How to “Get Out” of banking without feeling like you are selling yourself short
Long story short, I am a 2nd yr assoc with a $175k base salary. Bonuses were garbage this year, group has been getting new work piled on them because of layoffs, and junior support is crap so I am essentially a 5th year analyst. That said, my actual work every week is probably only 50-65 hrs, but i feel constantly “on call” and have very little flexibility in my life.
I have an offer to do corporate investment analysis (ie does the modeling / return analysis make sense to develop this new product) for a F100 company. The issue is, they’re only offering around ~$125-$140k base with a ~10% bonus. I think WLB is probably quite high, and reasonable career progression.
I can’t help but think I am selling myself short, but damn I just want to get out of the grind and be able to make plans with friends without constant stress of my phone buzzing. After 5 years though, does this seem like a weak transition even if I can achieve sub 40 hour work weeks? Anyone else gone through this and had good experience they want to share?
Finally, no I don’t not live a lavish lifestyle and in LCOL city so this is not a “can I afford this” question, but a “am I taking a huge step backwards” question
If money isn't a concern, you should try and negotiate a better title / responsibilities - the comp wil eventually (somewhat) catch up. You will run circles around your co-workers without IB backgrounds and generally have a much easier path up.
Otherwise you can definitely get better paying corporate exits out of IB as an ASO. Just a matter of the right place, right industry, right time.
Can you explain the point about the comp will eventually catch up? Starting to think about exit as a VP (ignore current title) but struggle to find corporate job that provides similar pay / trajectory
Are you pulled towards the new job or running away from banking? If it’s the former, go for it. If not, stay where you are and think long and hard about what it is you want to do.
~$150k is a decent salary in a LCOL city, and I'm guessing it's going to be difficult to find something paying much more while staying in your city - in NYC I'd tell you to aim for a bit closer to $200k, but I'm guessing you don't want to move there and honestly you'd probably come out behind on take home pay anyway.
I'd focus more on career progression than year 1 salary. If this is something you want to do, you will have exit ops (internally and externally.. maybe not PE but to other lifestyle jobs) I would go for it.
Keep looking. 10% is a very weak number for F100 with 5 years of IB
sounds like Home Depot in Atlanta or Best Buy / Target in Minneapolis tbh
Pretty close. You're specifically saying the 10% bonus is light? Thought corporate bonuses were usually pretty weak
Corporate bonuses are “weaker” but 10% is a college grad new hire bonus in most industries,
consumer-retail tends to have lower bonuses than other industries for whatever reason
Sounds like you'll be bored out your mind. I'm bored even reading that sentence.
Work out what matters to you. Is it being in a top industry and top job and being fulfilled (the works gets better and more interesting the higher you get) or is it having WLB where the work doesn't matter?
It also seems you're dealing with anxiety. You just need to try to set some boundaries. Often when people ask for things this isn't always "urgent" even when people say it is.
I don’t personally think the work sounds un-interesting here, but then again I don’t think making pitchbooks, CIMs, or models is interesting either.
Not dealing with anxiety, just ready to move on from IB and don’t want to F it up.
Will this lead to a solid corp strategy / dev job? Is that ultimately what you want to do? Great question was already asked: are you excited to head in this new direction or are you running from banking? Have you interviewed for other corp strat/dev jobs?
Spend some solid time answering these questions. If you truly don't like banking or are interested in the typical PE exit, what do you like? Buyside? Do some soul searching. Don't jump prematurely...but don't let the right opportunity pass you by. I wouldn't fixate on the income piece unless it's ridiculously low.
Ok, a few things:
Bump
Coding bootcamp and get a software dev job for 200-350,000
Dolore nesciunt minima quia sit atque quaerat ut suscipit. Odio dignissimos quasi molestias esse. Veniam placeat molestiae non dolorem sunt consequuntur unde. Odio sunt quod eum dicta.
Omnis id consequatur nulla unde et non. Et facere quo ipsa et nesciunt. In qui illum quo qui error.
See All Comments - 100% Free
WSO depends on everyone being able to pitch in when they know something. Unlock with your email and get bonus: 6 financial modeling lessons free ($199 value)
or Unlock with your social account...