I’m being fired but am supposed to start at another bank this fall
I’m a third year IB analyst at a MM bank. I interviewed for associate role at one of the better BBs earlier this year. I got an offer to start in the fall (because of Coronavirus) and signed it. I’ve told them I’ll stay at my current bank just until I join them, which they tought was a good idea.
Now I suddenly found out that I’ll be fired this week. I’m pretty sure my current bank doesn’t know about my offer. But I definitely don’t want the BB to find out I was fired.
A few questions: 1. What the hell do I do? 2. What do I tell the bank I’m joining? 3. My background check won’t happen until 1-2 months before I join the new bank. Will they find out? 4. Another analyst on my team got fired two weeks ago. They offered him shit severance package so he got a lawyer to negotiate it and ended up getting a huge payout. I talked to a lawyer on Friday and he told me he could get me the same (no fixed legal fees, he would take a % of severance). Should I go down this route?
What are you being fired for? Is it fired or laid off?
That matters, and I’m guessing it is fired (since you said that explicitly), if it is something egregious (integrity or some sort of compliance violation) then it’ll be tough. If performance related that isn’t a great look but can be explained away (bank was letting people go in this environment, more than normal due to lower deal flow, etc), but like I said, it isn’t great and can be a risk to your new role.
I don’t know if you need a lawyer until you understand the severance, unless I’m misunderstanding something. A lawyer is a reasonable step here, but they will take their fee/cut which may or may not be needed for you depending what they offer.
Do you have references at the bank that will back you? If so make sure they will speak to new firm if needed, firms know this happens, and if there are senior people at your bank that will support you that is a big step. Everyone knows there can be politics and that sh*t happens, but again it goes back to why you got fired.
As for how to communicate to your new firm, that is tough I would first check on who you have to back you before making that decision. If you have a good relationship with your current bank make sure you understand how they will communicate this in background checks (I.e. confirm work dates or give reason for leaving).
Seems like safest route might be to quit. Yes, you'll miss out on severance, but at least avoid the "got fired" stigma. And the ol' "wanting to spend more time with my family before start my new job" is a reason that simply cannot be disproven. Now, whether you heighten that with "family member got sick" is tricky -- I wouldn't go COVID because, ironically, if that family member did have COVID, you would be spending LESS time with them (can't be near them).
It's a tough call. No matter how you slice it, if new firm finds out you were let go/fired, there'll probably be a bit of at least a subconscious "damaged goods" label in their head... then again, despite this, after you perform for a few months, they might not give a shit.
If you stay and accept the firing, maybe you spin it that "I think that when they found out I accepted another offer, they wanted to cut me loose." Though I don't know if this is plausible -- is there a place for third year analysts to go, internally, at your firm? If so, then it seems plausible that, because you shunned them, they got offended and cut you loose. Maybe you spin it that you were shocked to be let go -- your work was good, you got along with everybody... pretty sure that when they found out I was leaving, they got pissed and said "F him, let's cut him loose." This seems believable to me, and then makes it sound like you broke up with them, instead of that they broke up with you.
An intern is telling an IB associate how to navigate complex negotiations and how to manage a severance package... no offense but what in the world are you doing my guy?
This is very easy to solve. Just say due to the slowdown in activity, your bank provided offers for voluntary layoffs. F500 companies across the board are doing this right now. Say given that you had the offer secured, you decided to take it. The timing was ideal and this would give you a chance to refresh/recharge for your next role with the BB.
This. You're getting laid off, say you rasied your hand for it to get the payout and take some time off. I did this literal exact same thing, was never asked a word about it. If in US, your current employer is very resctricted with what they are allowed to tell your new employer about the circumstances of your departure - use that to your advantage. If I'm not mistaken, ALL they can do is verfiy the dates you worked there, and that you were terminated not for performance reasons but due to layoffs.
When you leave your current bank, you will almost certainly “resign” ie they will give you severance and you will technically quit. When any outside party asks your status there, they will say you quit (or even say nothing . . many banks just give dates now).
Only way this doesn’t happen is if you are being fired for cause, which . . are you? It doesn’t sound like it.
What’s more, your last day will be when your severance ends. So if you’re getting a month, your last day will be in July etc.
So basically, you probably don’t have a very big gap to cover. Just say you left early to spend time with family or something.