Consulting Articles > Consulting vs Other Careers > Investment Banking Analyst Day in the Life vs Consulting Explained

A day in the life of an investment banking analyst is known for long hours, fast turnaround times, and constant deal execution, but many candidates also want to understand how this pace compares to consulting. If you are deciding between investment banking and consulting, knowing the real analyst lifestyle and how investment banking analyst responsibilities differ can help you choose the right path. 

TL;DR – What You Need to Know

A typical investment banking analyst day in the life involves long, unpredictable hours driven by deal activity, detailed financial work, and rapid client expectations.

• Investment banking analysts manage modeling, research, coordination, and presentation tasks that support multiple active workstreams.
• Long hours result from deal flow, shifting deadlines, extensive revisions, and precision requirements in transaction materials.
• Daily routines vary across mornings, midday calls, afternoon analysis, and evening revisions as deal activity changes.
• Banking hours exceed consulting hours because consulting teams follow structured timelines and planned weekly workflows.
• Analysts focus on transaction execution while consultants focus on structured problem solving, client interaction, and broader business topics.

What Does an Investment Banking Analyst Do Each Day?

Investment banking analysts manage research, financial modeling, client materials, and coordination tasks that support active deals, and a typical investment banking analyst day in the life centers on producing accurate analysis under tight deadlines. Their work combines quantitative tasks, structured presentations, and frequent communication with senior team members.

Investment banking analysts focus on core responsibilities that keep transactions moving. You will often support several workstreams at once and adjust priorities based on client needs or new information. Although teams vary, the overall structure of the role is consistent across most banks.

Common responsibilities include:

• Researching companies and industries to understand key trends, competitive landscapes, and market positioning
• Building and updating valuation models, sensitivity analyses, and scenarios in Excel
• Preparing client presentations, pitch materials, and draft deliverables with precise formatting
• Joining internal calls to align teams, clarify assumptions, and discuss next steps
• Coordinating information requests, organizing data, and ensuring workstreams stay on schedule

Much of your day involves synthesizing large amounts of information into clear, client ready outputs. Analysts also support seniors by tracking deadlines, organizing materials, and maintaining deal files.

Research is a significant part of the investment banking analyst lifestyle. You may analyze financial statements, review public filings, and interpret industry data. This research provides the foundation for pitchbooks and valuation work.

Financial modeling is another major component. Analysts construct models that project financial performance, assess transaction scenarios, and estimate deal outcomes. These models are used in client discussions and internal decision making.

Client materials require careful attention to detail. Even small inconsistencies in a presentation can lead clients to question the accuracy of analysis. As a result, you review draft pages repeatedly and refine formatting before the materials are sent out.

Throughout the day, analysts coordinate with senior bankers, legal teams, and internal specialists. You may join calls that outline new assumptions, update project timelines, or walk through valuation outputs. This coordination helps ensure consistent messaging across all stakeholders.

These responsibilities form the foundation of a typical investment banking analyst day, setting up the comparison with consulting roles that follows later in the article.

Why Do Investment Banking Analysts Work Long Hours?

Investment banking analysts work long hours because deal flow is unpredictable, client deadlines shift quickly, and transaction materials require precise analysis and rapid revisions. The investment banking analyst lifestyle depends on supporting high stakes deals where companies expect fast responses, detailed financial work, and constant coordination across teams.

Long hours usually stem from several forces.

Large transactions with high stakes: Major deals such as acquisitions, equity raises, or strategic sales involve sensitive information and fast moving timelines. Analysts support valuation work, update financial assumptions, and prepare materials that guide important decisions for senior leaders.

Multiple active workstreams: Analysts often manage several projects at once. Even if one deal is slow, another may accelerate unexpectedly. Workload spikes when teams need new pages, revised numbers, or additional research to support negotiations.

Time sensitive client expectations: Clients expect rapid responses, especially during critical phases of a transaction. Analysts adjust models, refine presentations, or gather data on short notice. Tight timing often pushes work into evenings as comments arrive from seniors or external parties.

Extensive coordination across parties: Transactions involve internal teams, lawyers, accountants, and buyers or investors. Frequent calls and updates can fill the day, leaving technical work for later hours. This coordination ensures consistency across all deliverables.

Precision required in deliverables: Pitch materials and analysis must be error free. Small inconsistencies can undermine credibility, so analysts review drafts repeatedly. This attention to detail adds time to already demanding workloads.

These forces combine to create long days, though not all periods are equally intense. Hours fluctuate based on where a deal sits in the transaction lifecycle.

What a Day in the Life of an Investment Banking Analyst Looks Like

A day in the life of an investment banking analyst shifts between meetings, modeling, research, and preparing client materials, and the pace depends on deal activity. Analysts manage both routine tasks and urgent requests, which creates unpredictable schedules that change as new information or client deadlines emerge throughout the day.

A typical day includes several repeating patterns.

Morning: Email checks and early coordination: Analysts begin by reviewing overnight emails, updating workstreams, and preparing for morning calls. If a deal is active, the morning may involve reviewing revised numbers or preparing internal updates.

Midday: Calls, reviews, and ongoing analysis: The midday period is filled with scheduled calls or reviewing draft pages. Analysts refine models, update research summaries, and prepare materials requested by senior team members. Meetings with lawyers, accountants, or internal specialists often happen here.

