I keep looking over the horizon at smaller cities, lower cost of living, and a more laid back lifestyle. Of course, this typically doesn't line up with the same FO opportunities as the big city. And when it does, it's not the most exciting cities in the world i.e. Charlotte as an example.
However, a lot of other cool spots in the U.S. have considerable back office operations. I'm not an ego-maniac. I'd be cool working BO in a smaller place. Has anyone done this, stepping from FO to BO in mid-career? Do you have to start at square one or if you're a VP in M&A for example, can you start higher up in BO or are you even perhaps dinged as over-qualified?
Would love to hear from anyone in mid-career who has followed this route or knows someone who has taken it?
Just curious, why do you want to do this? Just tired of the rat race? Want better hours? Can't you try to downshift to a smaller firm in low COL city, or maybe do corporate development? Seems that pay and intellectual stimulation would be higher, with perhaps same hours.
Replying to both you and [RichChigga]. I actually made an exit-op to corporate a while back and have a pretty nice position but I'm starting to think more about location rather than comp.
I'm juggling between two choices. Work in the big city and move to somewhere better in retirement/potentially early retirement......or just go somewhere more relaxing and better now and just make less comp. Seems kind of silly to work your whole life to move somewhere else....if you can potentially just move there now. Either outcome is ultimately a good outcome, but am just exploring the options.
If youre in IB now, then I will just grab a FP&A job at most company with ease. It should also provide you with the same lifestyle.
why not just get another job in another area? I personally would rather just take on a new role at another company than become support staff for the role i used to work
Well that's a possibility as well but my guess would be that you'll likely start pretty low on the totem pole in something completely outside of your industry. If I have that concern for stepping into back office, imagine where you might start in something completely unrelated.
Also, not trying to knock you, but that's an easy thing to do if you're analyst 1. Harder to throw away a decade of climbing the ladder in one particular direction.
Low on the totem pole compared to what? If you're coming from IB you could probably move over to Corp Dev easily enough, and that's generally a far more desirable role than BO. If you want even slower and more low key then there's always something like FP&A. The way I see it, moving to BO is moving directly down the totem pole within a firm, so I would rather move laterally as well to avoid that
Kinda funny.....still no answers here. That was the reason that I asked in the first place. Haven't heard much about this potential exit-op route.
FWIW, I worked MO out of undergrad and some of the higher up leaders in my area of MO were ex IB. Anyone who came from IB were treated really well and typically skipped spots in line for promotions. These people were ex VPs/Ds and came in to lead teams in MO.
Thanks for the insight! Really appreciate it!
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