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The 100-Hour Work Week Fallacy


A typical investment banking analyst can expect an 80-hour week.

Yes, there will absolutely be weeks where you will work a hundred hours, but those weeks
are outnumbered by 80-hour weeks. A user shared a wise comment below:

 Marcus_Halberstram - Industry CEO: The amount of misinforma on about the banking


lifestyle is fairly absurd. And it stems largely from these nerdy kids who think it's a badge of
honor to somehow work ridiculous hours.

Despite this, don't expect a work-life balance during your first two years.

What are the Hours of an Investment Banking Analyst?


Our users shared that the hours that are usually stated are inflated.

 mtnmmnn - Private Equity Vice President: People in Investment Banking tend to inflate
their hours a bit, and no one is working 100+ hours a week consistently. A good por on of
my analyst class (including me) would keep track of their hours in a spreadsheet, and we
would o en compare. And over the first two years, average was about 75 hours a week for
people in coverage groups and Lev Fin and about 85 for people in M&A (mergers and
acquisi ons<br /> ).

Hours vary by group. M&A (mergers and acquisi ons<br /> ) groups have the most hours,
and as you can see, 100 hour weeks, even for M&A (mergers and acquisi ons<br /> )
groups, are the excep on.

Investment Banking Associate Long Work Week


Generally, associates work less than analysts because they've already learned the ropes.

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 danske: That being said, my life as an associate has been a lot easier than my life as an
analyst - 65-75 hrs, depending on the week. You become much be er at managing your me,
less concerned about face me, and get more slack from your MDs/VPs who you've worked
with for years. (I'm a direct promote.) Not great by any means but certainly more
manageable." This is only a general rule and definitely varies depending on group culture,
bosses, and sector.

Vice President (VP) Investment Banking Long Hours


VP hours vary a ton based on a few factors, the overarching theme being how much you
care about your work and how efficient you are.

 danske: VP hours vary depending on how ac ve you are in bringing in deals, covering
clients, and suppor ng MDs. The typical VP puts in 60-80 hours.

Work Week for Investment Banking Senior Vice President


(SVP)/Director
Hours here vary because of everything previously men oned and how effec ve you are at
your job.

 PowerMonkey - Investment Banking Vice President: SVP/Director tends to be a hybrid


between VP and MD. Basically, if you are good, then you are just running deals and making it
rain. If you aren't, then you are more in the weeds.

Managing Director Investment Bank Hours


MDs are the first to leave the office.

 Sexy_Like_Enrique: At MD level, you are mostly dealing with clients and rela onship
building. So I guess the nature of your work is far more enjoyable than doing a bunch of grunt
Excel (h ps://gv142.isrefer.com/go/wso15/wsoasis/) modeling work as an analyst. Expect
lots of travel, lots of golf, and lots of dining out with clients.

What Do Investment Banking Analysts Do?

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 WheyOfLife: There are a million ways to answer this ques on. The simple truth is this: a
lot of grunt work. A lot of financial modeling (h ps://gv142.isrefer.com/go/wso15/wsoasis/)
(with Excel (h ps://gv142.isrefer.com/go/wso15/wsoasis/), of course), developing pitchbooks
on PowerPoint (the earlier you become familiar with PowerPoint and Excel
(h ps://gv142.isrefer.com/go/wso15/wsoasis/) the be er), and just random things that come
up throughout the day.

Investment Banking Career Tips - What does an Invest…

How to Handle the Long Hours?


Some will have it far worse than others in terms of hours/week. 100+ hour weeks are an
unappealing but unavoidable reality of life as an Investment Banking analyst. While these
weeks aren't the norm for most, some analysts will deal with 100+ hour weeks
(h ps://www.wallstreetoasis.com/blog/suck-it-up-8-steps-to-ge ng-through-100-hour-
weeks-as-an-ib-analyst) on a consistent basis.

@square_miles (/user/32728), an investment banking associate, explains in eight steps how


he survived the grueling hours of an Investment Banking analyst, summarized below.

1. Adopt a survivor mentality: Maintain for tude, avoid self-pity, and, most importantly,
accept the hand that you've been dealt.

