Whoever dubbed New York “The City That Never Sleeps” must have been an investment banker.
Working on Wall Street is a wildly demanding gig. Though markets generally follow some variation of the standard 9-to-5, for analysts, money managers and other financial professionals, the workday often extends well beyond the closing bell.
For those just starting out, this can mean sacrificing personal and social capital for the sake of, well, actual capital.
“The type of person a banking role attracts is willing to make that trade,” says William O’Gorman (BBA ’20), a high-yield credit research associate at J.P. Morgan. “I’m willing to sacrifice now for what is to come. We’ll see if it pays off.”
Taking advantage of programs such as the Student Managed Investment Fund and Corsair Society, which prepare students for careers in investment banking, graduates of Terry’s Department of Finance are ready for the Wall Street grind.
But what does that grind actually look like?
We invited O’Gorman and two other Big Apple-based young alumni — Jasmine Chen (BBA ’20), a senior associate at Citi, and Kevin Wong (BBA ’23), an investment analyst at UBS — to chronicle a working week in their own words.
The verdict? While shut-eye may be in short supply, there’s no lack of excitement in the City.
Monday, September 9
William O’Gorman: Monday wake-ups are hard. Most people start with coffee, but I stick with water. It makes for long days, especially during busy weeks. I begin the morning with stretching or icing, focusing on the injury du jour. My aunt passed away from ovarian cancer, and I’m running the NYC Marathon to raise awareness and money in her memory. Common physio advice is “listen to your body.” My body is telling me not to run a marathon. But we press on.
Jasmine Chen: I start my day around 6:30 a.m. and check for messages that came through overnight. Since there’s nothing pressing, I make my way to a SoulCycle class. Two of the biggest culture shocks when I moved to NYC were the amount of walking involved in day-to-day life and the disproportionate number of people who are really into fitness. For these reasons, I can’t be caught slacking.
Kevin Wong: When I wake-up, I already have emails pouring through from various deals teams. I live in the West Village, where my roommates and I found an apartment from a UGA alum who was moving into a bigger space. One of my favorite parts of my day is my walk to work in the Flatiron. It’s very peaceful. It lifts me up regardless of my mood.
WO: All juniors make it to the office before 7 a.m., and our morning meeting kicks off at 7:15. Our job in research is to ensure we’re up to speed on any overnight or morning news and to communicate anything to sales and trading that might affect bond levels. No major headlines this morning, although one of our companies reported results on Saturday. One benefit of a public market-centric position is hours are largely based around market hours. Work-life balance varies, but I’ve been fortunate to have more weekends off than on.
JC: I decide to walk because it’s a beautiful day — this is one of the best times of the year in New York, when there’s a slight chill in the air and everything feels alive. I arrive at the office at 9:30, and the first thing I do is grab an energy drink from the marketplace in the Citi lobby. “I should really cut back on caffeine,” I think, as I purchase a week’s worth of energy drinks.
WO: Despite the slow morning, there is a lot to be excited about. My co-worker pings me to let me know our favorite breakfast station has hash brown patties. This is a one-to-two times per quarter occurrence — morale is immediately boosted! It’s also employee appreciation week, which kicks off with a Q&A between employees and J.P. Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon.
JC: I respond to emails and write my to-dos for the week in a notepad. I’m working on three mergers and acquisitions deals and a number of pitches and accounts. They typically are not all active at the same time, but it seems my clients are feeling reinvigorated post-Labor Day. There’s a couple of emails requesting first-year analysts to help out on projects. I assign those and ruin a couple of people’s mornings. (Happy Monday!) My managing director also has edits to a pitch deck. We think a company is poised to be bought soon, and we’ve spent the past year pitching to potential buyers. It’s my turn to review the deck and ensure everything is perfect ahead of the client meeting this afternoon.
WO: An analyst at a money manager is ramping up on a heavy-duty automotive supplier. He sends a list of topics and I work my way through, refreshing myself and re-learning automotive mechanics. (I can barely change a lightbulb, so how a car is built and what parts it requires does not come naturally.) Afterward, I plug away at updating models and projections for publications we’re working on. Today is quiet, with work punctuated by occasional pings from my managing director or clients, and office discussion following the first week of NFL football.
