Day in the Life

Aiming for an investment banking analyst spot? Make sure you know what you're getting into. Here, Vault finance editors take a look at a typical week for an analyst. (Think long, long hours.)

Wondering what the end game is for investment banking? Take a look at a hypothetical week in the life of a VP or MD.

7:30 a.m.: Arrive at the office at your usual time – work hours are more or less similar to those of the traders, mirroring the operating hours of commodities exchanges.

Vault brings you a day in the life of Sabah Azim, 24, an investment bank analyst in Goldman Sachs' credit division in London. Sabah tells us that "The job of an investment bank analyst is to dig up in-depth industry and company information, often for a client, enabling them to make investment decisions. A big part of the job is presenting the information in a confident and creative way.

Take a look at a typical day in the life for an investment banking analyst at a bulge bracket firm in Hong Kong.

7 a.m.: I get in the car and head to work. I live in Santa Monica and work in Century City, which is right next to Beverly Hills. Compared to other people, my commute is pretty sweet. I drive against traffic so it probably takes me only 10 to 15 minutes. Our office starts work at 7:30?we start early because we have a lot of business on the East Coast and in the Midwest.

Spend a day in the life of an associate at a midsized private equity firm in Manhattan

Want an inside look at sales and trading? Here's a look at a day in the life of a sales-trader, given to us by an associate in the Equities division at Lehman Brothers.

This lunch was arranged to discuss a potential investment in a new fund that we are launching. Over lunch, you discuss the existing performance of our fund, general market conditions and what differences the new fund would mean to his portfolio.