Culture Issues AND Boring Work PLEASE Stay Away From This MM (actually LMM) Industry Boutique

Work at a "middle market" but actually lower middle market niche industry boutique. Let's just say it is was a controversial firm with ALOT of hype on this site a year or so ago.

Hopefully that helps.

I am grateful for the opportunity and its a privilege to be in my position but I wanted come on here and reiterate to all those recruiting how important culture actually is.

Every day I was forced to wake up to someone telling me my rectangular shapes on a slide are .01 different on PPT and that | needed to do better since "it looks bad". I understand hazing, and finance work culture but we aren't Goldman, we are a okay bank that got started in the right industry at the right time.

We had "protected" saturdays that are never respected. People calling me on a Saturday asking for non-deal related work due Sunday morning. Analyst 2s are supposed to be helpful and be mentors, but they do nothing but bully, ask us rhetorical questions, and talk bad behind our back to seniors. I've been on zoom watching my former Associate Il+ do their work till 4am for no reason. Multiple times we heard rumors of them directly going to VP/Director and making up stories of things that never happened. We were chronically understaffed at the VP/Director level, and so we get yelled at when things are late but its late because they didn't review it for a week, but somehow that is our fault. Worst part is this wasn't how it was during SA because the analysts at the time (now have left) shielded us from it.

Fine the culture is bad. I could have dealt with it if I was absorbing MASSIVE amounts of information. but I learned nothing but a couple excel shortcuts and how to have severe OCD on things that do not matter like writing 4pm instead of 4:00pm. This is also because the deal flow was complete BS transactions with 0 critical thinking. Just copy and paste jobs. 

I don't want to complain more, but simply when you're doing an SA make sure to look for red flags. If something seems off it most likely is. Culture is important no matter what anyone says and it can vary by office. i.e. I have heard great things about other locations. 

I left this place yesterday for another bank and can’t wait to never see these people again. I don’t want to out myself but if you know what shop I am talking about DO not work here.