RX exit to Corporate Bank Workout group considered a step backward?
Currently working at a boutique RX shop for the last 3 years. Pay is great, however the hours are tough and I'm starting to realize that my success here is limited by my ability to bill more hours. Starting to get tired of endless decks and models and wondering what the next step might be for my career.
Prior to this job I worked in commercial banking as well as a two year stint at a different RX firm. Total experience is ~15 years.
I have young kids and I'm looking to make a transition to something with better WLB (hours) but don't want to have my career stagnate or feel like I am giving up.
An easy and logical choice for me would be to transition to a workout group at a bank. This would offer better WLB, but I'm concerned it would be a step backwards career-wise.
Curious if anyone else navigated this transition and what other choices I have given my experience. I've thought about transitioning to industry-side, but don't know where to begin or what roles I would be a good candidate for.
Personally, I would consult a different forum like Fishbowl or Reddit that have more experienced professionals as the median user base. The comments you will get from WSO will likely be from a student or recent grad that haven’t been in your position and will have an answer heavily biased toward what they think is more “prestigious”. It will likely be an unhelpful and uninformed answer.
With that being said, same applied to my answer, but if I were in your shoes, I would take the offer. I couldn’t see Workout Banking experience being viewed as a step back to most industry professionals, and it just shows your continued interest in the insolvency field. Also, additional time with your kids and family is an invaluable perk that should be heavily weighted into your decision based on you being in your mid thirties (in my opinion).
Appreciate your response. Its a tough decision because I worked really hard to get this job in RX and felt like I "escaped" being pigeon-holed into lending for my whole career. Its hard to come to terms with the fact that my priorities have shifted and working an extremely-demanding job means more sacrifice than I'm comfortable with in terms of time spent with my family.
You're probably right regarding the user base on here, but I figured there may be a few who have some years under their belt and have faced similar dilemmas.
Curious if you could elaborate on the lending pigeon hole, as I’m currently planning to move into the corporate lending space from a different product area in CB. Thanks.
Just that if you do any job for too long, too late in your career it becomes harder to pivot to something else. Banking, specifically lending (commercial/corporate) involves credit/underwriting skills, but not necessarily the modeling, valuation, and other analytical hard skills that make you a versatile employee. Your skills become more developed in areas such as client relationships, legal document review, internal bank processes, etc. To be a good lender you must know how to basically sell the same money that the next bank is offering and deliver on whatever deal you’ve made to your internal credit team. Those skills are very valuable in that context but don’t necessarily translate outside of a firm that offers lending/credit products.
Just my experience as someone who spent most of my career on the lending side and witnessed those skill gaps grow over time.
Thanks for that, much appreciated
well, think it logically, banks are first in line and secured so there isn't much complexity in their workout groups unless they deal as a lone creditor with a problematic borrower, so in terms of technical skills + business analysis can imagine it's quite boring which you might regret it if you you're used to more 'intellectual' work
Will also say that in my view the move doesn't look off given your background, so I wouldn't worry about career/progress, just say some opportunity came up with more responsibility, you took it to explore it, and that's it. WLB when you have kids should take priority.
as someone approaching 40 with young kids, i would take it as a lifestyle move.. F*** any other perception
It sounds like you would have about 5 years of Rx experience if you went to a workout group, so you can always go back to Rx down the road. I have seen a number of older MDs come to Rx from commercial lending or PC, and I think that type of move is more common after kids get older and traveling is easier. I am in a very similar situation and although I am not trying to make a move immediately, it is probably something I need to start seriously considering in the next year or so.
But either way, I don't think going to a workout group due to family reasons would be viewed negatively or derail your career.
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