Leaving job after short stint?

Hi guys:

I've been working for 3 years now, and I'm considering leaving my current job after a short stint. My first job was for 2 years + a few months; I switched to my current job 7 months ago, but I realized it's not for me.

I've started recruiting again, and by the time I leave my job I'd probably have 9 months on this one. Obviously this is not ideal and I look to stay longer at a place when I start there, but I'm still relative young (i guess) and this was unexpected. Needless to say I will be much more careful with my moves in the future, but could you comment on how bad this might look to prospective employers this time and in the future?

Thank you!

 

If you are pretty early into your career and have a decent explanation for how you were mislead I think it's something that can be worked around. The reason I say early on because is if you made a career switch say 3-5 years down the road and didn't do proper DD on it and ended up not liking it that is not a great trait -- but if you are a young kid who isn't expected to know a lot about being employed it makes a lot more sense.

If you are in the former category I wouldn't fret TOO much but just get your story down pat and work with some friends on telling it and see how they respond.

This to all my hatin' folks seeing me getting guac right now..
 

I've personally only done a summer internship at one of the Big4, but I can tell you from what I've seen and read about is that people start actively-searching for exit opportunities after their first year and by the end of their second year, they would have made their transitions. That said, I think it's safe to say that staying for less than one year at a Big4 is frowned upon.

 
Karim-Karam:

I've personally only done a summer internship at one of the Big4, but I can tell you from what I've seen and read about is that people start actively-searching for exit opportunities after their first year and by the end of their second year, they would have made their transitions. That said, I think it's safe to say that staying for less than one year at a Big4 is frowned upon.

Who's doing the "frowning upon"? If you get a new, better job and you stay at that one for a few years, who's going to care about your job right out of college? I'm asking a serious, non-rhetorical question. I'm curious who would care.

 

As a fellow big 4 consulting associate (wrapping up my 2nd year now), I can tell you that the first few months are rough for most of us. You're not a known entity yet, so you're likely going to be staffed on projects that are dull and don't require much brainpower until more senior people get to know you and see that you're capable of more than menial tasks.

It never hurts to start looking at what else is available, but be aware that entry level work in most of corporate america, even in strategy groups, will likely be a bit boring. Unless you're absolutely miserable and dread going into work every day, I'd recommend sticking it out for at least a year or two so you don't go back to square one. Even if your current project/group is not something you're interested in, there might be something else your firm does that you might enjoy. The big 4 consulting practices are massive and do a wide variety of work: long term tech implementations (blegh), org designs/process improvement for various functions (obviously lots of finance/accounting, but could include IT, legal, HR, or others too), or the occasional corporate strategy project if you're lucky.

My advice would be to do well on whatever you're staffed on now so your team will vouch for you, and try to build your network and see if you can help out with business development for a group that sells work that's more aligned with your interests. Hope that helps!

 
MrSlave:

Hello everyone,

I am an advisory associate / analyst at a Big 4 in one of their most prestigious offices. I'm a campus hire who has been with the firm for a few months now. Although I enjoy the brand name, I find that the scope of my work is pretty boring. Some tasks are super dull and long, and I feel like I'm not using any creativity in my work.

Anyways, so I get these occasional messages from recruiters. Some of these are corporate strategy roles (F500 companies), that promise senior level exposure and interesting tasks. Being so new in the corporate world, I'm not sure if it would be a smart move to consider these opportunities so early. How soon is too soon to start interviewing again? Would making a move after 6 months look bad on me? How about 3 months? Or 9 months? What's the rule of thumb for Big 4?

Looking for some advice!

OP, this is a pretty arrogant attitude, and you need a dose of reality. You are a recent graduate, which makes you a relative nobody in the working world. Until you prove your worth, no one at your firm gives a shit about you being bored or the lack of "creativity in your work." Suck it up, make a name for yourself, and then worry about where to go from there.

FWIW, recruiters will mass email anyone working at a B4, regardless of if they are actually qualified for the position or not - they are paid to reach out to/speak with as many people as possible. Corporate strategy roles do not go to kids with 6 months of work experience, unless their daddy is CEO.

 
the_stig:
MrSlave:

Hello everyone,

I am an advisory associate / analyst at a Big 4 in one of their most prestigious offices. I'm a campus hire who has been with the firm for a few months now. Although I enjoy the brand name, I find that the scope of my work is pretty boring. Some tasks are super dull and long, and I feel like I'm not using any creativity in my work.