2. Put it in perspec ve: Understand that there are a thousand people who would kill for
your job and many, many people whose lives are infinitely worse than yours.

3. Ra onalize two years: Break down the me you are spending as an analyst into
milestones: Thanksgiving, bonus seasons, etc. If you are really struggling with the hours,
then reaching the milestones you set will make things more bearable.

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4. Be strong: Don't complain and don't make yourself a vic m. These becomes a legacy
and reputa on that you don't want to be a ached to.

5. Create op ons: Set yourself up for future job opportuni es by networking proac vely.

6. Think crea vely about your career: Carefully consider what you value in life and what
you enjoy so you can find a career for you.

7. Exo c jobs: Consider spending a year or two doing Peace Corps, MSF (Masters in
Finance<br /> ), Red Cross, War Child, LeapFrog Investments, etc. You can live a healthy
lifestyle in that me, get irreplaceable experience in a foreign country, and your MBA
(Masters in Business Administra on<br /> ) applica ons become much more complete.

8. Heroes and mentors: Look at individuals a bit further ahead in the same career as you,
and ask yourself if that's the life you want. As for mentors, find someone who you have
commonali es with, build a genuine rela onship with them, and they will hopefully help
you get ahead in your career.

How Does Lifestyle Differ between Investment Banking


Groups?
While hour varia on within groups is dependent on banks, there are general trends. @Ukon
(/user/18774), a private equity associate, and @macro (/user/25894), a hedge fund analyst,
did a nice job summarizing how the hours vary by groups.

 Ukon - Private Equity Associate: M&A and leveraged finance will usually have the
longest hours.

 Macro - Hedge Fund Associate: Restructuring groups and consolidated TMT


(technology, media, and telecommunica ons) groups also have long hours."

 Ukon - Private Equity Associate: Healthcare is a long hour group at every single shop.
They have way too many companies to cover, and those companies like to acquire each other
as well. Similarly, FIG (financial ins tu ons group<br /> ) (/finance-dic onary/what-is-
financial-ins tu ons-group-FIG) (Financial Ins tu on Groups) are long hour groups across
the board."

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How Do Investment Banking Analysts Deal with Long


Work Weeks?
 WSO062014: Here is a summary of the sleep schedule as an analyst. 9am - 12am
Monday - Friday gives you 7+ hours of sleep each night, a 75 hour work week and a free
weekend. Sure, there will be a par cularly bad week here and there, but that's a sustainable
lifestyle for a couple of years without going crazy.

 Kevin-Gnappor - Investment Banking Analyst: To the ques on of whether it gets be er


or if the hours go by: when you are driven by a deal, the last thing on your mind is sleep.
Adrenaline keeps you awake, and you manage to blow through whatever you need to get
through.

 In The Flesh: My #1 sugges on would be to do something non-electronic for at least 30


minutes before you hit the sack. Blue light emi ed from smartphones and laptops have been
shown to mess up our circadian rhythm. Reading a light fic on book (in paper form, not on a
tablet) is a great way to unwind and relax the brain. I have a few collec ons of classic short
stories (usually 20-30 pages) that are great for bed me reading.

 thebrofessor - Por olio Manager: Read up on sleep cycles, find out what yours is, likely
75-90 minutes. If you're sleeping an even mul ple of that (e.g. 6 hrs or 7.5 hrs if a 90 minute
cycle), you're be er rested than 8 hours or 7 hours.

Again, the hours are more than your average Joe will be ge ng out of undergrad, but it isn't
as excessive as the world would have you believe. The hours are blown out of propor on for
reasons previously men oned. Even then, if you don't think you could handle the hours and
sleep, put yourself in the shoes of Investment Banking analyst. Understand that, in the
moment, there are things that drive you to overcome sleeping less, the same way kids are
able to crank out an essay in the wee hours of the morning without falling asleep.

One issue many Investment Banking analysts face is falling asleep a er a long, adrenaline-
filled day at work. Turning off electronics before bed is key as studies have shown that the
blue light messes with your circadian rhythm, which is also a crucial when it comes to
waking up on me.

80 Hour Weeks in Investment Banking


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Investment banking analysts face long hours. While those hours vary, it typically comes out
to about 80 hours a week. Even then, there are ways to cope. Below is an excellent post
from @Marcus_Halberstram (/user/11837), an industry CEO, pain ng his thoughts on the
investment banking lifestyle, and why you shouldn't believe everything you hear about it.

