Living in NYC Suburbs as a BB IBD Assocaite

Hello all - I currently work at a strategy consulting firm (think Oliver Wyman, LEK, Parthenon) and have been on plenty of projects with long hours (due diligence with 8:30 am - 3:30 am M-Th, 9-9 Friday, 20+ hours of weekend work) but most engagements are not IB-esque in theirs hours, more 8:30 - 8:30 with occasional spikes and little weekend work, averaging our to ~60 hours / week. I have the opportunity to join a BB IBD group as an A2 / A3 which, while technically a step back (I'm an EM at my firm, more comparable to a banking VP), I prefer more quantitative work, hate traveling and love the idea of making 100% more money / year. However, I currently live in a suburb of NYC that has ~40 min train ride to Grand Central. Given the longer hours I'm about to hit, am I crazy to think this will be doable? Are there many other IB Associates who live outside the city and commute in?

Also, is there any consideration on the weekends to Associates who live outside the city working from home when client work crops up or are they equally expected to schlep to the office?

Thanks!

 
Best Response

I'm not at a BB (I work at a small NY office of a mid-tier international bank), and commute from East Greenwich. Until recently, I commuted even longer from east of Stamford. I got out most nights before 10-1030, and last train isn't until 147-150, so it's very doable I found. When I was at a BB A2s were leaving in a similar range most Nights. Your problem is that you have to quickly cram down down the parts of A0 and A1 that you haven't been exposed to, which will mean pain in the short run. If you endure the first 6 months in think you'll be fine.

 

on a beach in the middle of nowhere

"You stop being an asshole when it sucks to be you." -IlliniProgrammer "Your grammar made me wish I'd been aborted." -happypantsmcgee
 

primary residence in the city and then a vacation home in a certain location. every so often i would want to sell my vacation home just to buy one in another location. ie:10 years have a beach home then sell and buy a home in the mountains

 

The only City I would live in is SF...and even then only if the state gets its fiscal shit together. I have no idea what a state defaulting and/or requiring a bailout would do to the private sector, but I do not want to be there to find out.

I would also consider CT and the Alexandria, VA area. Strangely, NJ and PA never really appealed to me.

I would live in Boston, for the right company.

Career aside, Orange County or Santa Barbara. Just being there makes me feel relaxed.

 

I'm currently going to school in the suburbs outside NYC. I don't know how you can stand it. Personally, I'd rather live in a small city or town in Europe. Or somewhere in the country when I have the money to not give a fuck. I really don't like people very much.

"History doesn't repeat itself, but it does rhyme."
 
streetwannabe:
I really don't like people very much.

Beach in the middle of nowhere = cheap+no people

"You stop being an asshole when it sucks to be you." -IlliniProgrammer "Your grammar made me wish I'd been aborted." -happypantsmcgee
 

suburbs or farther out so I can build my 8 car garage for the whipz.

why anyone would want to live in the loud, smelly, dirty, overpriced, rat infested shithole known as new york city for longer than what is absolutely necessary is beyond me.

 
FusRoDah:
suburbs or farther out so I can build my 8 car garage for the whipz.

why anyone would want to live in the loud, smelly, dirty, overpriced, rat infested shithole known as new york city for longer than what is absolutely necessary is beyond me.

there are some other cities that seem more attractive (seattle, boston, portland, etc). But I agree, unless you can live in a really nice expensive town house in NYC, its not worth it. And even then, you have to deal with a lot of the same shit as everyone else (traffic, heat, smelly, dirty).

"History doesn't repeat itself, but it does rhyme."
 

In a quiet neighborhood in a large city OR the suburbs and commute to the city. I love the city, but need some type of stable, close knit, and tranquil refuge to recharge. I MUST LIVE NEAR WATER: I can not imagine not living near a river or ocean.....I just can't and won't.

Get busy living
 

It's absolutely possible (even for a young banker if he/she makes the effort)....if you want to make the 3 hour commute between New York and Westchester.

Just kidding...it's not that bad. But make sure it's financially worthwhile too...if you work in New York, Fort Lee, NJ is really cheap and it's right across the GW Bridge from Manhattan.

"We are lawyers! We sue people! Occasionally, we get aggressive and garnish wages, but WE DO NOT ABDUCT!" -Boston Legal-
 

And for NYC you might have to get up at like 4:45. Leave house by 5:30 Do 1.5 hours of commute and get in office by 7am. It's doable. But make sure you sleep by 10pm... - probably more likely for Charlotte not NYC.

 

Nah...from Fort Lee it's about 25-30 minutes rush hour peak traffic. At 6:30AM you'll fly down Hudson Parkway. You can get from Fort Lee to Wall St in about 20 minutes.

Don't even think about arguing because I lived in Suburban New York before.

"We are lawyers! We sue people! Occasionally, we get aggressive and garnish wages, but WE DO NOT ABDUCT!" -Boston Legal-
 

Morning meetings are usually at 8. Some firms do earlier like 7:30. By 5 I hope you are trying to be humorous.

Traders dont' have to get in at 6. Many don't roll in until 7:30/7:45. It all depends on what you trade.

 

no, dont get me wrong, i am not too sensitive for the city. i would certainly do it, and after a while i would prob. get used to it. Let me try to de-obfuscate. if i was a vp, maybe late 20s or early 30s, i would not want to start a life in the city. period.

 

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"We are lawyers! We sue people! Occasionally, we get aggressive and garnish wages, but WE DO NOT ABDUCT!" -Boston Legal-
 

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