Day in the life of an I-Banker

Career Opportunities & Internships Investment Banking
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<p>So I have been recently looking into I-banking as a possible profession. I found this description of a day in the life of an I-banker:</p>

<p>Day</a> in the life of an investment banker</p>

<p>Is it accurate? Is the work that bad or is there a lot of downtime? I spoke to one banker who said he would Facebook for hours and then be loaded with work towards the end of the day, which is why he ended up working late a lot of times.</p>

<p>Has anyone here had experiences with this?</p>

2

<p>That would be a good day.
This is an example of a bad day: [A</a> Day In The Life Of An Investment Banking Analyst | Mergers & Inquisitions](<a href=“http://www.mergersandinquisitions.com/investment-banking-analyst-life-worst-day/]A”>Investment Banking Analyst Job Description, Hours & Salary)</p>

<p>And yes, your friend is correct. The workload in IBD is highly variable and not constant. Morning/early afternoons tend to be pretty slow, and more often than not, you’ll sit around with little to do until 5:00pm when, BAM, the staffer dumps a ton of work on you to do throughout the evening. This is mainly because 1) a lot of work tends to get planned and assigned at the last minute, and 2) all the work you do gets reviewed several times by associates/VP’s, and those reviews take time and are generally not finished until the end of the day.</p>

3

<p>Having time to hit the gym…I would consider that a pretty good day</p>

4

<p>Yeah, those blogs are damn good =)</p>

5

<p>What entices people into doing I-banking? Is it the prestige? The money? The high-stress lifestyle? </p>

<p>I don’t get why someone would want to go through this. But maybe I’m just different.</p>

6

<p>Senior,</p>

<p>I think the same way. Aside from money, one factor can be to be surrounded by very intellectual people. Regardless, I would much rather make less money and enjoy my life and my family than work 100 hours a week.</p>

7

<p>

I think the same way. After all, what’s more of a life worth living? A life that you are truly passionate about? Or a life where you make more money?</p>

8

<p>^Some people are definitely in it for the money/prestige. However, banking is also great training and opens a lot of doors to other careers. That’s why so many people do it for 2-3 years and leave. </p>

<p>Just because you’re not truly passionate about learning doesn’t mean you shouldn’t go to school right?</p>

9

<p>People work more hours than that for a lot less money, haha. Maybe there’s not as much stress but… some people just like to work. And if you’re working, you might as well make some money.</p>

10

<p>Just wondering, do traders usually work these kinds of long hours too?</p>

11

<p>I’d love the pressure, but eventually I think I would crack.</p>

12

<p>Some people gravitate toward ibanking because of the pace, challenge, and type of people they get to interact with. There is no other place where a 25 year old get to make decisions or recommendations on behalf of a firm. At a very young age, you become a subject matter expert of an area or product, other people rely on your expertise when they need to make a decision. It is scary to have to make a recommendation when all eyes are on you, but there is a rush also. Truth of the matter is not everyone is capable of doing it or has the stomach for it. They are not getting paid more because of hours they work, they are getting paid more relative to other people because of their ability to make good, sound decisions without cracking under pressure.</p>

<p>With recent mergers (acquisition is probably a better word), many BB firms had to be integrated with more retail type of firms, and it has been painful for those employees. They complain decisions they used to be able to make in minutes by themselves, now they need 6-10 people on a conference call to decide by consensus. They also complain quality of people they have to interact with are just “slower” in grasping new ideas.</p>

<p>Not everyone is cut out for ibanking even though it seem like a very desirable business to get into. It is a lot of fun if you have the right personality and mind for it, but it could be very painful if it’s not a right fit. People who stay in for the long run is not necessary doing it just for money.</p>

<p>Traders usually get in early (6-7am), and go home after they have closed their books (5-6pm), no weekends. Sales people often entertain after work (evenings and weekends). Bankers get in at 9am, but work much longer hours, and travel more.</p>

13

<p>I 100% do not understand banking. My roomates do it, my friends do it, and everyone from my school does it. </p>

<p>But I cannot understand how anyone would want to do mind numbing work for many, many hours per day. If you like to format and organize things, you will be a great investment banker. Format, format, print, sleep for 4 hours, read the journal, look busy for 9 hours, format, format, print… rinse and repeat 24/7</p>

<p>That sounds horrible to me</p>

14

<p>^yeah, but life is meaningless without work. I’m sitting here feeling miserable because I’m not occupied. Smart, motivated people can’t be happy just lying around watching TV. They need to be distracted. </p>

<p>You can try to fill that void with relationships but they either end or get boring. If you think i bankers are unhappy now, you can’t imagine how unhappy they’d be working some regular 40 hour a week grind-or worse-unemployed.</p>

<p>An i banker can save enough money so that when they do retire, they can stay occupied with travel and booze.</p>

15

<p>I think a life fulfilled by booze is pretty meaningless, too… and most IBankers I know do it for the exit opportunities, which typically have much more relaxed hours (60 - 80 hours a week, compared to 100+ for an IBanker). Sure, a lot of IBankers love their job, but that doesn’t mean they love the hours… and a lot of them love the money and models+bottles scene, and do the job just to support that lifestyle. </p>

<p>If you are looking for meaning, try a job that you are actually drawn to for a reason other than money… and let me tell you that in most cases, passions are not found in Excel spreadsheets. But if you are looking for a tough job with great opportunities and a fast-paced lifestyle, sure, IBanking provides that.</p>

16

<p>pretty interesting. over this winter break i been reading a lot into the job description of i-banking analyst since thats where i plan to major</p>

<p>i’m a money guy so i definitely believe the hours are worth it especially if your talented enough to move up beyond director level here u can actually begin to enjoy your money sum what.</p>

<p>i am havin second thoughts myself though; but what other area in business can one make EXCELLENT money and still have a life?
Accountants work regular hours (outside of tax time) but unless ur real high on the food chain, u can forget about six figures…</p>

<p>Then again, if one has entrepreneur ambitions like myself, being an accountant my be perfect as it will allow you more free time to invest and pursue ur own business ventures.</p>

17

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<p>Just letting you know you won’t actually get to major in I-banking. Also, even a major such as economics or even Finance or an undergraduate business school will not focus on many of the specifics of what you will be doing as a Summer Analyst. </p>

<p>To the original poster, here are the reasons that I want to go into I-banking:

  1. Stepping ladder towards future careers. I would never see myself working in the field for more than 2-3 years. Although I read things like WSJ and the Economist and BW and I participate in trading stock portfolios online and monitoring the economy for fun, I think the 100 hour work week is a bit too drastic to keep up for 20 years. That being said, if there ever was a time to do it, it’d be in my early 20’s. However, after a few years as an analyst, you can get into a great graduate school or get a great job elsewhere where you’re making good money and leading a normal life.
  2. Money. I won’t make that much money in any other field directly out of undergrad, and let’s face it, Law School looms at about $150k while an MBA will run me about $100k, so I need some way to pay for whatever I decide to do.
  3. Experience. Not only to get me better jobs or get me into school, but I personally see the experience as being a valuable one that will lead to personal growth. Anytime your pushing your limits and learning a new skill, you’re expanding your own horizons, and that can be only be valuable later in life. </p>

<p>Just my two cents.</p>