Hey monkeys, I am looking to make a move soon and need some advice. I have been working for a "no-name boutique" for about seven months now. My time here has been pretty terrible, I was hired into a group of three and since I've been here both of the other people have been fired, mostly due to poor group performance. Although they were fired I am well liked by both of the senior partners in my group at my firm so personally my job is in no danger.
I am looking to leave soon, ideally to a middle market bank. Although I haven't been a part of any closed deals during my time here, I have been able to work on several live mandates to varying degrees of involvement, although unfortunately most of these have been private placements, not M&A.
Would it be possible for me to lateral to a middle market bank with no closed deals? If so, do you all have any advice for me as to how I should best position myself? I've noticed the job market for laterals doesn't seem very active, so should I just start cold emailing MM firm for coffee chats? Any advice is appreciated, I'm pretty damn worried about my career at the moment.
Speaking as someone who was in your exact position last year and lateraled to a better bank, I have no idea why people are recommending recruiters as a top priority. The best thing you can do is to update your resume with your current M&A / live deals in the experienced analyst WSO resume (it can be found online).
From there it is considerably easier to look up open positions online (google experienced analyst in your desired city, use LinkedIn, etc.) and either apply online or directly reach out to the firms hiring. This will be considerably easier than applying FT as you already have the necessary experience (congrats on being in the club!).
In terms of interview prep, know your deals that you've been working on cold and just know the sell-side M&A process (i.e. origination, execution [kickoff, creating marketing materials, buyer outreach, NDAs, setting up the data room, management meetings, LOIs, diligence, closing, etc.]).
I started applying after 5 months with no closed deals but put on my resume the deals that I was on and listed that the deals were ongoing. I got hired by month 6. Good luck!