Burnt out but can’t afford to quit due to signing bonus clawback
Hi all. I just finished my first year in IB and recently had my bonus hit my bank account. While I’m very happy with the amount, I realized that I’ve completely burnt out from IB and am looking to move into tech (have been looking at coding boot camps and online CS master’s programs)
Even though I received my annual bonus, I still don’t have enough to pay back the signing bonus ($10K if you leave within 2 years) and pay my bills, since most of my money is in my 401K, Roth, and tax withholdings.
What is the best way to navigate moving forward? I really need to work on my coding skills to be a competitive applicant for tech jobs and the job market isn’t great (only took some intro coding classes in college), but it’s been difficult to find the time to learn on top of IB hours. Regardless, I can’t see myself staying in this job much longer so any advice or similar stories about quitting to leave the industry without paying back your signing bonus?
Thanks in advance!
Oh and inb4 "grass is greener" syndrome and the inevitable tech vs finance arguments, I have several health issues that makes IB pretty difficult, and I highly value the WLB and remote / hybrid flexibility that a lot of tech firms provide (plus all my friends are either engineers or programmers so I feel like I fit in more with that crowd instead of those in finance)
Never heard of anybody at my company actually being chased down for the signing bonus clawback. I’d ask around current / former employees to see if that’s a real thing at your firm that they actually hunt you for. If it is real, then I guess your only choice is to reduce effort, stretch assignments as long as you can to pare back on work while you learn how to code on the side. Frankly it isn’t that hard and the competition is light. Most CS degree holders can’t actually code, just like how most finance degree holders can’t actually solve a LBO / M&A case study.
In my experience, people are more successful when they’re structured. Quitting your job to learn how to code or to build your $1bn startup is a nice fantasy, but most successful people that are serious find 10-20 hours a week to spend on the side. You can make it work.
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