<p>I don't want to see my kids grow up, so this seems like a great job</p>
<p>"We've asked insiders at leading investment banks to offer us insight into a day in the life of their position. Here's a look at a day of an associate I-banker at Goldman Sachs.</p>
<p>8:15 Arrive at 85 Broad Street. (Show Goldman ID card to get past the surly elevator guards).</p>
<p>8:25 Arrive on 17th Floor. Use "blue card" to get past floor lobby. ("Don't ever forget your blue card. Goldman has tight security and you won't be able to get around the building all day.")</p>
<p>8:45 Pick up work from Word Processing, review it, make changes.</p>
<p>9:00 Check voice mail, return phone calls.</p>
<p>9:30 Eat breakfast; read The Wall Street Journal. ("But don't let a supervisor see you with your paper sprawled across your desk.")</p>
<p>10:00 Prepare pitchbooks, discuss analysis with members of deal team.</p>
<p>12:00 Conference call with members of IPO team, including lawyers and client.</p>
<p>1:00 Eat lunch at desk. ("The Wall Street McDonald's delivers, but it's the most expensive McDonald's in New York City; Goldman's cafeteria is cheaper, but you have to endure the shop talk.")</p>
<p>2:00 Work on restructuring case studies; make several document requests from Goldman library.</p>
<p>3:00 Start to prepare analysis; order additional data from DRG (Data Resources Group).</p>
<p>5:00 Check in with vice presidents and heads of deal teams on status of work.</p>
<p>6:00 Go to gym for an abbreviated workout.</p>
<p>6:45 Dinner. ("Dinner is free in the IBD cafeteria, but avoid it. Wall Street has pretty limited food options, so for a quick meal it's the Indian place across the street that's open 24 hours.")</p>
<p>8:00 Meet with VP again. ("You'll probably get more work thrown at you before he leaves.")</p>
<p>9:45 Try to make FedEx cutoff. Drop off pitchbook to Document Processing on 20th Floor. ("You have to call ahead and warn them if you have a last-minute job or you're screwed.")</p>
<p>10:00 Order in food again. ("It's unlikely that there will be any room left in your meal allowance -- but we usually order in a group and add extra names to bypass the limit.")</p>
<p>11:00 Leave for home. ("Call for a car service. Enjoy your nightly meal on wheels' on the way home.") "</p>
<p>so basically that was a 15 hour work day times by 7 days a week which totals 105 hrs/wk.I thought associates work less hours than analysts but it seems like they work the same hours. What is the most someone has heard of for an Ibanking analysts total compensation. I know 100k is what is expected for a BB firm but are some people lucky enough to be making 150k+ a year as an analyst?</p>
<p>SAMMY,</p>
<p>7 days a week? Like if they are dogs huh? Working sundays too? Check that again man. Im pretty sure if that was true, nobody would take Ibanking as a Job</p>
<p>no Kevster, you're just naive and idealistic.</p>
<p>kevster you are naive and idealistic. bankers do work 90-115 hours a week depending on what is due. saturday is definate. sunday mornings are required if you want to leave at reasonable hours the next week.</p>
<p>and why would people want to do this again?</p>
<p>because talking about investment bankers is fun?</p>
<p>and its a college confidential pastime.</p>
<p>We have nothing better to do with our egomaniac personalities.....</p>
<p>Its one career where a person with average book smarts but with an unhealthy hunger for money (making the person do drastic things such as 100 hour work weeks for example) can make it big (I am talking about IBD only).</p>
<p>^that too. I guess.</p>
<p>Mahras, what does IBD mean?</p>
<p>Investment banking division, for example M&A, corporate restructuring, advisory etc.</p>
<p>Average book smarts??? Not if you're in a top firm.</p>
<p>You really believe there is any amazing amounts of creativity and intellect involved in the making of a pitchbook, dealing with word processing, or carry those pitchbooks for your superiors?</p>
<p>No, but do you believe that an average joe can land a job at Goldman Sachs?</p>
<p>I never said anything about an average joe getting in. What I am alluding to is the fact that unlike in other fields such as the sciences, mathematics, and even trading (this one depends) where amazing intellectual breakthroughs are necessary to get to the top, in banking you do not need that class of intelligence. This is why I said average book smarts. I never referred to their street smarts (so to speak) which have to be superior to deal with such political climates.</p>
<p>Agree with mahras.</p>
<p>Yes, but I'd say that ibankers are inherently smart. I mean....look at where you're getting them from. Harvard. Princeton. Yale. MIT. Stanford. Wharton. NYU. Michigan. just to name a few. </p>
<p>You might not need to be able to solve crazy differential equations, but most people probably can (considering how hard it's suppose to be to land a job into a BB firm even IF you're from a top school).</p>
<p>I know they are inherently smart. As I noted I am not alluding to the process of getting in. I am talking about the actual job itself.</p>
<p>There are a number of people who have gotten PhDs in physics from MIT. However, the number that has actually reached the pinnacle of the field is small as one must basically be brillant in an already brilliant pool to have a shot at the top in those fields. You do not need such brainpower in banking to have a shot at the top.</p>
<p>You have to be crazy smart, hardworking and simply, amazing.</p>