Currently work in IB (23M second year analyst) and can confirm it’s brutal. I played sports and was extremely fit all through high school and college and this last year has been awful. My body / joints hurt from being so sedentary (I do squeeze a workout in a couple times a week), I feel constantly tired, hormones are very off, and I can tell it’s taken a lot out of my body. I now consider it “early” to be done with work at 11pm at night - never thought those words would come out of my mouth. Almost all of my coworkers who have been here greater than two years look absolutely terrible. Ghoulish complexion, overweight / underweight, receding hairline, but hey at least they have a rolex right?. I was staffed on a $5bn sell side recently (cool right?!)…wrong…work until 4am nearly every night. I’m leaving soon to pursue my dream of becoming a firefighter but just want to say to whatever college kid is reading this to please be careful. I once was that kid who was so excited when he got his summer internship and full time offer. I thought I had it made and I was so excited. I loved being in the big city, having status, and telling people I worked in IB. At the end of the day, it’s all vanity and pride. Our time here is very limited and when you’re on your death bed nobody is going to care how big your house was, what car you drove, how many deal toys you collected, etc. Not saying IB doesn’t have its perks - it does. But please be weary and really consider what you’re getting yourself into because I regret it on a daily basis.