Lateral: Too Soon?

Hey everyone, I have a question on BB lateral hiring that I know some others may be interested in as well. I'm a first-year analyst at a regional MM (STRH, RJ, etc). I'm interested in making the jump to a BB. I'd like to be in an industry group (industrials). Question is, how soon is too soon to begin the process? I'm not married to the one-year lateral, and would be willing to jump in Mar/Apr/May given the right opportunity. Thanks for any insight.

 

mp505, this has been asked several times before, and the answer is always six months to a year. I would agree. I actually included this in my lateraling guide. When I was lateraling from a "no-name" boutique to a top MM, I noticed a dramatic uptick in the amount of interviews that I got closer to the one-year mark. I think before then, it's just too easy to write you off as someone who is not really interested in IB and thinks that moving to a BB will solve that.

 

Thanks Sil, appreciate the help. I was thinking after New Years (so six months) to really begin talking to people, so that makes sense. Definitely don't want to appear as someone who is not interested in IB. Big drivers for me are that I've always wanted to work at a BB (so why wait), and a pretty terrible group placement that could hold me back long-term. Also, really like your lateral guide. Thanks for sharing.

 

If you don't mind me offering some advice, I would really steer away from anything that sounds negative, like group placement. Chances are, you may not have any choice as far as groups are concerned. When I was interviewing, all interviews, even at BBs, were one-offs by specific groups (e.g. FIG at Barclays or healthcare at JPM). I think that the best reason to give for why you want to lateral would be access to more complex and intricate transactions, exposure to multiple products (obviously leave this out if your MM focuses on more than just M&A), and more formal and robust training.

 

haha this is a good time for me to chime in on this topic. Today is my last day at my current firm after almost two years working as an analyst here. I don't feel bad about quitting just because I'm leaving the bullshit of banking, but I do feel for my fellow analysts as they are gonna have to pick up my slack and bust ass a little harder

 

Why not do a different job for 6 months after you graduate where you're not committing for 2 years?

If you have to move somewhere and get your own apartment for the FLDP program, I bet you can bank almost as much money if you live at home for 6 months and do a slightly lower paying job but with much lower expenses and probably more free time and less stress (not big concerns in most FLDP type jobs, but still considerations).

If money is really important to you, you can prep for your finance job in the free time so that you can really hit the ground running and give yourself a better chance at making top bucket.

Also, you will very likely have to pay back any signing bonus from the FLDP if you leave within a year (or longer depending on your contract).

It will be pretty clear to anyone looking at your resume that you left a rotational program 6 months in, which will raise questions (I guess you could just say the job you did and not that it was part of a program, but part of the value of these programs is how well-regarded they are). Of course, you could also just not put it on your resume and have the gap, which could also raise questions as well (not in a suspicious way, but I think people will casually ask you what you did between graduation and starting).

I'm not trying to tell you "never renege" because it is the best thing for a person to do in a small number of scenarios, but based on your post I don't think yours is one of them.

 

tds2006 has it right. Another thing to consider is that in an FLDP, about 2 months from the time you rotate you are expected to apply for your next rotation and interview with managers and such. If you interview for and accept your next rotation, and then reneg right before you start, that's some real bad shit because they will have turned down other people for that rotation. Typically they have roles just for rotators, so if you pull out the manager will be left holding the bag since all the other rotators will have taken other roles.. Its enough of a dick move that you will have to hope it doesn't effect other job.

You might also be put in the relocation system and there might be problems for pulling out of that. The other option would be to tell them two months ahead of time that you are leaving, and you don't want to do that.

And yes, you will have to pay back your signing bonus. Any perks you get are able to be rescinded if you leave in the first year.

Don't do it, just take some other temporary job and live at home.

 

Would you please offer some insight as to what your game plan was? I have already started noting some key contacts and identified areas I am looking into with open positions but I was just looking to hear from those who have gone through this process. Thanks for your help!

 

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