JC: I am in the diligence stage of one of my M&A deals, where the buyer and seller are — diligence-ing? — to ensure everything is in order, so most of my afternoon is diligence calls. Mid-afternoon, an Australian client wakes-up and the emails flood in. We’re doing a lot of work on a potential buyer: Who are they? What do they do? How have they been performing? How much are we worth to them? Does this combination make sense? I work well into the night with the Australian Citi team — we divide and conquer.
WO: I head out at 6 p.m. There are no set hours for my job. The general idea is to get in early enough to prepare for the day and stay until the work gets done. Sometimes that’s 5 p.m., and sometimes it’s midnight. I often know my busy weeks in advance, although bond or loan deals can add volatility. I head to my apartment gym, then pick up dinner a few blocks away.
Tuesday, September 10
JC: I awake in a panic. My MD has client meetings in Europe, so I’m up early in case of any last-minute changes to the discussion materials. My morning is a scramble, as several senior bankers have comments we have to address in a short amount of time — we call this a “fire drill.” The upside is I’ve crossed another item off my checklist by 8 a.m.
WO: The morning gets going and never really stops. I start by investigating some overnight headlines and delivering the morning packet to the high-yield sales group. My MD is usually in by now, but a disabled bus has caused a standstill in the Lincoln Tunnel. Some members of our group are delayed, but luckily my MD is adept at working from his phone.
KW: As I arrive at the office, it’s clear we’re in for another busy day. Meetings are lined up back-to-back as we tackle different workstreams for a client looking to expand its portfolio. The atmosphere is buzzing, which is a nice change after a very quiet summer.
JC: I run downstairs to grab lunch. Some may find this a controversial take, but it’s my belief that the Citi cafeteria deserves a Michelin Star. They have a wide variety, and it’s a quick, affordable option. At my desk, I hop on a call with the advisors for one of my M&A deals. It’s an ambitious timeline with a mid-October announcement, so it’s important for all parties to stay coordinated on workstreams and next steps.
WO: Before I can start on my MD’s request, BMW has come out with guidance on a faulty part and weak demand in China. We need to find out: How much exposure do our companies have to BMW? Which of our companies have exposure to China? Which of them have exposure to the part supplier? While I’m tracking down answers, a supplier announces a refinancing. We’re not leading the deal, but a client asks for my thoughts, so I take a few minutes to hit the main points. I pick up lunch and get back to the BMW deep dive.
JC: In the evening, I tune in to the presidential debate and have it on in the background as I work through client materials. Every election year results in volatility in this industry, as the next administration sets the tone for the regulatory landscape. The outcome may impact some of my deals, so I make sure to listen to see if anything may be useful.
Wednesday, September 11
JC: I pass the World Trade Center and 9/11 Memorial on my walk to the office. There’s a gravity surrounding the area every day, but especially today. At the office, I start working through a client’s financial projections and spend most of the day reworking it into a bottoms-up model, where I can adjust any operating assumption and have that flow through the forecast.
WO: My MD is going to speak on the automotive headlines at the morning meeting, so we make some final tweaks to our one-pager. Post-meeting, we make a couple more tweaks and send it to traders. I missed a company earnings call last week, so I listen to the replay and send notes to my MD.
JC: My co-workers try to entice me with the prospect of a sit-down lunch (or SDL, as we call it), but with how busy the team is, we decide the responsible, adult thing to do is pick up lunch from a sandwich shop down the street. I keep an eye out for a celebrity sighting — one of the many perks of working in Tribeca — but today proves to be uneventful.
WO: I meet Richard, the Terry magazine photographer, and we head toward my neighborhood. We’re a few seconds late crossing the street at an intersection, which earns us several choice words from a woman on a bike. I don’t mind. Truthfully, I think most New Yorkers are very kind. But I’ve learned there’s a stark contrast in communication style versus the South, and to be happy here, you can’t take things personally.
JC: At 5 p.m., a bell signals “Fun Wednesday” has begun, which is where my group buys an assortment of snacks and gathers in the kitchen to mingle. “It’s bulking season,” I whisper to myself as I grab half the can of chocolate Pirouette wafers and sneak back to my desk. I make eye contact with one of my MDs, who has his own collection of chips and cookies in hand, and we silently agree to not speak about it.
