How bad is leaving after a few months
Looking for some advice. Started career in AM Sales (did 1.5 years), and was fortunate enough to get an offer to move to DCM. Did DCM (Investment Grade) for three years and was promoted to Asso, then moved internally about 5-6 months ago to my bank's Lev Fin team.
Not sure if it's life priority changes, or the general stress of more responsibility as an Asso/being new to the group, or if being in banking for 3+ years has just taken its toll (I realize DCM is a little more chill hours wise than, say, coverage, but the day-to-day was super busy, almost like trading) but I find myself unhappy and pretty stressed out in the current role and am thinking of leaving for something more chill (WM, FP&A, other corporate roles). I'm in a little bit of a dilemma because I realize that leaving banking now probably means I can never come back to it / go to the buyside (which doesn't seem so bad now, but have seen people who leave and realize they made a mistake and wanted to come back). Obviously, money has been good too.
My questions are - how bad of a look is it to leave a new role after just a few months into the job? I think, for future employers, it helps that my current role is pretty much an extension of my previous role (i.e. both a debt product role, obviously Lev Fin goes more in depth) but know I probably will be getting limited credit for my experience in Lev Fin. I didn't think it'll be an issue given I'd be going into a non-banking field, but realize I could be burning some bridges in the current group given my short time and some other recruiters may see it as odd I left after a short time.
Also, would it be doable to come back to banking (maybe DCM) if I do realize in a few years I wanted to come back?
Appreciate any insight.
Leaving a role after just a few months can have significant implications, but it’s not necessarily career-ending. Based on the most helpful WSO content, here’s what you need to consider:
1. Short Tenures and Perception
2. Burning Bridges
3. Returning to Banking
4. Alternative Paths
5. Key Considerations
Final Thoughts
Leaving after a few months isn’t ideal, but it’s not insurmountable. If you’re transitioning to a non-banking role, the impact will likely be less severe. However, if there’s even a small chance you might want to return to banking, tread carefully. Consider sticking it out for at least a year to solidify your experience and avoid the “job hopper” label. Whatever you decide, prioritize your long-term happiness and career goals.
Sources: https://www.wallstreetoasis.com/forum/investment-banking/breaking-into-private-equity-from-banking?customgpt=1, Should I leave PE after a month and go back to my MBB?, https://www.wallstreetoasis.com/forum/private-equity/leave-pe-early-or-stick-it-out-2-years?customgpt=1, Burned Out - Quitting w/o an offer?, I don't know if investment banking is right for me anymore
go for it man!
If you find a job that is a great fit for what you are looking for then sure, I don't think it is the end of the world if you leave. It sounds like you have a good story as to why and what you are looking for. But don't leave before a year for the first offer you get if it doesn't check all your boxes.
I think getting 1 year of experience and then moving is your best bet, its not like you need to stick around that much longer. It just looks better on a resume and raises less questions. Plus it is more valuable to say you had a full year of experience in the role. Unless you absolutely hate your life or you land your dream job, sticking around for another 6 months shouldn't be that big of a deal. Plus, most interview processes take a couple months, it might take you that long to land a new role anyways.
Also, I think you might be underestimating the value LevFin experience will give you outside of banking. Especially if you want to get into Private Credit, Commercial Banking, Restructuring Consulting, or a Strategic Finance role that has some M&A flavor to it. I think LevFin is more transferrable to finance roles outside of banking than DCM.
Hey man, really appreciate the response . Honestly, not sure if you know (this is unchartered waters for me) but do you think given the "grouping" of IG and LF (honestly, feel like banks just have it umbrellad under Debt Capital Markets / Financing these days) makes it look easier on the eyes from a resume perspective if I left early? Would obviously distinguish that I covered LF and IG clients (and deals) but sort of putting it all under "debt capital markets associate at xyz bank" so it shows I spent ~3.5 years in DCM as a whole rather than just showing LF for 6 months.
Out of curiosity - how'd you end up in the leveraged finance seat? Did you push for it, or was it part of the progression as you were promoted to move you across different seats to broaden your experience?
