Given career advice...now looking for some

Given advice to several prospective monkeys and now I'm in need of some. This is not a get me out of here post, just looking for some general career advice so I can plan and start networking. I'll try to not to make this too long.

'10 grad from semi-target. Accepted a job in AM because it was late in the recruiting season and I had nothing. Job was in a small town and I hated it because I was getting no transferable skills and wasn't challenged. Successfully lateraled to regional boutique in late May in the mid-sized city where I'm originally from. We do standard stuff like M&A advisory, debt/equity raises and fairness opinions. Learned a lot in my first couple months and I like the guys I work with - only 8 of us. Senior guys are tough but reasonable and I'm getting solid deal flow. Putting in 65-70 hours a week and feel like I could easily do more. Overall a good experience. During the interview, they made it clear they expect 2-3 years from me and that's it. There's no room for growth in this firm.

My problem is I don't know what I want to do. PE seems great but I don't have my heart set on it. HF and Corp Dev the same; I also haven't counted out staying in banking. I'm in IB now because I like to keep my options open. I'm also aware that I'm at a joe schmo firm that no one has ever heard of. I've always had the NYC/SF dreams and I'd like to make my way to a boutique there. I'm making this post because I'm not sure about timing. You may say get an MBA after your 2-3 as analyst, but a) I have no desire to return to school and pay 100k and b) I was not a great student in undergrad and would be worried about getting accepted to the top schools.

My original plan was to apply for "dream jobs" in late Spring '12 to see if I can get anything. If I don't land something, look for any NYC/SF boutique in late Spring '13. The reason I'm applying in late Spring is because our fiscal year ends June 30 and my year-end bonus is very significant relative to my base salary. I would assume I have to stick around to collect it? Any idea what type of firms I should target in NYC/SF? Should I look to get in as a 2nd year Analyst or should I do 3 years at my current shop and try to get Associate elsewhere? Or should I try to get out of my current position ASAP and just keep climbing? Looking for any opinions and I don't have much of a network.

Unimportant detail: The gf of 5 years is in NYC and it would be nice to not do long distance.

Thanks WSO.

 

Have you considered starting your own business? Get some more experience judging business plans and markets and you could probably open your own with a hundred grand in the bank. Doesn't have to be anything too special, just a little different than what others are doing now. Ive gone over growth equity deals that have projected around 6000% growth over 5 years with injections of cash, with simple products, so I can tell you for a fact that getting rich doesn't take tons of brains, and it is probably more fulfilling than being a wage slave. I plan on starting my own business in a few years.

“...all truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as being self-evident.” - Schopenhauer
 

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