Market seems absolutely brutal for laterals. LMM banking firms holding out for ex-Goldman Sachs TMT juniors, etc.
Those who have been laid off, how are you doing now? Did you stay in banking or move into another area of finance?
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Laid off early 2023, took a few months but found another role in IB. Surprisingly had little success recruiting for non-IB roles.
Any tips on how to find these opportunities?
Scan LinkedIn for roles. Apply online, find an internal contact to push your resume forward if possible. That’s how I got my current role.
Networking: Banks have internal recruiters — have your bank contacts connect you with them or I’d email them directly or LinkedIn DM
Headhunters weren’t helpful in finding me a job but HH screening calls are good practice for tightening your story and pitch, and explaining the layoff
If it helps, this is how I organized my time during my search:
Lead generation (cold emails, LinkedIn, recruiters, etc)
Technical / interview prep (modeling prep, interview guides, deal walkthrough)
Personal time (seeing friends, enjoying free time, traveling, gym, etc.)
Some days were extremely difficult and discouraging but I found it important to remain positive and understand I would find a job eventually whether it was in IB or not. At a certain point I realized anything is better than being unemployed.
I agree, I got much less traction outside of IB. They did not want to talk to me and interviewers just could not accept that I would willingly leave banking for something else in finance.
Was laid off recently. Still searching.
Laid off late 2022. Took 3 months but ended up with 4 offers in one week. One BB AM, Two PE, and one in a completely unrelated industry running finance. Agree with the advice above, except found HHs more helpful as they helped me land 2 of those 4. Caveat that by saying you need to be selective with who you work with.
That's awesome. Did you go with the PE?
Went with the out of industry offer for a variety of reasons that are too specific to list here.
I was also laid off late 2022 and while I haven’t found anything yet, I’ve gotten far in a number of IB processes. I’ve recently begun recruiting in corporate development as well, but those have been moving slowly.
One MM M&A shop did make me an offer, but after a long and drawn out process (interviews, modeling exam, in-person case study) they offered an associate role with a ‘possibility’ to promote in a year. I was a VP at a BB and told them to pound sand.
Any recruiters you would recommend?
Modeling exam? Case study? Sounds very much like associate-level interview process. Would expect VP level to be more about deal experience, client interactions, managing desk teams and work processes, etc. Glad you didn’t step down, hope you get something really solid.
mind PM’ing me? Would love to pick your brain/get advice as to how you’re handling the process. Not vp but assoc 2 from m&a
I was laid off late 2022 and ended up landing a role at a smaller PE fund. Took me three months but it feels like it worked out alright. I have some old coworkers still looking but many of us have found a new spot. Tough market though, for sure.
How did you land the PE interviews? HH’s don’t seem to help and these roles aren’t publicly posted
Headhunters were not helpful at all. I interviewed with 90% random regional banks and super niche coverage boutiques. Most interviews came from general networking talking to people I knew or had mutual connections with.
I got lucky and interviewed with a couple LMM shops with unique mandates. Both basically family offices and I ended up with an offer from one. I got a second offer from a regional boutique but went with the PE offer as it seemed more interesting. I’ll emphasize I got really lucky because the market was totally dead in Q1 2023. I was fortunate to get about 20-30 shots on goal with first round interviews but only converted to 6 final rounds.
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