Why Understanding the Analyst Role Matters
Before committing to investment banking recruiting, you should understand what the job actually entails. The analyst role is demanding, technical, and often requires long hours—but it also offers unparalleled learning opportunities, strong compensation, and valuable experience that opens many doors.
This guide provides an honest, detailed look at what investment banking analysts actually do day-to-day. No sugar-coating, no generic platitudes—just the reality of the role based on what analysts at bulge brackets, elite boutiques, and middle-market banks experience.
Understanding the role helps you:
- Make an informed career decision: Know what you're signing up for
- Interview more authentically: Speak credibly about why you want the job
- Prepare mentally: Set realistic expectations for what life will be like
- Succeed faster: Understand the skills and mindset needed to excel
The Analyst Role: Core Responsibilities
Investment banking analysts are the workhorses of deal teams. You're responsible for the detailed financial analysis, modeling, and materials preparation that support transactions.
Primary Responsibilities
1. Financial Modeling
- Building and updating merger models, LBO models, DCF analyses
- Three-statement modeling and projections
- Sensitivity analyses and scenario planning
- Accretion/dilution analyses for M&A deals
2. Creating Pitch Books and Client Materials
- Designing PowerPoint presentations for client meetings
- Formatting slides with charts, tables, and graphics
- Ensuring consistency and accuracy across materials
- Multiple rounds of revisions based on senior banker feedback
3. Company and Industry Research
- Gathering public company data and financial information
- Analyzing comparable companies and precedent transactions
- Creating industry overviews and market analyses
- Tracking target company lists for business development
4. Due Diligence Support
- Reviewing financial statements and legal documents
- Building data rooms and organizing materials
- Preparing diligence questions and tracking responses
- Analyzing management presentations
5. Administrative Coordination
- Scheduling meetings and calls
- Distributing materials to deal teams
- Tracking deal progress and maintaining files
- Coordinating with other advisors (lawyers, accountants)
Understanding the complete IB and PE interview process helps you see how the actual analyst responsibilities connect to what firms test for during recruiting.
A Typical Day: Hour by Hour
There's no truly "typical" day—workload varies dramatically based on deal activity. But here's a realistic picture of what a moderately busy day looks like:
9:00 AM – Arrive at the Office
Reality check: Some groups have 9-9:30 AM arrivals. Others expect you at 8 or 8:30 AM, especially if there are morning meetings or time-sensitive deliverables.
Morning routine:
- Check email for overnight requests from senior bankers
- Review voicemails and missed calls
- Check deal status updates
- Priority triage: what's on fire today?
9:30 AM – Morning Team Meeting
Typical format:
- 15-30 minute standup with the deal team
- Review progress on active deals
- Discuss priorities and deadlines
- Get assigned new tasks or receive feedback
Your role:
- Update on your deliverables
- Flag any issues or bottlenecks
- Take notes on new assignments
- Ask clarifying questions
10:00 AM – Update Financial Model
Task: Associate requested updates to merger model for pitch tomorrow
What you're doing:
- Pulling latest financial data from earnings release
- Updating revenue and margin assumptions
- Recalculating valuation ranges
- Checking for errors (formulas, links, formatting)
Time investment: 1-2 hours typically, longer if complex changes needed
Stress level: Medium. The pitch is tomorrow, so accuracy and timeliness both matter.
12:00 PM – Working Lunch at Desk
Reality: You rarely leave for lunch during busy periods
Typical lunch:
- Ordered delivery from Seamless/DoorDash (firm pays)
- Eat while reviewing emails or working on model
- Maybe chat with other analysts if things are slow
Duration: 20-30 minutes of actual eating, but you stay at your desk
1:00 PM – Comparable Company Analysis
Task: Build comps page for pitch book due tonight
What you're doing:
- Pulling financial data for 10-12 comparable companies
- Calculating valuation multiples (EV/EBITDA, EV/Revenue, P/E)
- Creating a formatted table with all metrics
- Analyzing median/mean multiples and noting outliers
Tools:
- FactSet or Bloomberg for data
- Excel for calculations and table formatting
- PowerPoint for final presentation
Time investment: 2-3 hours for thorough analysis
4:00 PM – Draft Pitch Book Sections
Task: Create industry overview and market trends section
What you're doing:
- Researching industry reports and data
- Creating charts and graphs showing market size, growth rates, trends
- Writing bullet points explaining key dynamics
- Formatting everything in the firm's PowerPoint template
Collaboration:
- Chat with associate about structure and content
- Get feedback from VP on messaging
- Incorporate comments and revise
Time investment: 2-3 hours depending on complexity
7:00 PM – Dinner Break
Reality: "Dinner" usually means ordering in after 7 or 8 PM
Process:
- Check if the team is ordering together or individual orders
- Firm covers dinner if you're working past 7 or 8 PM
- Eat at your desk or in a conference room
- Take a mental break but stay accessible
Duration: 30-40 minutes
8:00 PM – Revisions and Comments
Task: Associate and VP sent comments on pitch book draft
What you're doing:
- Reading through 20-30 comments tracked in PowerPoint
- Making requested changes to slides
- Fixing typos and formatting issues
- Updating numbers based on model changes earlier
- Re-checking everything for accuracy
Reality: This is often the most frustrating part—multiple rounds of revisions, sometimes with conflicting feedback
Time investment: 1-3 hours depending on extent of changes
11:00 PM – Final Review and Send
Task: Last check before sending final version to MD
What you're doing:
- Page-by-page review for errors
- Verify all numbers match across slides
- Check formatting consistency
- Send to senior bankers with summary email noting changes made
Stress level: High. This is going to the client tomorrow. No room for mistakes.
