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I work in finance as well, and if you're really doing IB at a BB on wall street there's no way you got there without understanding what you were getting yourself into beforehand. Are you genuinely surprised, or was your question meant to be more of an open forum discussion?
If you compare apples to apples by comparing a Wall St. job to other white collar, professional jobs, it has to rank up there as one of the toughest environments to be in, if not the top. The long hours, the high pressure, the competitiveness, all adds up to a pretty tough environment. Yes, there is a payoff but I don't think people realize how hard it is. And yes, people sign up for it but can they really know what they're signing up for if they've never been there? I don't think so. No doubt, it's a gamble. The good news is that any experience you have there will probably give you more opportunities in a less crazy, more stable and personally fulfilling job when you either decide to leave or are let go.
If you compare apples to apples by comparing a Wall St. job to other white collar, professional jobs, it has to rank up there as one of the toughest environments to be in, if not the top. The long hours, the high pressure, the competitiveness, all adds up to a pretty tough environment. Yes, there is a payoff but I don't think people realize how hard it is. And yes, people sign up for it but can they really know what they're signing up for if they've never been there? I don't think so. No doubt, it's a gamble. The good news is that any experience you have there will probably give you more opportunities in a less crazy, more stable and personally fulfilling job when you either decide to leave or are let go.
EXACTLY!
I work in training so only work about 60 hours a week at my investment bank but most of the professional staff are expected to work about 80-100 hours a week and they are proud of the fact that they work until they almost pass out from overwork and lack of sleep. It's not just the hours but the intense management and culture. I have never worked in a place with so many egos and yelling and stress. Again, it is not as bad where I work in my small department but in the company as a whole it is terrible. (For a white collar environment.)
Law firm paralegals. Endless late nights.
Silicon Valley. Extremely intelligent, driven people. Very long hours due to the need for perfectionism in their work.
Law firm paralegals. Endless late nights.
Silicon Valley. Extremely intelligent, driven people. Very long hours due to the need for perfectionism in their work.
Agreed. I'm not saying there aren't other very high pressured environments. But with Wall Street, the madness is pressurized within 6 1/2 hours every day. You have to be ready to go the minute the bell rings at 9AM and had better have made something happen by 4PM. The time pressure alone is extremely intense. Add to that, everything that can happen on a global scale that can affect the next day's 9AM call. It's a real pressure cooker.
Agreed. I'm not saying there aren't other very high pressured environments. But with Wall Street, the madness is pressurized within 6 1/2 hours every day. You have to be ready to go the minute the bell rings at 9AM and had better have made something happen by 4PM. The time pressure alone is extremely intense. Add to that, everything that can happen on a global scale that can affect the next day's 9AM call. It's a real pressure cooker.
It's all about what you want. There are tradeoffs with every choice of career/industry. I prefer a less hectic, driven environment and I'm willing to earn less because of it. For others, the cut in pay would not enable them to live certain lifestyles. At the end of the day, I'm happy and feel like I've done something valuable.
Yes, the line jobs (IB, Trading) on Wall Street are very competitive and stressful. It is a dog eat dog, eat what you kill environment.
Want to double the stress? Do it with your own capital
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