How many vacation days do you get as an investment banker? (2024)

FAQs

How many vacation days do you get as an investment banker? ›

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.

At 60 hours, you can have one full free day off and generally only have to do some light work on the other day. You might not get to choose exactly when that time is, but in general, this is survivable. You'll see from the schedule that most people get into work around 10am in banking.

Many Analysts might be working more like 80-90 hours per week rather than 70-80. That may not sound significant, but it's the difference between 12.5 hours per day for 6 days with one day off and 12.1 hours per day with no days off.

In short, the more senior you get, the more you need to travel. Juniors don't get to travel that often. Here is how it plays out in real life: Managing Directors, Directors and Vice Presidents – As a Senior Banker, you would be traveling anywhere from once per week to 2-3 days a week.

Financial managers get around 10-15 days of vacation per year.

How Many Hours do Investment Bankers Work? Investment bankers work notoriously long hours, with the typical work week filling in 60-80 hours per week, and the occasional high-intensity work week that can push a banker to 100+ hours.

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.

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.”

This lull in activity goes on until the 2nd week of January. Now while senior bankers generally prefer that the junior investment banking staff take their holidays around Christmas while it's quiet, they do need a few bodies to man the pit and take the bullet for any Christmas staffings.

Bankers, generally speaking, are not sleeping well. Across all respondents to our survey, people working in finance got an average of 6.72 hours of sleep a night.

Do investment bankers have a good life? ›

In the high-stakes and fast-paced world of finance, the work-life balance of Investment Bankers often teeters on a fine line. Known for their grueling hours and the high-pressure environment of financial markets, Investment Bankers are frequently at the mercy of market fluctuations and client demands.

Investment banks often compete to attract and retain top talent, which drives up salaries. 2. High Levels of Responsibility: Investment bankers handle complex financial transactions, such as mergers and acquisitions, initial public offerings (IPOs), and large capital raising deals.

The lucrative and fast-paced career of an investment banker is a highly competitive one. For instance, in a recent year, 236,000 applicants competed for roughly 3,500 internships at Goldman Sachs. This is common across the industry where acceptance rates for programs are typically less than 2%.

How much PTO per year is normal? On average, people with less than a year of experience will only take 13 days of paid leave per year. Comparatively, employees with over 20 years of experience are likely to take around 20+ days of paid leave each year.

Yes, 15 days of PTO is good for most employees.

On average, an employee must work for the same company for 5 years to increase their number of annual PTO days to 15 a year.

The US Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that civilian and private industry employees typically get: 11 days per year after 1 year of service, 15 days per year after 5 years of service, 18 days per year after 18 years of service, and.

Typical Investment Banking Hours

As an investment banking analyst or associate, you should expect to work ~60-80 hours per week. However, some weeks can be far in excess of this, especially if there's a “live deal” in the works. Many bankers brag about working 100-120 hours per week.

According to a 2021 Working Conditions Survey by Goldman Sachs, first-year investment banking analysts work more than 95 hours per week, on average. But, not every day is that intense.

Yes, it has been part of the culture for many years. Only recently have big firms begin suggesting associates take the occasional weekend off. While investment banking is extreme, for most ambitious careers you will likely have to spend at least a few years devoted almost exclusively to work.