IB doesn't have as much exit opps as this website made me believe
Currently trying to leave banking and basically the only exit opps that are coming my way are banking related. Been looking at industry exits and they all seems to prefer someone with Big 4 experience for FP&A and MBB Consulting for Business Development.
Sure they would say they don't mind M&A but looking through their staffs linkedin profiles you would find very few. A lot of the VC people as well seem to have started out in VC or did an MBA after banking or accounting.
Funny anecdote, FP&A and Business Dev hiring managers have been treating me with so much suspicion during the few interviews I had as to why i am leaving banking, I guess because a lot of them might have started out wanted to be one, the only guy who was sympathetic was an ex banker himself.
I thought that leaving banking would have people fighting to hire me in "lesser" roles (no disrespect, trying to prove a point) but it seems like this was something that was exaggerated on this website and in the real world no one really cares or they'll think you're an asshole who will be high and mighty around their chill office.
Finding lateral roles or PE roles hasn't been so hard but I am done with banking so those "exit" opps are meaningless to me.
This also has me thinking, what do people in Markets, ECM or DCM do when they don't want their job anymore, they are so specialized that I can't see them being taken seriously if they want to do something else without doing an MBA, I'm in M&A and people are looking at me with raised eyebrows for trying to recruit to their firm.
This also doesn't take into account all the people who were fired and are still struggling to find a gig.
When I look for jobs hiring ex big 4 CPA's and FP&A guys, my God, i literally see countless opportunities at all levels past the first 2 years. When I toggle back to jobs looking for ex bankers it turns into a ghost town again.
Overall, other than teaching me to work hard I don't think my banking experience was worth it could've done the same thing in FP&A albeit with less money because after two years of hell i'm still joining them anyway.
even worse for Associates and VPs.
OP here, I've heard the same thing, that being an associate or VP who wants to leave is tough because you are used crazy high comp compared to non banking jobs but not enough years in non banking jobs to command a similar salary if you do make the jump so you might have to look for roles with less experience or get an experience ass MBA to change careers.
Also people will even probe you more than they did me, imagine a VP in GS/MS/JPM interviewing to become an associate in Pepsico all of a sudden, like you didn' realize you wanted to switch earlier?
This is why your industry and vertical specialization is beyond important for Aso or VP, and product groups are bad bets IMO. Sector knowledge is huge when you move to corporate, not M&A expertise which most corporates do infrequently.
I think it’s partly due to the market. Managers are probably worried that you just need a job and will leave for ib when the market turns.
side note, do you think "the market" will ever return? I think its done, all the banks flooded the market with all the layoffs and I think the powershift is permanent kinda like how after 2008 housing has been harder and harder to obtain for cheap.
I can't see a 2020 type recruiting market happening again in our lifetimes
Lmao what do you mean “in our lifetimes”
in our lifetimes we’ve had 9/11, the 2008 crash, and Covid in just 20 years. It’s impossible to predict where things will be more than a few years out.
Corp dev is an extremely underwhelming and depressing exit opp, and the fact that it is such a common destination just underlines the lack of alternatives for washed up former bankers.
Adding on that it's the market. FP&A has pick of the litter right now with a wealth of experienced hires from Tier 1 jobs, that is not usually the case. And honestly big 4 accounting is closer to FP&A because it's a lot of nitty P&L/accounting type work rather than the analysis and modeling you work on - and biz dev you wouldn't touch as an IB junior. I get wanting a better WLB but these specific roles you may need to sell your interest more since it's a different skillset than banking.
You are also maybe "overqualified" in that they are suspicious you will leave in a year or two when the market comes back. Corp dev, IR, AM etc will all very happily take bankers if looking for more lifestyle type jobs.
But generally gig 4 CPA is not a job that tends to lead to a job of exits...
Big 4 has a pretty solid amount of job exits. What makes you say that they do not? Just curious
welcome to a (white collar) recession.. when i was graduating post GFC, people were elated to get any job. There was a 3+ year period where the majority of graduates were underemployed. heck, we hired an analyst that had been bartending full-time for the prior 12-18 months.