11:30 PM – Wrap Up and Head Home
Before leaving:
- Check email one more time
- Respond to any urgent requests
- Plan tomorrow's priorities
- Take Uber/car service home (firm pays if working late)
Arrival home: Midnight or later
Sleep: Try to get 5-7 hours before doing it again tomorrow
What the Schedule Really Means
The Hours
Typical week: 70-100 hours depending on deal flow
Breakdown:
- Slow weeks: 60-70 hours (arrive 9 AM, leave 10 PM weekdays, lighter weekends)
- Normal weeks: 80-90 hours (arrive 9 AM, leave midnight+ weekdays, work Saturday)
- Busy weeks: 90-100+ hours (arrive 9 AM, leave 2-3 AM, work most of weekend)
Reality check: "100-hour weeks" doesn't mean 100 hours of intense work. It includes:
- Downtime waiting for comments
- Meals at your desk
- Some socializing with other analysts
- Inefficiencies inherent in large organizations
But: You're still at the office or online, available and waiting for work.
Weekend Work
Expectations vary by group:
M&A and most coverage groups:
- Expect to work most Saturdays (4-8 hours typical)
- Sundays often required when deals are active
- Completely free weekends are rare first year
Some industry groups and boutiques:
- More predictable, lighter weekend work
- Protecting Saturdays becomes more common as senior analyst
The weekend reality:
- You're always "on call" even if not actively working
- Plans get canceled regularly
- Travel and social life require flexibility
Sleep and Lifestyle
Average sleep: 5-7 hours per weeknight during busy periods
Lifestyle trade-offs:
- Limited time for hobbies, gym, socializing on weeknights
- Weekend plans often tentative or canceled
- Dating and relationships require understanding partners
- Delayed gratification—you're sacrificing lifestyle now for future opportunities
Coping mechanisms analysts use:
- Late-night meals with fellow analysts (bonding time)
- Taking occasional half-days or leaving early Friday
- Making the most of rare slow days
- Perspective: it's temporary (1-2 years)
Build both technical and soft skills: While the hours are intense, you'll need to master financial statement connections, valuation concepts, and deal analysis—use our iOS app to ensure you're technically prepared from day one.
The Skills You're Actually Building
Despite the long hours and sometimes tedious work, the analyst experience develops valuable skills:
1. Technical Financial Modeling
What you learn:
- Building three-statement models from scratch
- Complex Excel techniques (dynamic formulas, VBA, sophisticated functions)
- Valuation methodologies (DCF, comps, precedent transactions, LBO)
- Accounting nuances and how deals affect financial statements
Why it matters: These skills are portable and valuable across finance careers
2. Attention to Detail Under Pressure
What you learn:
- Catching errors before they reach clients
- Triple-checking work when tired
- Creating error-free deliverables consistently
- Quality control processes
Why it matters: Mistakes in banking can cost millions. You develop almost obsessive precision.
3. Professional Communication
What you learn:
- Writing clear, concise executive summaries
- Creating compelling presentations
- Structuring complex information logically
- Email professionalism and responsiveness
Why it matters: Communication skills differentiate good analysts from great ones.
4. Efficiency and Time Management
What you learn:
- Completing work quickly without sacrificing quality
- Prioritizing when everything seems urgent
- Working effectively when exhausted
- Building templates and shortcuts to work faster
Why it matters: You develop incredible productivity skills that serve you forever.