Don't marginalize any of your experience - you did 3 years of clearly solid work in IG, you were promoted and then moved to LF, and have decided that banking is not what you want to do necessarily - and are looking for different opportunities, to leverage your skillsets. Unless you had someone pull strings, and then bailed on them - there's generally few hard feelings as long as you handle yourself appropriately as you leave. Start shopping yourself, see what works and doesn't work, and you can refine your resume/story as you go. I'd really focus on the 'why you want to do XYZ you are interviewing for' - that's 90% of what people care about anyway, besides what skills you bring.
My advice is to take a bit longer than you'd like in this search - if you end up staying another 6-12 months, can you tolerate it and/or make changes to make it more manageable. I'd be targeting a place and role where you can spend 5 years or so - or at least see yourself doing so up front. I agree with Ironman - fit is everything at a certain point, especially over the long term.
You could have one line item for overall experience at your bank that shows 3.5 years there. Then you can have sub-bullets for the roles you had that provide more detail. So it won't really look like job hopping at all, you were moving around between groups at your bank. It is still beneficial to have 1 year of experience in the LevFin role, but again, if you come across a great role that checks all of your boxes before that point, don't hesitate to move. Its more that I wouldn't take just any role, or a role you aren't excited about, before getting 1 year of experience. The only exception would be if you are miserable in your current seat.
General advice #1- it's fine to leave if a situation doesn't work, just don't make it a habit or consecutive.
General advice #2- don't leave multiple jobs for the same reason. Learn from one situation and apply it going forward.
General advice #3/summary - As you progress, the job is about finding the right fit for you.
Outside of anything extremely crazy, you can always get another job. I've worked at places (grant it, executive level, not to brag), where it's been multiple rounds of interviews and multiple times the responsibilities discussed, and Day 1 they want something completely different. Employers tell you it's bad to "job hop" because it just means (a) they have to keep interviewing (b) they know if they don't treat you right you'll leave. So they try to discourage it, when actually, it's in your best interest to find the right fit and they won't have any issue getting rid of you in a couple months if revenue fell. (Caveat- doesn't mean that you should go out and get 8 jobs in 2 years, you have to take the good with the bad at some jobs)
look into corporate banking brotha. With experience across sales, DCM, and levfin, it sounds like the perfect fit for your skillset and wlb goals if you want to be a career banker without torching your health and personal life.
Thank you for the advice, man! I've thought about it, the only thing is, it'd likely be hard to get a Corp Banking role at my current place just given issues around internally transferring. i'd likely have to look elsewhere, and not sure how competitive I'd be given the job environment right now.
Bump, in a similar boat
I'm an FP&A manager and I'm bored out of my mind. A literal monkey could do this job. I literally drag tasks out so it takes longer so I look busier.
Our controller seems to have an even more tedious/boring job, but the difference is he seems to like that. The 45hr work weeks are nice but if you value growing professionally and intellectually, CorpFin might not be for you.
Also there's a big $$ difference, obviously. If you exit to the manager level in a MCOL city you're looking at $130-160k a year with a 10-15% bonus. Pretty good compared to the median US worker but nothing like IB/PE/HF.
Definitely understand what you're saying. I guess the way I see it, though, is that IB is pretty boring and administrative, too, but way more stressful. Sure there are big whale transactions every once in a while, but most of the time, at least in a product group, youre just managing a data room, process tracking, drafting emails that explain things to management, etc. Very mundane things, as well, except it all needs to be done yesterday.
Four years of solid tenure buys you one mulligan. A five-month internal move is a footnote, not a felony.
First figure out whether you hate LevFin, being a new associate, or banking itself. Those lead to very different exits. If it is the seat, explore returning to DCM internally. If it is the lifestyle, leave, give a clean handoff, and frame the move as running toward a specific role, not away from stress.
You may burn some goodwill with this group, but not your entire banking career. A DCM return later is possible if you preserve relationships, although never guaranteed. Do not trade another year of misery for a prettier date range on LinkedIn
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