Signed PE, is it worth "trying" in banking?
With on-cycle being as early as it was this year, I was lucky enough to sign a PE offer at a place I'm excited about. However, I'm not all that motivated about banking. I didn't like my junior summer, the people were nice, but the work sucked. My sophomore summer I was at a SM HF which I liked way better, but the route to that fund and similar funds is IB -> PE -> HF. I know PE will be a grind, and the HF has its own performance related stresses, but I don't see a strong reason to "try" in banking.
I'm in a small group but I don't see the downside to being the bottom bucket analyst since I'm leaving after 2 years anyways. The 10k difference doesn't mean that much to me, but since we're a small group from what I understand bonuses are uniform across the board. Also, when I say I won't try, what I mean is I plan on taking all of my vacation and sick days, making sure I have a set workout break during the day and going out for lunch so ideally 1h away for workout and 30 minutes away from desk for lunch, and not staying up past 11pm working unless it's absolutely urgent and live. Not sure how unreasonable that is, my firm is known as a sweatshop and was grind-y when I was there. I know the other analysts there are also all very try-hard.
My plan is that I effectively will keep up enough performance to not get fired and still maintain at least fair graces with the bankers, even if I would be the idiot analyst. How bad of an idea is this? The team knows I've signed and were not against it, relatively speaking they were supportive. I know other people have signed too but honestly I doubt they want to slack since it's not who they are.
This is the problem with recruiting so early on for PE, you end up with people like this who don't care to take pride in the work they do. This is a major read flag for the firm that gave you an offer and often times they check in with people like your staffer or the 2025 associates. If they hear you haven't been putting in any effort they may pull your offer becuase this type of additude just doesn't diaspear when you move to PE.
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Lol you hated the work but signed up for banking 2.0.
Enjoy the next 4-5 years! Sounds like you have a lot to look forward to.
You do you, but think it’s a poor reflection on your character and work ethic to not give it your best effort.
11pm lol
Just coast man it's fine. So many people at my firm coast and still make ASO and VP easily. Get paid street or above street as well. The more people notice that you can get away with coasting, the more people will coast. You just need to learn to cruise so you don't lose out on this.
It's all about politics. Doesn't matter how hard you work if your MD doesn't like you. Even having your staffers like you doesn't help if your relationship with the group leader isn't strong.
It could work, but you very well might get your shit rocked in PE, it can very well be worse than banking...at least it is for me and a lot of my friends.
lol excited about PE spot but don’t like banking. Great life choices being made by 22-year-olds as always. Have fun bro sounds like a great plan!
I mean, what's the better choice lol? Choose to go to an easier job where I make significantly less money and get moved off the path away from my dream job [which is probably the seat you're in...]? I asked the forum because I have the ability to continue to perform and try at a high level (had very little negative feedback from past internships, and have acted to fix all weaknesses that were pointed out) and was weighing whether it was I need to, because like most people even within the industry, I don't particularly have a passion for PowerPoint.
PowerPoint just appears to be the 10-year long hazing mechanism which if done well, in conjunction with having basic social skills, would lead me to a seat involving actual thinking. PE may be more of the same, but why not conserve my energy then? Reps are important, but I doubt that 10 years filled with PowerPoint will make me a materially better investor - same results could be achieved in likely 7, or less presuming a role with more emphasis on the thought process.
Regardless, it seems based on the other comments I'll be stuck grinding for top bucket...ig the extra 10k can go toward my gf's Hermes pre-spend.
Lose the ego. It’s a “hazing” mechanism because you’re a 22 year old who has little to no professional skills.
Analyst years are more than just “hazing” and teaches you critical skills such as -
-> How to become extremely efficient with PowerPoint and excel , which you will continue to use throughout your career regardless of the path you take
-> How M&A processes actually work
-> Attention to detail
-> How to work in teams
-> Communication (both managing up / down, and with clients)
-> How to manage long hours
-> How to critically think (assuming you actually are engaged in your work instead of slacking off and being the monkey that everyone on this website complains about)
All of this while working under very tight timelines in high pressure situations, no matter how “made up” they are. So yes, it’s “hazing” because you’re a dumbass 22 year old that couldn’t lead a team or run a process if you even wanted to, which it sounds like you don’t based on your attitude.
No one is saying go the extra mile and stay up til 4am to get your extra 10k and Hermes bag, but what we are saying is be a humble person, a true teammate that supports those around you and engage in the work you do, because that is truly how you will find success and rise to the top down the line.
It’s a small world— how many people do you think are out there with a sophomore SM HF internship who signed on-cycle coming from a banking group that knows about it? I’d bet n<5.
You say you want to do HF’s, but your critical thinking skills are abysmal. Seems to me you wanted to humble brag and stroke your ego—hope whatever boost your ego is getting is worth the risk that someone from your group sees this and connects the dots.
I won’t even neg the question- it’s a fair enough line of thinking, but you gotta ask a mentor this behind closed doors, not a public forum.
Lol just let these guys flame out. No point in trying to save them. Market forces will work itself out. It might not be right away as he probably has the pedigree to give himself some runway, but give it 5-10 years and let the cookie crumble
While I don’t relate to everything you stated, I am currently taking this low to medium effort approach with my offer to leave banking in hand. I will say that around review time it’s uncomfortable to have those bottom bucket conversations with MD’s and VPs. Additionally, even when aiming for bottom bucket, it is pretty unreasonable to assume you will be able to sign off before 11pm, or always get a workout in / long lunch breaks. There’s a fine line between maintaining appearances and breaking the norm. The latter will draw a lot of unwanted attention.
That being said my low effort approach has led to higher quality of life, higher mental well-being, less staffings, and marginally lower bonus, think -10,000 less than top bucket. It’s a fair trade off considering the top bucket grind.
Curious, what do those conversations sound like? Considering you too are essentially putting in decent hours, just not killing yourself with work….. they can’t say you don’t work, cuz you do.
Basically they tell you that you are essentially meeting expectations but doing nothing to be proactive or go above and beyond (the expectation in IB), and that things will start to become an issue if they do not see an improvement over time. It’s just uncomfortable to be told to your face by the head of your group and the people you work with daily that you are performing at a level that is not up to the level they would expect from an analyst.
I’m leaving in less than a year so I don’t care, but it’s clear that if I were to try and stay they would eventually ask me to leave when my analyst contract is up.
Visiting this form is truly cathartic for me. Have no fear OP, I'm sure you will find that PE is indeed nothing like banking, and you will be promptly reinvigorated upon your arrival!
Are sponsors on cycle doing 0 subsequent checks ? Imagine hiring a guy then seeing 2 years bottom bucket
Your banking team will be a big chunk of your network while you work in PE. You plan to leave a bad impression and then expect these folks to work with you once you're out? Good luck with that!
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