5. Dealing with Ambiguity
What you learn:
- Making judgment calls with incomplete information
- Asking the right clarifying questions
- Knowing when to check in vs. figure it out yourself
- Handling last-minute changes and shifting priorities
Why it matters: Real business problems are ambiguous. You learn to navigate uncertainty.
6. Resilience and Mental Toughness
What you learn:
- Functioning effectively when exhausted
- Handling criticism and feedback professionally
- Staying positive through frustrating situations
- Managing stress and maintaining performance
Why it matters: This resilience applies far beyond banking.
The Team Dynamics
Who You Work With Daily
Analysts (your peers):
- Usually 2-6 first-year and second-year analysts per group
- You collaborate, commiserate, and support each other
- Strong bonding through shared experience
- Often become lifelong friends and professional network
Associates (2-4 years post-MBA or promoted analysts):
- Your direct supervisors day-to-day
- Review your work before it goes to VPs
- Provide guidance and feedback
- Quality of relationship with associate dramatically affects your experience
Vice Presidents:
- Mid-level bankers managing deal execution
- Often the most demanding—under pressure from MDs but still in the weeds
- Provide substantive feedback on your work
- Key relationship for learning and getting good staffing
Managing Directors:
- Senior bankers responsible for client relationships
- You interact less frequently but visibility matters
- Focus on big-picture strategy and deal origination
- Can champion you for promotions or exit opportunities
The Good Days vs. Bad Days
Good days:
- Manageable workload with clear priorities
- Working on interesting, intellectually engaging tasks
- Positive feedback from seniors
- Leaving at a reasonable hour (9-10 PM feels early)
- Learning something new or solving a complex problem
- Working with associates/VPs you like
Bad days:
- Last-minute fire drill disrupting your entire schedule
- Multiple rounds of conflicting revisions
- Being yelled at for mistakes (rare but happens)
- Pulling an all-nighter for client meeting next morning
- Mind-numbing formatting work for hours
- Plans canceled for weekend work
The reality: Most days fall somewhere in between. You have stretches of both.
What Makes Someone Successful as an Analyst
1. Technical Competence
Foundation: Master LBO modeling, valuation multiples, and financial statement analysis
But also:
- Excel proficiency that goes beyond basics
- PowerPoint skills and design sense
- Ability to learn new modeling techniques quickly
- Understanding of accounting nuances
2. Responsiveness and Availability
The expectation: You're always reachable
What this means:
- Responding to emails quickly, even at night
- Being available on weekends when needed
- Not complaining about hours or last-minute requests
- Saying "yes" and figuring it out
Key to success: Managing expectations while being reliable
3. Ownership and Proactivity
What seniors want:
- Analysts who anticipate problems before being asked
- Taking initiative to improve work product
- Flagging issues early rather than hiding them
- Going beyond minimum requirements
Example: If you spot a potential issue in a model, raise it immediately rather than hoping someone else catches it.
4. Coachability
Critical trait:
- Taking feedback without defensiveness
- Implementing suggestions quickly
- Asking clarifying questions when uncertain
- Improving on the next iteration
Reality: You'll make mistakes. How you respond matters more than the mistake itself.
5. Professionalism Under Pressure
The challenge: Maintaining composure when:
- You're exhausted after working all night
- Someone criticizes your work harshly
- Plans get canceled last minute
- Nothing you do seems good enough
What separates good from great: Staying positive, professional, and focused on solutions.
