I always hear complaints about the long hours that came with IB but anyone else also find it fulfilling to work ~70~80 hours a week? I know those numbers are no way near a true grinding experience but compared to other jobs I just don't know how I can clock in clock out exact 40 hours and not find myself bored to death.
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In general you need to be passionate about things and willing to put in the time and effort to find them rewarding/be successful at them. Often this does mean working more than then 9-5/being unable to completely cut off from work after you clock out. Personally I try to make sure the hours worked are actually meaningful and not being done due to inefficiencies/because there's nothing else going on in my life.
I agree with this one. Passion drives behavior - you need to figure out what you love so that you will do it even outside work.
The best example is probably entrepreneurshipwhere you work for yourself. Don't waste your life building someone else's dream. Build your own. That's where the motivation comes from, then the value of all the long hours spent building your own accrues to ... well you.
How many years have you been working? I think most people’s opinion of this changes once they’re 5-10 years in
It can be fulfilling if you are making a meaningful contribution to a project or initiative you find important and the time required is both rational and well used.
If it's simply the expectation, or you're spending that time waiting for powerpoint edits, and you still like it? You need a hobby.
Definitely don't like to wait for comments or drag around logos lol. I think I prefer to spend time working in the IB environment than, say work alone from home or leave early to spend the time elsewhere, is because I'm constantly being reminded of the need to learn new things and find ways to do stuff more efficient.
I guess I could, in theory, limit my time to 40 hours a week and just be done with what's assigned to me when things aren't crazy, but I'm just used to go the extra mile to clean the model a bit more or to research for additional data points to be used on marketing material if time allows. I guess that's just my work ethic. But as someone else pointed out, if other priorities arise in life I might stop caring about that because I would rather use the time on those priorities, and I can see that.
It really is an age/life/obligations dependent sort of thing.
I agree with you, but at the same time I know it is simply the beauty of being young, single, no kids, no obligations and most of my peers are still in the same boat. It makes it easy to push through longer work weeks. What else do I have to do on a week night between 5-10 PM? Even if the content of my work isn’t curing cancer, I would rather be chipping away at something work-related if it means a little extra grease in my paycheck.
Most of my friends are doing less than nothing during those hours, so I don’t have any jealousy. If they end up going out, I can usually meet em for a few pops.
The problem is, the ol dogs are slowly being neutered by GF’s/fiancé’s and it is only a matter of time until the whole party comes to a crashing halt.
I totally agree. My preference would for sure change drastically if I were to try to build a family or to have any other major life style changes.
It's just a little bizzare for me to see many people my age who also don't have big commitments outside work yet to worry so much about work life balance, but I guess everyone's different and some might have a fixed pay irrelevant of performance that they just don't see the point of working more than what's required of them.
I appreciate one other person finally admitting that the work life thing (at the junior level) is a bit confusing and overstated.
Again, I am not talking about doing this forever and I promise I give less fucks about my power point edits than all of you. But that 60-80 hr week that writes off the 5-10PM window of a JUNIORS life is a pretty solid tradeoff for the pay. Assuming somewhere like NYC, no one has the $$ to go out 5 days during the week and pursue endless hobbies with free time. Might as well work.
I am getting the feeling the people who are losing their mind don’t have the typical large post-college friend crew floating around that does the “the usual hobbies” (gym, running, bar nights 2x per week, dinners etc). All of which can be EASILY consumed with longer work weeks.
What else do you have to do on a week night between 5-10 pm?
Go to the gym?
Get laid?
Do literally anything you fucking want other than work?
Brah, you get laid? That’s so sick.
You are over thinking my post so hard. All I am pointing out, in agreement with OP, is that if you are fresh out of college, with limited life obligations, clocking in a few more hours and bringing home a little extra cash isn’t the worst choice you can make on planet earth. One step further, I recommend it. Most of your peers will be doing fuck all between 5-10 PM M-F.
its like people on this board dont have hobbies theyre passionate about.
If the idea of only working 9-5 doesn’t excite you, you need cooler friends and/or hobbies
Shitty take.
Just an “idea” and nothing more.
Might be hard to comprehend for someone who admits to having ‘nothing to do between 5-10PM,’ five days a week.
I'm somewhere in the middle. I don't think I'd be happy in a clock-in-clock-out, 9-5 job in corporate finance where I'm paid decently, but have limited upward mobility just for the sake of added leisure. That said, I'm not into IB and the idea of working 65-70 hours on the low end just to make an absurd amount of money. I worked in TS, which isn't as intense as IB, and was miserable from working 65+ hours all the time, constantly being on-call, and having to cancel plans last minute. My health also took a big toll, mentally and physically, which was when I knew I had to get out.
My ideal, which is very achievable in finance, is an ~50 hour a week job where I have enough responsibility to have a seat at the decision table and also have upward mobility. 50 hours suits my lifestyle pretty well because it means I have enough time to comfortably hit the gym and unwind a bit M-Th and while also having my weekends generally free to catch up with friends.
Sure, my pay will likely tap out in "only" the $200Ks, but that's plenty enough to provide for a family if I'm not in NYC/SF.
I think our reasoning is basically the same and what specific number works the best for us is really just an individual thing to decide.
I'm not a full on hardo either so I did die a little when I had to pull a 90+ week and I will walk out if that happens on a regular basis, but I'm fortunate enough to be in a team where it's 60-65 on the average. I really think this's the number that works for me at this point of my life and more important, like you said, this number is what meaningful/stimulating work numerically sums up for me personally and for that reason I don't think I will burn out easily just because I work longer hours.
Nobody cares about your opinion, shithead
Agreed, I dislike having extended periods of free time because it suggests that I'm either procrastinating or engaging in activities that don't benefit me.
You're engaging in this horse-shit discussion thread, and hearing your bullshit remarks doesn't benefit anyone, so congrats!
Crab Chiggins speaks the truth!
Confirmed. Keep up the great work.
Pay your dues, but don't baptize yourself in your bank's holy water.
Some of you guys would do great in a cult; I heard scientology is very prestigious
You think therefore you fuck?
Good, how about you fuck right off then?
Make sure you include your bank's name, and a picture of the latest pitchbook in your tinder profile
Also include school (Ivy only, Cornell doesn't count)...
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