Quality of Life

Over the past week, I've had about eight people talk to me about their jobs in I-banking. Investment banking in it's pure form is quite a beast. At every level of the I-banking ladder, your life is pretty much consumed by your job. Every job has its downsides, but I think future I-bankers in particular should carefully consider the leap.

I've seen a few very successful people who went into I-banking and a lot of burn-outs. People simply do not appreciate how much of a toll it takes on your body to work 80-120 hours a week. Hell, even 60 hours a week can take a toll on you. My advice would be never to go into i-banking unless you've done an internship and enjoyed it, but that's not practicable for everyone. On a more practical note, I would say everyone I know who has been successful in I-banking can be characterized as obsessive. They are the type of people who can drive themselves to live for what they do. For example, former football players who just did nothing but football related things in college. These successful people can put aside all else to focus on the task at hand (in i-banking the task is making money). They, in fact, derive their self-worth from that particular task. You have to understand that you will not be in shape after a year in i-banking. You will, in fact, only eat and work. They will often fool you with the "work hard play hard" thing. Well, fact of the matter is they really don't play that hard. Traders and brokers play hard (just ask the brokers on thursday night). The i-bankers I can't even grab dinner with on a friday because they're "too busy working."

Think hard before you go into the abyss of I-banking. You will be in the office as soon as you wake up until you are ready for bed almost every day. Weekends will no longer exist, you will work both Saturdays and Sundays. It's a rough life, but some people love it.