ECM, the best (worst) job in IB ever?
I sincerely need some advice guys.
I’m currently in my 3rd year at ECM.
I enjoy the money (from poor family so can’t complain), work (not really interesting but not much work anyways so couldn’t bother), and hours (think 9-8 in good days)
BUT I’m only gaining very specific ECM skillsets that AREN’T applicable outside of the ECM function.
Then my friends, every now and then, remind me of how equity market is always cyclical so yeah you WILL be fired SOMETIME, left with no “real skillsets” that can help you get a job. It’s just a matter of time.
Do you agree? As an ECM guy, how do I deal with the constant fear of being fired with no tangible skillsets in my pocket?
Anything I should do? Change jobs? Self-learn some skills? What are some suggestions on what to learn? (Don’t tell me CFA pls)
I just can’t help thinking about this every few months.
YOU KNOW, people tend to feel “discomfort” after being in a comfort zone for too long..
So you're from 9am to 8pm, probably little to no weekend work given the market-oriented nature, being paid the comp as coverage (me), and are asking if the grass is greener in coverage...sorry dude but you are being delusional here. Just enjoy this. You shouldn't even have to worry longer-term plan career wise as you should have a good amount saved up if you stick with it...
I believe it is important for you to develop other skills in your spare time: learning coding, take classes in e-marketing (I'm serious), sound-editing, podcasting, piano, boxing, whatever. It never hurts.
You are right that sometimes coverage groups work on a lot of IPOs and it is not as good as some other coverage groups who get both financing and M&A experiences. I work on a lot of IPOs and so far in my 1.5 years I've only had exposure to one small sell-side M&A deal that melt down super fast because of how inexperienced my MD is in M&A.
I wouldn't say the skills developed in coverage are that much "superior". Maybe we do spend more time on "industry landscape", "competitive analysis", "legal structure analysis", "REALLY high-level modeling" and all, but most it is just bullshit, trust me.
In a nutshell, I don't really see myself learning that much in the current healthcare coverage group other than something about the industry (I HATE healthcare) and how to run the IPO process.
I also post this question for PE people: how could you possibly know how to "invest" if PE is banking 2.0? I now tend to agree with this statement that I read somewhere: PE = relationships + macro cycles + leverage + perhaps some operational improvement?.
Although feel free to correct me though.
Lol dude who the fuck is going to hire an ECM banker to be a CFO
What about the Convertible bond group within ECM? Decent hours and interesting work with more modeling from my understanding