Got a chill job in DCM, but now I hate it? Need Advice
Hey guys, Just like the title suggests, I've always wanted a job in MM DCM because I could get IB level pay and not put in the M&A hours. This was my attitude out of college because I worked really hard through college to get into banking and wanted to cruise for awhile. I didn't get to where I wanted to be at first, but now I'm here after a few years of working at other mm banks. ~ 1 year into the gig, I hate it. The job is BORING and extremely process oriented and frankly, I'm not learning a whole lot (I think I learned 90% of the technical stuff during the first 6 months). I'm staffed on 18 live deals at the moment and it's killing me. They aren't hard to understand, but DCM is a volume business and I feel like this is a sweat shop just due to the sheer amount of work. The hours aren't bad, but going to work everyday feels like a huge pain in the butt. The really bad news is that I'm not learning a whole lot. Frankly, I think I learned more in my previous gig (MM Sponsor Finance). However, this job does pay more and is in a better location. Should I just stick it out for the rest of the second year or find a way out now? Want advice on how to plan my escape.
Where do you want to go? IB is probably worse, it's the same sweatshop feeling except your hours are awful with minimal pay increase. Truth be told, there's few really intellectually stimulating jobs in finance especially at a junior level. You might like corp dev better with less stress, but the learning curve is a lot slower in corporate and you'll take a big hit on pay.
You mention being at a few other MM banks as well - if you've moved around more than once or maaaybe twice in the last few years, I'd stay put through the second year. Very hard to explain away leaving a job after a short period for the third or fourth time, and you could be seen as a flight risk.
Great question. I did just under 2 years at the first bank I worked for mainly due to merger event (lack of job guarantee) and I was at my previous bank for ~2.5 years. I can probably stick it out for year 2, but I'm not even sure if it's totally worth it. I'm currently a senior associate and I'm worried that if I don't move sooner, I'll be put onto VP and then it'll be even hard to move to a different area because of the seniority. I'm currently eyeing Energy (oil&gas) coverage or ECM. Thought about direct lending too, but I did sponsor finance underwriting and didn't love that gig either.
Does the deal origination side of DCM appeal to you? If you’re already a senior associate and see yourself as a client guy maybe stick it out to see if that could work.
Frankly, I'm not sure. I don't have much interaction with clients in my current role. I do get to ask diligence questions/questions on modeling, but I don't really get to "originate" anything.
I'm calling shenanigans on "18 live deals."
It's 18 deals between corporates and CRE. We don't have a dedicated CRE team, so we end up having to take on those deals as well. That's why it looks inflated. If we had a RE team, I'd probably be working on half
Also, Debt deals are easier than an M&A deal. On could easily do more debt deals than M&A.
Slightly off topic, but how did you make the transition among banks? Did you use a recruiter? Did the recruiter reach out to you or did you initiate?
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