Burnt out in IB, how to get my ass out

General career
#1

I’ve been working in IB for three years now and I have never been this exhausted and depressed. Especially during COVID, hours and the work have exacerbated. As much as I want to leave, I keep remembering how lucky I am to work where I work and that my pay is great (relatively). I seriously lack motivation to do anything about it, which is the worst part.

Does anyone have any suggestions on how they either left IB or deal with the burn out? What exit opportunities should I explore and would I be taking a big pay cut? At the same time I don’t want my mental health to continue to deteriorate. Any advice would be amazing, thanks!!

#2

PE is probably the most talked about. Do you have an MBA? Also, culture and WLB are really dependent on the company and location so don’t just think about switching industries

#3

read “I love investment banking” on WSO

#4

lol is this serious, that thread is ridiculous

#5

I’m thinking about an MBA but I still have no idea if it would help me realistically

#6

I’m really sorry to hear about your situation. You should still keep in mind though that if you pick a typical IB exit op, such as private equity, VC or consulting, the work and hours are not necessarily that much different from your current role. Perhaps there may be less grunt work but hours can still be long and as a juniors it’s very tough to get promoted so make sure it’s something you’re actually interested in before diving in.