KW: I end up working late into the night — until 3 a.m., to be precise. As I finally pack up, I feel a mix of exhaustion and accomplishment. Late nights can be brutal, but having other people around me helps me finish my work. It’s almost like an extended high school where everyone is pushing themselves to take multiple AP classes, and you try to keep up.
Thursday, September 12
WO: It’s my turn to oversee a group-wide weekly publication, so after the morning meeting I make sure everyone is aware of their responsibilities. Mid-morning, my MD and our investment-grade counterpart decide the automotive headlines warrant publication. In this instance, the senior analysts handle most of the text, while the other junior analyst and I handle data gathering, chart formatting and proofreading.
JC: My first order of business is a coffee chat with a first-year analyst — she asks me for advice. Four years in banking officially grants me “ancient elder” status, so I’m happy to pass on my infinite wisdom. At age 26, I’m the second-most tenured woman in my group, and as much as I love to joke, the lack of female representation in senior positions across Wall Street is a reality — one many banks are trying to change with hiring initiatives and leadership programs.
WO: Our group head buys Chick-fil-A for everyone, and morale is up again. You wouldn’t believe how excited well-paid financiers get for free things. I once saw two middle-aged men pull rank after one accused the other of cutting in line on ice cream day.
JC: My MD has a meeting scheduled with a client, so in the afternoon I work with my analyst to pull together draft materials to guide the conversation on what strategic alternatives they could pursue next. I worked on this client’s divestiture last year, so it’s been interesting to see the long-term impacts a deal has on a company.
KW: We manage to wrap up major workstreams early, allowing us to take a well-deserved break for lunch at Madison Square Park. After lunch, there is a group happy hour funded by a data provider. Their team is really friendly, and it’s nice to talk to people you don’t see for 12-plus hours in the office every day.
JC: Typically on Thursdays, if a majority of my co-workers wrap up at a reasonable hour, we grab dinner and drinks at a local spot. We call it “Transpo Thursday” because we think it makes us sound cooler. (It doesn’t.) Unfortunately, it’s a busy time for everyone, so Transpo Thursday will have to wait.
WO: At 10 p.m., I’m in the permissible time frame to Uber home on the company’s dime, but I haven’t been outside all day, so I’d rather walk or bike. As I leave the building, I see two young women dressed for a night out — I can’t imagine what they’re doing at 47th and Vanderbilt. A block later, I see two banker types walking toward the building. I throw on an indie playlist and hop on a Citi Bike. There’s something wrong with the bike, so it ends up being more walking than biking. I eat, take a shower, ice my knees and am in bed by 11:45.
Friday, September 13
JC: Fridays in the office are quieter. We’re on a hybrid schedule of four days a week in person, but I typically head in if I have a lot of work (or if I’m feeling chatty and looking to distract my co-workers). Today, I keep iterating the various workstreams and discussion materials I worked on throughout the week.
KW: After a long week at work, I’m excited to catch up with some college friends this weekend. We’re going to the Yankees game, and we’ll catch the UGA game at the Georgia bar in Midtown. It’s another reminder of how grateful I am of the UGA community here in NYC — a piece of home away from home.
JC: In the afternoon, I meet Richard for a tour of the neighborhood. It’s the perfect day, mid-70s and sunny. I show him some of my favorite spots and point toward Taylor Swift’s apartment mere blocks away. Later, I grab dinner with some UGA friends and reminisce about the good old days. There is work to do for meetings early next week, but I decide that’s a Sunday problem.
WO: The end of a long week. Working a 15-hour day seems hard, but everything is risk and reward. Working long hours on a sustained basis is unhealthy. But it’s also an opportunity to learn in two years what someone else might learn in four or five. The type of person a banking role attracts is willing to make that trade. I’m willing to sacrifice now for what is to come. We’ll see if it pays off.
JC: This was one of the busiest weeks I’ve had in a long time. This job is unpredictable. It can be challenging, and it requires sacrifice. But the past four years have been some of the most rewarding in my life. I’ve met smart, interesting people, learned more than I could’ve ever imagined, and done it in the best city in the world. I wouldn’t trade it for anything.