Anyways, so I get these occasional messages from recruiters. Some of these are corporate strategy roles (F500 companies), that promise senior level exposure and interesting tasks. Being so new in the corporate world, I'm not sure if it would be a smart move to consider these opportunities so early. How soon is too soon to start interviewing again? Would making a move after 6 months look bad on me? How about 3 months? Or 9 months? What's the rule of thumb for Big 4?

Looking for some advice!

OP, this is a pretty arrogant attitude, and you need a dose of reality. You are a recent graduate, which makes you a relative nobody in the working world. Until you prove your worth, no one at your firm gives a shit about you being bored or the lack of "creativity in your work." Suck it up, make a name for yourself, and then worry about where to go from there.

FWIW, recruiters will mass email anyone working at a B4, regardless of if they are actually qualified for the position or not - they are paid to reach out to/speak with as many people as possible. Corporate strategy roles do not go to kids with 6 months of work experience, unless their daddy is CEO.

You sound like you sucked up the corporate bitch work your entire life. Not everybody is fine with that, it's a matter of preference. I'm not arguing whether consulting is good or bad, I'm just saying there are still some interesting opportunities out there which could be appealing to recent grads regardless of age or qualification.

 

I agree with the above, don't suffer for another 10 months. Take the offer if you want to leave banking.

That being said, is it possible to see if you can get a better corp dev position? If you're at one of those elite boutiques, the leverage you have should be higher and potentially allow you to up the comp if you can shop around.

That being said, I'm really not involved in healthcare firms, so I'm not sure of the mean/median pay for corp dev roles there.

 

Two years is generally the minimum, but anything over a year can be easily explained in an interview - make a point to address it, even if they don't ask.. Usually less than a year will raise an eyebrow. I say make the jump.

Please don't quote Patrick Bateman.
 

Would ten months really make a difference in terms of being able to land a better role within the same industry in corp dev? Kinda doubt it.

If corp dev is what you want to do, and you found this role within an industry you really like, then go for it. The only thing is, is if you can find some way to get a better idea of what the pay is like for corp dev (like the poster above mentioned). There's a guy on WSO that did a thread on Corp Dev. You can try looking him up and sending him a msg. He can probably offer much greater clarity on salaries and whether waiting out in banking would help.

 

Yeah, exactly.

Here is the thread for OP's consideration: http://www.wallstreetoasis.com/forums/the-other-road-corporate-developm…

If you could find an offer for a top healthcare firm (Calico within Google could be very cool, but doubt they are looking for specific corp dev roles), then the comp & work would be somewhat equal to what you're doing at your banking role.

 

Base salary is comparable to my current base, minus the bonus. The only reason I am thinking of waiting, is getting that year end bonus and maybe start as senior analyst or associate, rather than an entry level position like this one.

 
Best Response
realitycheck:

Base salary is comparable to my current base, minus the bonus. The only reason I am thinking of waiting, is getting that year end bonus and maybe start as senior analyst or associate, rather than an entry level position like this one.

This is how I'm leaning. While you've cleared the generally acceptable minimum threshold at your first job (12 months; any less tends to raise eyebrows), if by waiting less than a year you stand to gain a higher base, better bonus, and more senior role right out of the gate with your new employer, I say stick it out.

The fact that you've got the offer in hand means you can coast a bit at work (don't dog it, but no need to kill yourself by volunteering for more staffings to build out your resume, staying past 3am routinely, and spending every weekend in the office). The first-years will be fully up to speed soon, which means the brunt of staffings will go their way rather than yours. All in all, I'd say your quality of life will materially improve since you are now a second-year, plus you'll get that second bonus before leaving.

I am permanently behind on PMs, it's not personal.
 

I am in the same boat. Secured an MM job but will definitely pursue a BB experience and would not hesitate to quit if I get a BB offer. Just make sure you have an offer before quitting. You have a plausible reason to switch companies that makes sense. Or at least it makes sense to me. Please correct me if I am wrong.

