0 Deal Experience - Should I try to move?
Lateraled into an EB last year. We don’t have any live deals and nothing is in the pipeline. Currently spending 100% of my time on random pitches that seem unlikely to go anywhere. I understand dealflow is generally slow everywhere, but this seems a bit ridiculous.
Is it worth trying to move somewhere else in hopes of getting more interesting work? (Yes, I know the comp is good and the hours are lighter, all-in, but I find this even more soul crushing in other ways).
Curious to hear if anyone is in a similar boat or has any words of encouragement.
You’ve been at an EB for a year and haven’t worked on one deal?
Or did you mean late 2022
What eb is this? Greenhill?
Apparently it's not so elite of a boutique if your pipeline is a big fat goose egg.
As a recruiter I see two problems with this:
1) Deal flow is slow everywhere right now and potential employers will have to worry about you as a flight risk if they know you're willing to leave as soon as you get bored / under occupied
2) I'm not sure you want to admit to having zero deal experience at the Associate level to other potential recruiters.
IBankers are idiots sometimes. Why did you lateral to a group with nothing in the pipeline, stupid?
OP did not state that he would go around town telling recruiters he has 0 deal experience, what made you assume that?
Also, as a recruiter, you would probably know that both firms and recruiters bs quite a lot. Same reasoning as above, I doubt the EB touted “pls join us, we have 0 live deals and an empty pipeline”. But sure, OP could perhaps have looked into it a bit more.
Because he has zero deal experience.
If OP didn't ask that question directly, he's a fufu lame and deserves wack deal flow.
If you’re a recruiter as you claim, I’m an astronaut. You call the guy stupid out of the blue? Lol
Not sure if you feel comfortable saying this because you’re hidden behind the computer or if that’s the way you act, but all I feel is sorry for you.
who invited the sleazy recruiter here?
As others have obviously stated, I did not join with the expectation of working on no live deals. When I asked before joining, the team said they were "very busy and engaged on multiple live transactions." They were understandably unwilling to share more due to confidentiality and I decided to trust that. In hindsight, it wasn't completely false, but the fact is many of those deals have died now.
Buddy, you were wrong. Let it go now, it's okay to be incorrect sometimes lmao.
I was not put onto any live deals until after 8 or 9 months after I started, and then I was put into 2 deals. If you joined in the second half of last year, then it is possible that some of your teammates are working on deals that they were staffed on prior to when you started, but you joined during a slower period.
If your entire group is on no deals, then you are not at an EB
I was in a similar boat years ago but not quite as bad. We had one deal close and some fairness opinion work, but I saw the writing on the wall regarding the pipeline and bailed. It was one of the best career decisions of my life as the team continued to under perform.
That said, you need to ask yourself why there is nothing in your pipeline. I lost faith in our MD and his ability to bring in deals. He was not well-connected and the relationship bankers basically dragged him around to their meetings. Even the deals that we did get were serendipitous and not related to anything our MD made happen. Also, in my situation, the decision was a lot more clear since we were still working crazy 80+ hours anyway with very little results.
So, if you think your MD has the goods and is just hitting a bad stretch, I would stay and enjoy the easier schedule. If the ability of the leadership is the problem, get out - nothing good will happen there.
Can I DM you?
Sure - happy to help if I can.
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