Been thinking recently about when the best time to transition companies is in corporate finance and would be curious to hear others thoughts. Best to go after Senior Analyst bump? Or after reaching at least a manager level?
I know you lose a lot of "brand equity" when you switch companies, so trying to evaluate when in the ladder you get the most bang for your buck by switching.
I'm not too seasoned at this, but my logic is to not jump any more frequently than two years. Jumps early in your career don't look as bad as jumps later in your career.
If you can stay for a promo or two, that shows some longevity, but in my opinion it's better to jump for a SFA promo than to wait any longer than an extra year to get it. For instance, if you're at 2-3 years of experience and the market will give you a promo if you jump, but your company is making you wait for the 4-5 year point, I'd leave. 4-5 years is young manager territory.
As far as losing brand equity- I think that only occurs if you jump from a respected company to a tiny, no-name company.. or if you jump too often. As long as you have a good reason to give in future interviews, companies won't hold it against you unless you consistently jump too often.
In summary, my strategy is to jump as soon as I am eligible for a promo (at 2-3 years for SFA, 5-7 for manager, 10-12 for director), giving preference to my current company by being willing to wait an extra year (or more, later in my career).
Thanks! I think this is a great way to look at it. Being ready to move as needed to continue to progress but giving your current company some level of wiggle room. Will definitely be keeping this framework in mind going forward.
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