IB.
Reply meant to go to CanadianEnergyBanker
Hi, if you’re under 30 I’d recommend joining some erasmus facebook groups or something of the sort. Go to a couple of house parties and mingle. You’ll be making a couple of friends in no time. For me, having healthy friendships is so freaking important.
Seems interesting
Are these easy to find?
No idea about the U.S., pretty easy here in Europe.
Go for a long run during the day cut out of an hour or a workout. Nobody will notice if your wfh trust me! In the grand scheme of things its not a big deal. I see too many juniors worried about being online every second of the day and night.
The good news is that it's pretty easy for someone with IB experience to jump to pretty much any $$$ job easily. Find a cushy Series C+ startup to work at.
I'm with you on the overall sentiment of things. While not in IB, I spent most of my 20s intensely pursuing a career in medicine then switching to finance to take over my parent's businesses (I'm now a CPA). I'm now 31 so I spent the past 12 years buried in books and work, most of which I didn't enjoy. This was the time when I was going to take my foot off the gas and start enjoying life but seeing what's happened with the world since COVID, I feel the need to work even harder, keep putting things off, and make more money. That isn't exactly the correct perspective, however, and at some point you run out of life and can't put things off much longer.
The data indicates that the lockdowns created tremendous psychological damage across all age groups and demographics and I think many are just feeling stressed, burned out, and sick of everything so you're not alone. The things you've come to realize are similar to what I realized and that's a great place to start since you know what needs to work on to get you towards a better place outside the financial realm.
Making friends is tough
On the one hans, time for hobbies is hard to come by
On the other, the only place to meet friends and spend time is at the office but you’re not going in to meet people
Overall I hate wfh. Yeah it’s cool to wake up in your pyjamas, but at least when I was going in the office I had something to do, I felt like what I was doing was important, and I got to know people in person
Wfh just lacks all of that dynamic
Agree 100%. I think it helped my mental health and it peaked during the summer / early fall. Now I just wanna talk to people... I also despise Zoom.
I was very pro-WFH at my old company because I knew everyone, I knew my work, and it opened up a lot of free time for me during the day. Then I switched to a new company in a semi-new field, and I can't stand WFH. Every relationship with a coworker is 90% over Zoom, no real ability to grab a beer to really meet anyone, no travel, and I feel like my ability to learn is pretty stunted for the moment.
Been at it since 2012 and fully agree with your sentiment… always loved it, but it has been quite challenging over the last year. I’ll let you know if I’m still having “fun” after bonus season.
Hang in there…
I’m your opposite. Pretty unsuccessful guy. Feeling so insecure about being at a Non-Target that I’m not motivated enough to learn for Uni because it feels like a waste of time and am hopeless of getting any internships whatsoever. How the f am I supposed to make any recruiter believe that I actually really enjoy Finance? Especially analyzing and valuing businesses?
Anyways. I am quite good at being happy (though I am not at all currently).
Become desireless and mindful. Be present in the Now and enjoy the trivial things in life. Doesn’t mean you’re not supposed to buy a Lambo or some luxurious watches. Do that too, if you enjoy doing that.
Honestly though, this is just some garbage improvised text. I was about to delete but decided to post anyway because it might help someone in some way shape or form. It’s not the way I’d usually speak. Sounds like some Hippie shit, but I think it’s true.
Voluptas est et ad a recusandae facilis ut. Voluptas est rerum consequatur itaque. Et est quod error in quis.
Excepturi tempora et velit occaecati in hic sit. Voluptatem quam sit rem facere ab dolorem sunt. Dolores repellat dicta sequi quae. Enim ut et ea maxime neque ad. Sint sint et laboriosam distinctio consequuntur ut fuga. Autem fugit ratione atque dolores libero voluptatum. In et rerum ad doloribus aliquam atque numquam.
Magni tenetur pariatur neque illum natus labore saepe. Placeat aperiam qui aut autem ex quo. Dicta laborum quis non eveniet quia ab. Nihil illum est laboriosam. Animi eligendi assumenda neque architecto ut non qui. Incidunt aliquid nemo aliquam consequuntur maiores perspiciatis. Deleniti nesciunt quibusdam voluptatem dicta.
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...
Vel itaque incidunt non saepe provident provident harum libero. Consectetur numquam aliquid incidunt suscipit.
Laudantium vitae odio delectus molestiae ea. Deleniti sit et sit. Voluptatem aperiam et itaque earum cumque sed deleniti dignissimos. Sit non nobis aliquam sint. Cupiditate beatae labore natus voluptatibus. Deleniti et atque magni. Et necessitatibus rem aspernatur molestiae nam ut recusandae. Consequatur aut sed error qui.
Quia delectus aspernatur ratione omnis dolore quidem ut. Dolor odio delectus reiciendis enim et repudiandae exercitationem. Sint nihil numquam itaque impedit ullam iusto minima. Aspernatur ullam inventore exercitationem eos odit assumenda. Quas maxime dolorum consequuntur a.