How to Leave a Tier 4 Bank
Hi everyone,
I have been trying to recruit during my SA stint at a pretty shitty bank but have had no luck so far. My offer will be exploding in a few weeks so I don't have much time but also no traction anywhere else because of the hiring climate. Has anyone been in a similar situation? How would you recommend navigating this, would it be easier or harder to lateral after I start work?
I am also curious if I would be seen as less or basically the same as someone from Big 4 or something like that. Any advice is appreciated.
What do you call a Tier 4 bank?
exactly lol, its irrelevant in terms of deal flow and rep on the street
Examples?
Big 4
Those are tier 5 bro
Went from lower MM SA to EB FT back in the day so it can definitely be done. You just need to network more to get your foot in the door.
I see, this is what I have been trying to do. When was primetime for you for interviews and apps? If you could, could you pm me? I can't since your username is anonymous. Thanks
I have good news for you, working at a "Tier 4" bank won't stop you from getting interviews. Whether or not you land a job will be entirely dependent on you. Senior bankers want experience and likeability. If you lateral interview, expect to get some behavior questions, maybe some technical questions (not always, sometimes lateral interviews can be a joke), and then a fit assessment. In other words, working at Bank of the Frog won't stop you from interviewing and getting a job at GS.
Other advice:
Once you start working, you'll quickly learn different banks have different specialties and even a "tier 4" bank can be a leader in a particular industry/product and it can be a great place to be to develop that expertise. Also, some lower tier banks offer great work life balance and compensation. I know of an analyst at citi that works 80 hours a week on average, and barely makes more money than an analyst that works at a bank most have never heard of on this site who averages 40-50 hours a week and can take vacations. At the end of the day everyone is looking for something different but hope this helps open your eyes a bit. If you do want to work at a GS type firm, go for it and good luck!
Appreciate the advice man. Yeah, WLB is definitely a plus and will even help me spend more time on lateral process for sure. Comp isn't crazy and is main reason I'd wanna leave (~125 all in first yr) In the couple of interviews I've had they went really well. I guess some things are just out of my control. But yes, I'll keep putting the work in and hopefully something works out! Thanks!
Most money is made in the back half of the career. If you want to be a career banker and it’s a balance sheet shop where you can leverage corporate and commercial banking relationships, paired with a decent platform and good culture I might consider staying put. If you want to go buy side, network and try and parlay the SA into a better FT offer or lateral after a year.
FT is wrapping up, if your offer is exploding I would just accept it. FT is a tricky beast and you basically need to have a strong network even coming into your SA that you can leverage in the second half of your internship. Many FT offers go out in the first 2 weeks after the internship. Can't change this now, just reassurance I guess that FT is not that easy.
You can likely lateral to an MM pretty easily around 10/12 month mark once you start work. Maybe BB/EB if hiring needs pick back up. I don't have the best idea of what a "Tier 4" bank is but likely on the same level of Big 4 for lateral interviews, maybe a little less given low name recognition.
Yeah I had a solid network at some banks but they ultimately didn't open apps. So I basically lucked out by focusing on the banks that didn't open apps. I'm starting to come to this realization as well that I am better off trying to lateral next year, getting the same advice from those in my network. I appreciate the insight though, hopefully next year is a little better
Opening apps is not the correct index to be looking for, especially this cycle with BBs in hiring freeze for the most part. At any given shop, you're fighting for low single digit spots and the intake will pretty much be all networking, not based on application strength. I had two processes where the app opened after I was already a few interviews deep and shortly before superday
Just keep recruiting and renege if you have to. It's not a cool thing to do but burning one bridge with some ~10 person boutique that nobody has ever heard of isn't going to be a huge deal.
Yeah I see your point. Not really a boutique, but luckily they're very slow with the FT onboarding so I haven't even gotten any paperwork yet.
Yuh, fwiw I reneged from Jefferies, AFTER singing their paperwork last year. Zero repercussions, but it did feel terrible and they were pissed. But also, fuck their little bonus clawback rules.
IMO hardest part will be getting an interview, given its based on a piece of paper and luck, but if you get 1st round the ball is basically in your court so to say
Valid, so far all 3 that I've taken have resulted in an L. But got another tomorrow, hoping for the best!
Lateral to Evercore / CVP
I should've thought of that
Couldn't complete the SA to FT lateral boys, one year here is my future for the time being
Chin up bud, I started at a 'tier 3/4' bank and now I'm currently a PE associate at a MF.
That’s awesome man. Congrats!
Would you mind going through your progression?
Any recommendations? Anything that you would’ve done differently?
In a similar position as OP. Thanks!
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