Leaving a bad gig - when is too soon?

Joined a big 4 pod directly out of college; after about a year, boss got fired and couldn't find another team there, so I hopped to another smaller fund. Have been here for less than a year but greatly dislike my PM (passive aggressive, no mentorship, limited career development, underperforms). Unfortunately, I could tell something was off in the interviews but didn't have much choice given the prior firm situation and I'm junior.

I've been working on better ramping my coverage to increase my marketability. When's the earliest I should reach out to headhunters and start recruiting?

I was thinking as I approach the year mark should work (will take a while to find something & the 1 year and 1 year tenure is more explainable).

Would love anybody's thoughts.

6 Comments
 

Apologies to hear this

This is the kind of story that we don’t hear enough on this forum, despite affecting lot of us.

This makes me rethink my wish of leaving my T1 LO role to go to a pod.

 
Most Helpful

People generally don't recommend this, but I recruited and left for a new role within a couple months of joining a fund because I didn’t think it was the right fit after working there... sometimes you just only realize after joining.  I never received any pushback from some major HHs, in fact one recommended I make the switch sooner rather than later if I’m truly not happy and helped me with some opportunities.

It sounds like your boss is a tough personality to deal with.. if you don’t see yourself working for him, I would start recruiting now / putting out feelers with HHs and checking the pulse on opportunities… it may take a while to find something new in this job market anyways.  I think you have to be mindful of how you phrase your decision to leave as leaving two roles in short order typically isn’t a good look, but at the same time no amount stress is worth working for someone miserable.  I wouldn’t quit without something lined up in this market though.

 

Same situation myself just over a year ago, identical to yours but for an IB.

I personally opted to stay for a year, because like you I was a junior and needed the weight on my CV if I wanted a chance of moving.

So far, it’s paying off - but my God, I wouldn’t recommend it for the weak-of-Heart. All the pressure, none of the agency and stress that follows you home from work like a shadow.

If you’re lucky, you’ll move into a different team elsewhere with the same kind of work and better people to work for. It can pay off, but you’ll have no idea whether it does or not until - well - it does.

 

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