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When it comes to the world of finance, few entry-level jobs rival the prestige and competitiveness of investment banking. Contrary to what the name might sound like, investment bankers, or more specifically, people in the investment banking division of an investment bank (confusing, I know), don’t actually invest money. They help companies raise money or advise them in large transactions, such as buying or selling a large part of a company.
Investment banks are extremely competitive and often receive more than a hundred times the number of applications than they can accept. At first glance, it might seem obvious. Investment banking analysts earn salaries in the six figures straight after graduation, and having the title on your resume opens up doors to jobs in high finance, where salaries can reach millions annually. To have a shot at getting in, a degree from a top university is pretty much required, and even then, breaking into the industry is getting increasingly difficult.
The life of investment banking analysts is often glamorized. It is seen as a symbol of success in the finance world, and eminent figures such as the Prime Minister of Canada, Mark Carney, and the President of France, Emmanuel Macron, were all investment bankers at some point in their lives.
Yet, investment banking is more than a simple path to greatness. Investment banking analysts work insane hours, ranging from 80 to 120 hours a week. A 2021 Goldman Sachs Working Conditions survey found that first-year analysts worked an average of 105 hours a week. For comparison, that is the equivalent of working about two and a half full-time jobs at once.
Spending that much time working means leaving almost no time to focus on one’s personal life and ambitions. Considering how there are only 168 hours in a week, that leaves only 63 hours for sleep and personal activities.
There is a reason that many people who have been in the industry suggest working this job for just a few years before moving on to other jobs in finance; the workload is simply unsustainable. Taking up a job in investment banking can certainly be rewarding due to well-paying career opportunities in the future, but the immense amount of work required to survive in such an industry is brutal.
The same, previously-mentioned 2021 Goldman Sachs Working Conditions survey showed how every first-year analyst survey reported a decline in relationships with their loved ones; out of ten, analysts reported over a six-point drop in mental and physical health since starting. Just to make the toll that this career can take on your life, the median satisfaction with the firm was one out of ten (the lowest possible score).
While Goldman Sachs may have taken measures to make this job more manageable in the past five years, investment banking is still, undoubtedly, an extremely taxing job.
Getting a job in investment banking may seem like the hard part, but it may be that sustaining such a lifestyle is even harder. If you value your work-life balance, high finance may not be the career path for you.
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