Banking Lifestyle: What Are the Hours Really Like?


@Marcus_Halberstram (/user/11837)
In light of the recent death of an investment banking intern in London (who was apparently
epilep c) and with all the misinforma on and roman cized banking horror stories
(/forums/elite-bou que-hours-culture) being peppered all over the place, I thought I'd (try
to) se le this for once and for all and clear up all the bullshit.

'With respect to the people saying that it's "NEVER" expected to work three back-to-back
all-nighters or that interns aren't expected to work all-nighters, you guys might be too senior
to no ce it happening.

'There is a team that sits near me at my shop that regularly has to pull back-to-back all-
nighters, because they have a terrible staffer and awful seniors to work for. They don't even
go home to shower anymore; they have a few sets of fresh clothes under the desk.
Unsurprisingly, the majority quit post-bonus. HR is puzzled, but people are too afraid to tell
the truth about how badly the workload for that team is managed.'

This is just patently false. It's not at all like this in the industry.

This sounds more like one of the college kids that so frequently troll WSO (Wall Street
Oasis<br /> ) and are, for whatever reason, turned on by the idea of working ridiculous
(beyond the pale of reality) hours in banking.

The amount of misinforma on about the banking lifestyle on WSO (Wall Street Oasis<br />
) is fairly absurd. And it stems largely from these nerdy kids who think its a badge of honor
to somehow work ridiculous hours. It's the same kids who, when they first start working,
will stay in the office for absolutely no reason. It's the same kids who try to impress people
by bragging about their ridiculous work schedules. It's the same kids that build a 16-tab
model with 11 different scenarios and 8 sensi vity tables to run sta s cs on how many
hours per week they are working.

You see this through levels in banking, these are the VPs that are in the office un l midnight
or 1 am consistently. It's the directors and MDs in the office un l 10 or 11 pm. They are
legi mately sad people; you feel sorry for them. To some degree, banking is constantly
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forcing people to demonstrate their worth, and some people think that their worth is
quan fied by how many hours they spend in the office. What you start to see is that the
'face me' people ini ally started pu ng in to demonstrate their worth to other people
starts becoming their own sense of self-worth. Yeah, that's some deep Dr Phil shit.

Pulling 100 hour weeks is fairly intense. But even s ll, it's working from 9 am to 1 am during
the week. And working from 10 am to 8 pm on Saturday and Sunday. It's not really that bad.
It's just horrific in comparison to working a normal job and going to happy hour a er work,
brunch and college football on Saturdays, and chilling at home all day on Sundays.

Even in the banking 100 hour week, you're s ll averaging about 5 to 6 hours of sleep during
the week, and as much sleep as you want during the weekend. Will there be weeks when
you work more than that? Yes. Will there be weeks when you work less? Yes. The busier
groups will work those weeks more o en and have the absolutely ridiculous weeks come up
a few more more mes than the less busy groups. But if you're consistently working
meaningfully more than that on a regular basis, it's because you're not effec ve at your
job.... and o en mes because you like the idea of always being in the office. Everyone who
has actually worked in banking for a year or more knows exactly what I'm talking about.

The truth is the industry has its fair share of characters, but they are s ll within a few
standard devia ons of reasonable human beings. A er you work a really long week and the
deliverable are off the table, you can bounce early if you want. If you worked all weekend
un l 2 am, worked un l 4 am Monday night, and were in the office at 8:30 am to flip books
on Tuesday, you can bounce early. Or come in late the next day. No one is driving a slave
ship. Mee ngs can get pushed if there is not enough man power. Analysts get shuffled
around. Most banks have templates, canned presenta ons and pages from past books,
presenta on operators that turn changes, outsourced analysts abroad, and graphics
departments to create shit.

The real gruel of the banking lifestyle comes not from a lack of sleep... even though there
may be instances where you're fairly sleep deprived when you're sprin ng towards the
finish line on a few projects... rather it comes from the fact that everything outside of work
is always hanging on a string that may get snipped if the smallest thing requires your
a en on at work.

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