Afternoon: Drafting presentations and running scenarios: Afternoons involve deeper analytical tasks. Analysts build slides, run sensitivity cases, or prepare financial tables under associate guidance. These outputs feed directly into client deliverables.

Evening: Revisions and final checks: Comment rounds frequently arrive later in the day. Analysts revise pages, adjust numbers, and finalize details before sending updated drafts. If multiple workstreams require attention, evenings can extend late.

Variability in daily rhythm: Some days move quickly with manageable tasks. Others become intense as deals accelerate. The shift from a quiet afternoon to an urgent evening is common when new information arrives.

This daily rhythm explains why banking hours fluctuate and sets up the consulting comparison in the next section.

How Do Investment Banking Hours Compare to Consulting Hours?

Investment banking hours are longer and less predictable than consulting hours because deal deadlines can change with little notice. Consulting teams typically plan work in weekly cycles, giving consultants more control over schedules, while banking analysts adjust work to real time client requests and transaction needs.

Clear differences appear across several areas.

Average work hours: Investment banking analysts often work late evenings due to ongoing revisions and time sensitive deliverables. Consulting hours are demanding but generally end earlier because project timelines are more structured.

Predictability: Consulting teams follow defined milestone plans, giving consultants a clearer sense of workload. Banking hours vary widely because updates and comments can arrive at any point.

Weekend expectations: Banking teams may work weekends during active deal phases. Consulting weekends are less frequent and usually tied to unusual project demands.

Travel patterns: Consultants travel more frequently to meet clients. Banking analysts stay in the office, joining calls rather than traveling.

Source of the difference: Consulting focuses on strategic problem solving and structured timelines. Banking centers on transactions influenced by markets, negotiations, and external parties, all of which create volatility.

What Types of Work Overlap Between Banking and Consulting?

Banking and consulting share analytical responsibilities such as research, Excel analysis, and structured presentations because both roles support clients with data driven insights. Analysts and consultants gather information, interpret financial or operational trends, and convert those insights into clear materials.

Overlaps include:

Research and analysis

Both roles study companies, industries, competitors, and market trends. This research shapes recommendations, valuation assumptions, or client discussions.

Excel driven work

Banking analysts build detailed valuation models. Consultants use Excel for market sizing, performance diagnostics, and scenario analysis. The depth differs, but the analytical foundation is similar.

Presentation building

Both paths involve preparing slides for clients. Banking materials highlight valuations, transaction terms, and rationale. Consulting decks present insights, frameworks, or recommendations.

Team coordination

Analysts coordinate with bankers, legal teams, and internal specialists. Consultants coordinate with client teams, project leads, and functional experts. Both require clear communication.

These shared elements explain why candidates interested in structured analysis often consider both careers.

What Are the Key Differences Between an Analyst and a Consultant?

Analysts focus on transaction execution while consultants focus on structured problem solving for business challenges. Banking emphasizes modeling and deal preparation, whereas consulting emphasizes analysis, frameworks, and client interaction. These differences shape pace, expectations, and long term development.

Key contrasts include:

Nature of work

Analysts support live deals involving valuations and transaction materials. Consultants address strategic or operational questions across various industries.

Scope and focus

Banking work is narrow and deep, centered on financial details. Consulting work is broader, covering strategy, operations, digital, and organizational topics.

Client exposure

Consultants interact with clients regularly through meetings and workshops. Analysts join calls but typically have limited client facing interaction.

Number of projects

Analysts juggle several deals or pitches at once. Consultants usually work on one main project at a time.

Skill development

Analysts build strong financial modeling and valuation capabilities. Consultants develop structured thinking, communication skills, and stakeholder management.

Which Path Is Better for Career Growth and Lifestyle?

The better path depends on whether you prefer transaction driven work or structured problem solving, and whether lifestyle or technical depth matters more to you. Banking offers accelerated modeling experience, while consulting provides broader skill development and more predictable schedules.

Lifestyle preferences

Consulting teams follow structured workweeks, leading to more consistent evenings and weekends. Banking schedules are influenced by deal activity and can extend into nights or weekends.

Learning and development

Banking accelerates technical skills through deep exposure to valuation and transaction processes. Consulting improves communication, structured thinking, and cross functional collaboration.

Exit paths

Banking leads to opportunities in private equity, corporate development, or investing. Consulting leads to strategy roles, operations, product, or general management paths.

Personal alignment

Candidates who enjoy valuation work and fast paced environments often choose banking. Candidates who prefer client problem solving and broader business exposure often choose consulting.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: How many hours do consultants work vs investment banking?
A: Consultants usually work longer weekday hours during peak project phases, but investment banking hours are generally later and less predictable due to deal flow and shifting deadlines.

Q: Does investment banking or consulting pay better?
A: Investment banking typically pays more at the analyst level because compensation reflects transaction intensity and market driven bonuses, while consulting salaries emphasize structured progression and project based work.

Q: Is consulting harder than investment banking?
A: Consulting is not necessarily harder than investment banking, but the challenges differ, with consulting focused on problem solving and banking centered on detailed financial work and client deadlines.

Q: Which is better, an analyst or a consultant?
A: Whether an analyst or a consultant is better depends on your preferred workstyle, since analysts focus on deal execution while consultants work on broad business problems with clients.

Q: Why is IB over consulting chosen by some candidates?
A: Some candidates choose IB over consulting because they prefer fast paced transactions, valuation work, and exposure to market driven decisions during live deals.