Will taking time off to travel hurt my career?
Feeling stuck - trying to make a geographic move to Europe but there’s not a lot of opportunity at BB / EB given market conditions.
Pondering a 3-4 month break (or quitting if they won’t hold my job) to travel and ride the year out, all the while keeping an eye on opportunities to move to Europe.
Opportunity cost will be painful in $ terms (no salary + forfeiting all / part of bonus), but just wanted to get views on any residual career costs. Keen to take time off, but don’t want to ruin my career (particularly in the context of moving to buyside at some point once in Europe).
Has anyone done this before / know of someone who did it?
Thanks!
Please do not quit your job unless you have secured a new position, especially if you are planning on moving countries.
1) try internal transfer
2) contact recruiters and companies in the destination beforehand
3) Maybe a vacation would be enough? No need to quit/several months off?
how many years of experience do you have?
I know a lot of people that have done it
OP here
3.5 YOE - all in coverage BB IB
Thoughts?
I mean, Europe is a bit broad. Where exactly are you planning on moving? You noted that you feel stuck, but how is a move to Europe to another BB going to change that?
OP here
London in particular. Feeling stuck because I've been trying to get to London for ~18 months now, initially internally and then externally too (just in time for the market to turn).
Have been hoping the move to London will help with move to the buyside (have found it impossible to get London buy side interviews when not in London, and there aren't a lot of local opportunities for me now).
Already getting late with 3.5 YOE, and will need to spend min 1yr at new IB shop when I get to London.
Any thoughts? Keen for views
I remember you Aussie anon. Your only option is to do an MBA at LBS if you want to go to London, and even then your chances to get a buyside position would be slim given that you don't speak an European language.
This probably isn't what you want to hear, but I think it will be very tough for you to break into buyside in Europe, regardless of the LBS MBA. There is a vast amount of people in Europe who are trying to break into London buyside, and not only do many have an MSc/MBA from a top school, but they also speak a language or two on top of that. The cultural differences between various regions are also a lot larger than most people on this site seem to think, and the way of doing business, although similar in process, will vary greatly in practice. This means that most larger PE firms will prefer to have someone local for the various regions because it's advantageous, not only from a deal sourcing perspective or over mgmt dinners, but because many local founders will prefer to work with someone from their region at the board level (you will even see midcap+ sized companies having board meetings in their local language). To put it bluntly, although you may learn how to speak German, you will never be German. You will be at a disadvantage compared to the thousands of people trying to break in, and you'd have to be somewhat of an extraordinary banker to overcome the edge that they have over you... and even if you are, I think it would be hard to convey that through the air head recruiters screening for roles.
In my opinion, you are more likely to succeed in a similar banking role, because the job is more international by nature.
Ever ended up figuring it out? Going through something similar and losing hope on the Europe move.
I ended up setting an arbitrary date to quit my job and just go travelling while continuing to recruit before landing in London (I could have got a 2-3yr visa that doesn’t require me to work / be sponsored).
Then a week before this resignation date, a bank that I interviewed with a few months beforehand called me up again and gave me an offer after a few formalities.
So I ended up getting lucky I would say. Upon reflection, I am glad I didn’t settle for a mid-market boutique or a corporate bank that tries to do some IB.
The BB IB hiring market has to improve some day, and all of the advice I got (here and from recruiters) was to not quit my job. In saying that, sometimes you have to force things to work and perhaps eventually settle for something less than you expected - it’s all about trade offs I guess.
I ended up having a few months off (waiting for visa + negotiated a later start date). But when I got back to IB, it hadn’t changed and it’s still the same slog. Time off didn’t really help in my case., and London is not as great as I was expecting (safety, cost of living, commute time).
There is lots of talent in Europe that won’t require sponsorship or relocation. In this market, you need to have a select skill set to be hired over a European. Just wanting to live in London isn’t going to fly for most banks. They want to know why they should invest in you and they want a guarantee that you will stay if they do.
Bofa in Stockholm looking for associates+ from what I've heard.
Currently in London, although it is a nice city it might not be worth the hassle of moving across the globe for that. You can do working holiday visa if you want to take a year off but definitely secure something when you’re employed.
The US is arguably the best place to be doing your role in the world. Just go on vacation. Only time it’s worth pursuing is if your company specifically wants you there or it’s rotational.
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