As a follow-up to the post comparing a career in Sales & Trading to that in Investment Banking, there is much more to be discussed than simply sleep deprivation, caregiving and assistance allowed by the work hours, and the financial strain (or lack thereof), in regards to aging. In fact, the stress levels – in terms of duration and intensity – are much different in the two careers.
It is difficult to gauge which career has a greater amount of total stress, the two careers each experience stress in different durations and intensities. Individuals in Sales & Trading feel a greater sense of urgency and pressure to deliver results, because the market is only open for a set number of hours. In that sense, the stress is more concentrated in the specific time frame of trading hours, and due to this being a relatively short amount of time during a day, high stress is generated from the limited time frame to complete work. Professionals in Investment Banking have specific due dates for work, rather than specific, immediate time frames to accomplish tasks. This may lead to a similar amount of total stress to that of Sales & Trading professionals, but it is much more spread out over time. Investment Bankers can stay late or work all night to get something done for the next day, whereas Sales & Traders are out of luck if they can’t make a sale or trade by the closing bell.
Sales & Trading professionals do feel an added amount of stress due to the high risk nature of their job activities, and even a minor mistake could lead to an individual being fired. Sales & Trading professionals deal in real time and real dollars, and even a minor mistake of adding an extra zero to a trade could lead to massive differences in profits or losses. Proprietary traders (traders who invest and trade with the financial firm’s own money) have even higher levels of stress, due to the high volatility and riskiness of their jobs. Investment Bankers have much more time to examine and double-check work, and mistakes are much more highly tolerated than mistakes in Sales & Trading. To that end, the stress can be considered to be less in investment banking.
As mentioned in the previous post about stress experienced as an investment banking analyst, stress can have major effects on an individual as he or she ages. One’s physical appearance (hair loss, grey hair, etc.) as well as physical health can severely suffer from abnormally high levels of stress. Sales & Trading and Investment Banking professionals who spend their careers in the business can grow so accustomed to being exposed to high levels of stress that it almost becomes they cannot function normally without. They grow so used to being stressed out, that even when things are calm and collected, they find something to stress about, even if it is minor. The problem these professionals face as they age is that when they do retire and leave their careers, they are likely to be highly stressed out adjusting to the aging process. For example, a retired investment banker in a retirement home may unnecessarily find small things to be stressed about, which is not only unhealthy for the retiree, but it can also cause problems for the other residents of the retirement home. Sales & Trading and Investment Banking professionals will therefore both face a higher level of stress adjusting to the aging process, as well as settling in an institutional or private care setting.
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