Common Analyst Pain Points
1. The Unpredictability
The issue: You never know when you'll be able to leave or what your weekend looks like
Coping strategy:
- Keep backup plans
- Under-promise on personal commitments
- Find partners/friends who understand the job
2. The "PowerPoint Monkey" Feeling
The issue: Hours spent formatting slides and making boxes perfectly aligned
Reality: This is part of the job, especially first year
Perspective: Even tedious work teaches attention to detail and client standards
3. Face Time Culture
The issue: Pressure to stay late even when work is done
Varies by firm:
- Some groups explicitly discourage this
- Others have unspoken expectations about face time
- Associates often bear brunt of this more than analysts now
Modern trend: Many firms moving away from pure face time culture, especially post-COVID
4. Last-Minute Fire Drills
The issue: Your entire day gets derailed by urgent client request
Frequency: Common, especially in M&A and deal-heavy groups
Learning: Build buffers into timelines, work ahead when possible, stay flexible
5. The Grind of Revisions
The issue: Making the same deck perfect through 5+ rounds of comments
Why it happens:
- Multiple people review and have different preferences
- Client expectations are extremely high
- Banking culture values perfection
Coping: Develop thick skin and efficiency with revisions
The Compensation Reality
Base salary (First Year): $110,000-125,000 depending on firm
Bonus (First Year): $50,000-75,000+ depending on firm and performance
All-in compensation: $160,000-200,000+ first year
Additional benefits:
- Free dinner when working late (usually after 7-8 PM)
- Car service home (usually after 9-10 PM)
- Gym membership often covered
- Healthcare, 401k, other standard benefits
Perspective on compensation:
- High pay for a 22-23 year old
- Hourly rate is less impressive given the hours
- Strong compensation continues if you stay in finance
Why Analysts Stick With It
Despite the demanding nature, most analysts complete their 2-year program. Here's why:
1. The Learning Curve is Steep
First 6 months: Drinking from a fire hose, learning constantly
Month 6-12: Gaining confidence, becoming more efficient
Month 12-24: Operating semi-independently, mentoring newer analysts
Payoff: By year 2, you've developed incredibly valuable skills
2. The Exit Opportunities
Post-analyst paths:
- Private equity (most competitive and common goal)
- Hedge funds
- Corporate development
- Business school (MBA)
- Venture capital
- Startups
- Corporate strategy
Reality: Banking analysts have exceptional optionality
3. The Network
What you gain:
- Relationships with fellow analysts (future PE partners, executives, entrepreneurs)
- Access to alumni network across finance
- Mentorship from senior bankers
- Professional reputation in finance industry
Long-term value: These relationships compound over decades
4. The Professional Development
Soft skills:
- Client management
- Working under pressure
- Professional communication
- Team dynamics
Hard skills:
- Financial modeling
- Valuation expertise
- Deal execution
- Industry knowledge
Combined package: Hard to replicate elsewhere in 2 years
5. The Team Experience
Reality: You bond intensely with your analyst class and deal teams
Why it matters:
- Shared suffering creates strong friendships
- Support system during difficult times
- Fun moments amid the grind
- Lifelong professional and personal relationships
Prepare comprehensively for the role: Understanding PE case studies, networking strategies, and behavioral questions—download our complete guide with 400+ questions covering everything you need to succeed from recruiting through your analyst years.
Is Investment Banking Right for You?
You'll Likely Thrive If You:
- Enjoy analytical work and financial modeling
- Function well under pressure and tight deadlines
- Don't need perfect work-life balance in your early 20s
- Are highly detail-oriented and precise
- Want to maximize learning and career optionality
- Can handle criticism and feedback constructively
- Value high compensation
- Enjoy working in team environments
You Might Struggle If You:
- Need predictable hours and free weekends
- Can't handle last-minute changes to plans
- Are very sensitive to criticism
- Need immediate work-life balance
- Dislike repetitive tasks like formatting
- Struggle with Excel and technical work
- Value creative work over analytical work
- Can't function well with limited sleep
Questions to Ask Yourself:
1. Am I willing to sacrifice lifestyle temporarily for skill development and future opportunities?
2. Can I handle the hours and unpredictability for 2 years?
3. Do I genuinely find financial analysis and deal work interesting?
4. Am I pursuing banking for the right reasons (learning, opportunities) rather than just prestige or money?
5. Have I talked to actual analysts about their experience?
Key Takeaways
- Expect 70-100 hour weeks with significant unpredictability in schedule
- Core work: Financial modeling, pitch book creation, research, due diligence support
- Skills gained: Technical modeling, attention to detail, professional communication, resilience
- Compensation: $160,000-200,000+ all-in first year
- Team dynamics: Strong bonds with fellow analysts, work closely with associates and VPs
- Exit opportunities: Exceptional optionality for private equity, business school, other finance roles
- Success factors: Technical competence, responsiveness, professionalism, coachability
- Reality check: It's demanding but temporary—most view it as a 2-year investment in their career
Conclusion
The investment banking analyst role is one of the most demanding jobs in finance, but it's also one of the most valuable learning experiences you can have early in your career. You'll work harder than you thought possible, develop skills that set you apart forever, and open doors that remain available throughout your career.
The hours are real. The pressure is intense. The work can be tedious. But the learning, compensation, network, and exit opportunities are equally real.
Understanding what you're signing up for—honestly and completely—helps you make the right decision for yourself. If you're willing to embrace the challenge, commit to the learning process, and maintain perspective that it's a temporary but transformative experience, the analyst program can be an exceptional foundation for your career in finance and beyond.
The question isn't whether banking is objectively "worth it"—it's whether it's worth it for you, given your goals, personality, and what you want from your early career. Only you can answer that question, but now you have a realistic picture of what the role actually entails.
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