Hey! New here

^ It can be this bad don’t get me wrong, but you don’t have to work in roles that average 100 hours a week. IB typically has brutal hours at junior levels (0-4 years out of uni) and it gets marginally better, but there are plenty of other career paths in finance that don’t work you that long. Also, 100/week is definitely not average in IB lol it’s probably closer to 80, with hours spiking at 90/100+ during live deals and hitting occasional valleys of 60 when it’s not busy. Don’t get me wrong, there are horror stories and while some can be exaggerated they usually aren’t blown out of proportion.

A lot of people will try to make the move to buy side roles (Private Equity, Hedge Fund, Asset Management, VC etc.) where in some cases hours are better and so is comp. The hours, comp and general scheme/scope of work can vary wildly between these 3 (ie. MF PE vs LO AM; completely different in every way but still under the buy side umbrella).

It is also not uncommon for people out of IB to leave into more corporate roles (ie. Corporate Development) that require significantly less hours (think 40-55, sometimes even lower) for very solid pay and lifestyle benefits, albeit a slower scale of compensation & moving up the ladder.

You’ll also find a lot of people going back to get their MBA after working for a few years (can be for a variety of reasons). It’s not uncommon to see a career change after this, as sometimes that’s a strong motivation for them going to get their MBA in the first place.

PSA: i’m also skipping over a bunch of industries (Sales & Trading, Real Estate etc) but just know that finance is not limited to being an excel monkey in IB working 100 hour weeks (although starting there for a couple years in ur early 20’s is common and the experience is usually transferable). There are plenty of career opportunities that fit certain people and even different firms that offer wildly different experiences for their employees

IB definitely is a very feasible career path if you can handle the hours and stress, but by no means does it wholeheartedly represent the finance industry in terms of culture & hours. However, you are typically rewarded handsomely for handling the aforementioned stress, hence why career banking is still very attractive for some.