Why do investment bankers need to work long hours? (2024)

FAQs

Why do investment bankers need to work long hours? ›

Reason #2 – Multiple Projects. On top of an incredibly large amount of work to accomplish for each transaction, investment banking analysts & associates have multiple projects going at once. During my time at J.P. Morgan, I would have anywhere between three to nine projects going at any point in time.

Investment banks sell a service: Investment banking clients pay tens of millions in service fees to be served what they want when they want it. This means someone at the firm (usually an analyst) will need to be on-call for most days and late nights.

Huge Clients Pay Your Bank Huge Fees

Bankers sell their time and attention – not a tangible product – so they need to provide it, even if a client calls at 1 AM on Christmas with an urgent request. If a bank did 1,000 deals per year and earned $50,000 per deal, the service requirements would decline.

Most people in banking jobs, thankfully, don't work this long. Our most recent compensation report found that average working hours were between 67 hours a week (for M&A) and 41 hours a week (for commodities sales & trading people). Most roles were working less than 50 hours a week.

The longer banks stay open, the higher their operating costs. At the end of the day, most banks are businesses, and most businesses aim to generate profit. Higher costs lead to decreased profits, and therefore, closing earlier can allow banks to reduce costs spent on electricity, security, workers, and so on.

The Intense Culture. The investment banking industry has long been criticized for its grueling work culture, with junior bankers often feeling pressured to work over 100 hours per week to impress managers and advance their careers.

The Goldman Sachs 15-Minute Rule You have to respond to an email within 15 minutes, no matter what. Even if that just means acknowledging the email and saying "Will be back shortly on this". It's an unspoken rule.

1. Investment Banker. Roles in investing banking are highly sought after. For investment bankers, it's often a higher competition to land a role in one of the largest firms.

A Week in the Life of an Investment Banker

In an average week, you will not have much free time on weekdays. Many Analysts are in the office from 9 AM to 1 AM each day, and sometimes a bit less than that on Friday or other “slow days.”

How do you stand out in an investment banking interview? ›

Demonstrating your Interest and Knowledge of the Industry

Investment banks want to hire candidates who have a genuine interest in the industry and keep up with industry trends. Therefore, demonstrate your knowledge by reading industry publications, attending seminars, and following relevant social media accounts.

Essential Qualities for an Investment Banker

For example, if you've built financial models and attempted to value companies on your own, this will stand you in good stead at the interview stage. Finally, would-be investment bankers need to be self-motivated, good communicators, natural leaders, and team players, too.

An example answer to the “Why Investment Banking?” question

Here is an example of how to answer the question concisely: I want to work in investment banking because it's the fastest way to learn financial modeling, valuation, Excel, and to understand the nature of large corporate transactions.

At an average of 98 hours a week, Goldman's junior bankers are working 18 hours more than their fellow junior bankers who reported working an average of 80 hours per week, the survey found. Junior bankers at the runner up to Goldman averaged about 86 hours a week.

Investment bankers are notorious for working long and demanding hours, with work weeks well exceeding 40 hours being the norm for entry-level investment banking analysts. In a competitive culture where putting in extra-long hours is regarded as a badge of honor, a 9-to-5 routine is pretty much unheard of.

You're probably losing 1-2 hours of pure free time a day and you'll have to do a little bit of work on the weekend. At 60 hours per week, you can still celebrate a glorious work-free Friday night. You can get off around 5-6 pm and not touch your laptop until Sunday.

In an average week, you will not have much free time on weekdays. Many Analysts are in the office from 9 AM to 1 AM each day, and sometimes a bit less than that on Friday or other “slow days.”

Common Factors that throw off work-life balance for Investment Bankers. The high-stakes, fast-paced world of investment banking is notorious for its demanding hours and intense pressure, making work-life balance a particularly elusive goal for professionals in the field.

Seniority plays a big role in vacation time as more experienced bankers are typically given more time off to recharge and take a break from the grueling demands of the job. Typically, entry-level investment bankers, for instance, can expect to receive around 10-15 days of vacation per year.