For all of the current/former analysts/SAs out there (aka people who actually have experience) - do people in IB typically take a lunch break? And if so how long?
I had previously assumed that no matter how long you work, you take some kind of break for lunch, but my current F500 corp fin job has shown me otherwise - my group essentially never takes any kind of break for lunch. It drives me nuts - I can work for 18 hours straight, but being able to go out for 20 minutes and clear my mind would make it infinitely easier.
Just wondering if this is the same in IB.
Depends,
On the S&T side it depends on the day and product area. If it is really busy they will send a lower level analyst to get the group lunch. If it is really slow (like a Friday in August) or two people want something that the rest of the group does not want, they will go and get it themselves.
Everyone eats at their desk, but it is not that big of a deal to take 20-30 minutes to walk to the place, order, and bring it back to the building.
I think the same goes for IB, it's more of a fact that all your work gets done on time rather than how long you take for lunch.
Just go out for lunch. Who gives a shit. Don't take an hour, but getting up to get coffee and a sandwich is fine.
Thanks Gekko.
Anthony - wasn't asking if you thought it was ok, just whether or not people did it. On a different note though, thanks for your many very helpful posts around this site - I haven't been here all that long, but learned a ton from your posts.
Haha, ok, my bad.
I would say feel out your group, but everyone eats and I think it is 100% reasonable to step out briefly.
Thanks for the compliment. I try.
Yes, contrary to popular belief at the undergraduate level, people in IB do eat lunch and they actually take a break to do so.
Break varies from anywhere from 20 minutes to 2 hours (if nobody else is in the office and it is an especially slow day)
Some days one will be overwhelmed with upcoming afternoon deadline and will be forced to either (A) Eat at desk as MD waits on your work (B) Put off lunch until late afternoon
Cool - yeah, I'm planning on making the move over to IB, so I was just wondering what the story was. I was pretty surprised when I found out what it's like here - and I would just go do my own thing, but I'm the only new analyst, and literally nobody else leaves their desk for more than the 5 minutes needed to grab something from the caf downstairs. And while not IB hours, they're not all that far from it either...usually ranging from 55 to 70...
I've seen this before. Could be more a product of people are tired of the same old places that surround the office and just prefer to eat in. So I wouldn't read too much into it, once you've been at a place long enough this is usually the case. Doesn't mean you can't go out and take a lunch.
All analysts, associates, and vp's in my group typically go out to eat (i.e. sit down at a restaurant) every day. Of course there are always days when you can't, but i guess it's a culture thing and my group is probably the chillest on the street. This is IBD
Certainly you use your judgement and do they following depending on your dealflow and near-term deadlines:
The majority of your lunch runs will be split between cafeteria and fast casual then eating at your desk.
On the rare slow day -- maybe you just closed a deal or it's the Friday before a holiday weekend -- you might be able to sit down and eat.
Never heard of formal "lunch breaks" in banking. I (and everyone I work with) always order lunch/dinner on seamless and eat at our desks or in meetings... and I personally dont get a chance to eat at all if its a really busy day.
The exception is when we hire someone new, we take them out to lunch, if you're doing a professional networking/business lunch, or usually if its restaurant week or wine week or something, a bunch of us do whatever we have to and get out of the office for lunch.
So essentially...ordering in and eating at your desk for all but maybe a dozen days a year.
Lunch is for wimps anyway.
The analysts in my group used to all head out for lunch together. Obviously some days you couldn't go and ordered to your desk or skipped lunch, but we usually had 4-5 people. Most days was a walk to a Panera/Jason's Deli type place to order a sandwich to bring back and eat at our desks (15 minutes away). If we had some extra time, we'd either sit outside or in a conference room and bullshit a bit over our food (30-45 minutes away). It just totally depends on your workload that day.
If I'm a health freak and like to eat every 3-4 hours, is it acceptable to bring food from home and eat twice before dinner, say at 11:30 and 3:00? Or will I look wierd and/or like a lame ass...if the whole group eats out I'd adapt, but if not I'd like to stay healthy expect on special occasions...
You having time and motivation to prepare food at home when working 90 hour weeks is another issue entirely...
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