How to get out of ECM
Just starting my BB 1st year analyst training, and got the news today that I will be going to ECM due to shortages at ECM and low demand at the group I interned with. I got great reviews last summer so I called the MD today from the group I wanted to go to, and the MD told me it was a shame I couldn’t go but the group didn't take anyone this year, and there is nothing he can do now unless there is a change in labor demand in the future (people leave/ increase in deal flow, etc.).
What should I do now? I am just not interested in ECM. Help...
Banking is all about re-inventing yourself over and over. Take the opportunity to learn and make your objectives clear.
Stop being ungrateful. Work hard for a year and try to switch over after. I’ve seen a few people from ECM move to M&A and coverage groups after some time. They were in the same situation as you
Plus, how do you know you won't like ECM? Sounds like you didn't do it last year. Hours supposedly better, and maybe you'll find the work interesting. Yeah, you might make 10% less, but the fewer hours make up for it.
I did work with them a bit last year, and all I did was market updates and slides for them. I don't like ECM because the thought of zero exits is terrifying. Even though I am not one of those people on WSO who see PE as the final destination, I for sure don't want to do banking forever.
There are plenty of exits. An analyst I know is leaving to a HF as a research analyst in a few weeks. I’ve been offered roles in trading after some searching around. Stop listening to people saying it’s a dead end. You have no idea how it will be like for you in a year. Can network and make a move to an exit after some time. Will it be harder? Yes but it’s the hand you are dealt.
What's the minimum time you have to stay in your role before moving? If you do move to another group, do you get full credit for your experience? It would suck if after a year when moving to your desired group, you wouldn't get credit for your experience. I would ask these questions to HR. If the minimum time is reasonable, and you get full credit, I would take advantage and work your ass off here. Learn as much as you can, and when it's coming close to the end of the year move into your desired group. However, if the answers to those questions are undesirable, just lateral someplace else after 6 months.
Make sure not to let this affect your performance, put in 100% in your job. You will develop your character and grow immensely if you put your best effort into a role you hate.
I would disagree with most of the people saying you’re ungrateful / need to give it a shot. Most of the time, you have to trust your gut and do what is best for you. I don’t know the back story but if they led you to believe you’d be in coverage as an analyst and threw you into ECM last minute, thats pretty bad on their part.
Obviously the bank screwed you Bc ECM is booming right now and just needs more bodies. So you have to prioritize yourself and do what is going to be best, whether that is staying and trying it out, demanding to be moved, or recruiting to another bank (literally everyone is hiring). I wouldn’t compromise and suffer through something a role you don’t feel feel strongly about, just for the sake of trying it out. Life’s too short for that and banking is too difficult for that.
Thank you. You understand me. If they told me right after my summer internship that I can only join ECM, then I would just find another gig, and I would not be this disappointed. This came as a complete surprise, and this is really unnecessary.
What is even worst is all juniors (ana/aso) from ECM that I worked with are no longer at the firm. Yes, all of them (5-6 people I knew/networked with). This was because my bank was one of the top 3 ECM last year and 2021 H1, and top 1 in my region. Some juniors were just quitting without any job lining up because they were working 100 hours per week, doing assistants work. (Literally sending out roadshow zoom invites to investors one by one, which is usually assistants' job).
I am also not the only one who got screwed, and I know other people going to DCM/ECM even though they clearly don't want to.
I know people would say that I am ungrateful because I am still in banking and already in a better place than most college graduates. This is true and I don't deny this. But my bank has done a really poor job in managing expectations, and I feel screwed because they could have told us earlier. Now my worry is that if I stay for too long, I won't be able to switch, because I will not model.
I would start reaching out to other places. I did a year in ECM and it was the woat, learned essentially zero transferrable skills. Took me spending all my free time teaching myself modeling to get out. Anyone who says you're just being ungrateful doesn't know what they're talking about - sure there are plenty of people who enjoy ECM, most of the guys I worked with were there by choice because they liked equity markets and the process management aspect of the job / better hours on average. But if you're someone who is passionate about the companies and learning about businesses, ECM is awful - the volume of work output demanded for dinky market update books is just too high to ever even learn what some of these companies do. Other firms will be sympathetic to your story, given the need for bodies everywhere right now.
Might be a dumb question: am I an ECM banker if on the surface I'm in a coverage group but in reality I'm doing IPOs and secondary offerings all day?
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