Hi all,
Long time lurker and made a burner account. This site has always had a ton of great advise and useful information which ultimately helped me get a job in IB, so I figured I would post my situation.
Anyway, I am currently in my second year as an analyst in a non-NYC or SF location in a coverage group. For the last few months, I've been extremely understaffed and slow despite others not being so. Earlier this year, I was swamped up until April / May working on major deals /pitches which are currently stalled / in the clients' hands.
However, the last few months have been tough in regards to the lack of work causing some boredom and honestly just doubt in my ability. I think I crushed my first year based on feedback. I ended up talking to one of my bankers about having this much bandwidth and if it was due to the natural ebbs and flows of the work or due to me. He had told me that he and other senior bankers thought I did a great job my first year and had nothing but positive things to say and would tell me if there was something lacking on my end. He said others have approached him in years past and had conversations like this as well and to sit tight and use this time to learn.
Since then, I've done that, particularly prepping for recruiting and model tests. Still that doubt that that I'm not great at my job / not liked always creeps back and can honestly be more draining and soul crushing than just getting crushed til 3am every night. Especially when other analysts are asking what I am working on or looking at my screens when walking by. This doubt has created a depressing mentality in me that makes wanting to go to work / get of bed some days tough.
My concern is: (1) Is this normal and how have others dealt with this in the past if applicable (2) Having closed deals on my resume - I don't want to waste my 2/3 years in IB and ultimately not be as competitive as my peers when I am actively recruiting for buy-side opportunities.
Edit: I have been staffed on a few things during this time but they have also been very slow moving.
Again thank you for the help! I know this was a longer post.
This seems like a situation in which you may want to reach out to contacts at other firms and test the waters.
Agree. Everyone at your current firm may actually think you are perfectly capable, but if the slowdown is more than seasonal, it isn't going to be long until someone asks if the firm needs as many juniors as it has, and from there it's a short dotted line to the least busy person (which sounds to be you) getting laid off. Maybe paranoid, but way better for you to go to your staffer, tell them you got an inquiry from another bank and long story short are expecting an offer, and ask if you should take it. No one is going to accuse you of disloyalty if you tell them you are underutilized and want to control your own destiny. Plus if you have another job lined up, the guilt factor will be lower, and they won't tell you to stay if they don't really think you have a future there.
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