 

2009 is harsh for graduates. A lot of ppl ended up in not very good position. I think you should weigh different options though, BB is good but sometimes MM is not bad as well. And loyalty is definitely important

 

First time poster and also looking for advice. I'm in a very similar situation...6-7 months at a lower-end MM bank (not in NYC) and really want to make a move to another higher-end MM or BB. Does it look bad to jump ship and how easy would it be to do? Do you think right now is a good time or will even more opps be opening up as we move into this summer / next fall? Also, is there a particular way you guys go about getting time off to interview if you're not in the NYC area (probably not going to be able to lateral / get hired off a series of simple phone interviews)?

 

I recently went through this and have found that as long as you have a logical story behind why you want to lateral to XX bank you should be alright. Everyone knows 2009 was a terrible year and that a large amount of quality candidates did not end up in the positions they wanted. However, if you are continuously jumping ship after 6-12 months, then you have the loyalty questions.

 
bostonbanker11:
I recently went through this and have found that as long as you have a logical story behind why you want to lateral to XX bank you should be alright. Everyone knows 2009 was a terrible year and that a large amount of quality candidates did not end up in the positions they wanted. However, if you are continuously jumping ship after 6-12 months, then you have the loyalty questions.

Agree, personally think that makes sense since everyone knows finding a job in BB is just so damned difficult for people graduated in 09.

 
bostonbanker11:
I recently went through this and have found that as long as you have a logical story behind why you want to lateral to XX bank you should be alright. Everyone knows 2009 was a terrible year and that a large amount of quality candidates did not end up in the positions they wanted. However, if you are continuously jumping ship after 6-12 months, then you have the loyalty questions.

what is your "logical story" ?

 

This actually occurs more then you would originally surmise.

As just starting out it is important to be loyal, but as stated you have to look out for yourself. As an example, if you follow the NBA, look at this year with DeAndre Jordan. His contract was up with the Clippers, and gave a verbal to sign with the Mavs. However, the Clippers were able to bite and gave him a better deal. Guy scorned Mark Cuban, but business is business.

Work at the company for three months, if you find you want to stay, stay. If not, leave for Big 4, will look great on the resume. If the first company doesn't understand, I don't believe you should work at a place that doesn't view business in that light.

 

A commercial brokerage will think you aren't made to be a broker because you don't have a strong work ethic and will quit when times are tough. You need to come up with a story that doesnt make you look like such a mommas boy.

What are you talking about $2,600 and $10,000 after tax? Part of being a broker is having excellent written communication skills..

 
REValuation:

A commercial brokerage will think you aren't made to be a broker because you don't have a strong work ethic and will quit when times are tough. You need to come up with a story that doesnt make you look like such a mommas boy.

What are you talking about $2,600 and $10,000 after tax? Part of being a broker is having excellent written communication skills..

I

 
CREChicagoJrBroker:

Unless I'm missing something, what's wrong with making $120k in a smaller locale without the risk of making $0 which is a reality in brokerage?

Also, you say now know you should be doing industrial brokerage, why?

Nothing is wrong with the prospect of making $120k in a smaller locale, without the risk of making $0, but I want to take more risk and swing for larger rewards. Considering the risk, I don't think ill be making $0, as my network is quite extraordinary and many seem ready to pull the trigger for industrial land. I know several related businesses and their owners at a very personal level, who say that they would have no problem entrusting me as their broker for acquisitions or leasing, many of which want to buy or lease property sometime in the next few months. These relevant relations, as well as an interest in real estate development, stem me into brokerage. I know I can't do very much at all in real estate if Im broke and inexperienced, real estate brokerage seems like a great way to make money, accepting the risks of being on 100% commission.

Do you think references from these clients, say the owners of several multimillion dollar industrial contracting businesses and distributors, would hold enough weight to have a brokerage cut through the bureaucracy of HR in a speedier fashion?

 

I don't mind slagging through a job with huge prospects, ill perservere for opportunity. Beforehand, I was wasting time at a place that paid poorly and presented limited prospects. 60k was the avg. compensation among appraisers who had been there for four years, and few seemed able to exit to better opportunities. Staying seemed like a waste of time, when I could be making more money and networking better with potential clients in the interim.

I appreciate your criticisms, as they make me aware of all the questions I will need to face during interviews.

 

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