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Very personal decision so you need to factor in a lot here, but brand name is an important factor at the junior level, so there are scenarios where I think it makes sense to lateral. As a framework my personal (and I stress PERSONAL) way to think about this is to lateral only if:
1) The offer is from a clear "better" brand. If you need to go on this forum and ask whether X brand is better than Y, then those brands are probably similar enough to not make lateralling worth it; AND
2) You're comfortable with the culture change and deal flow risk (very different topics but my thought process is the same so I'm grouping them). Everyone interviewing you will tell you that the culture / deal flow in their team is great, so just assume that the destination team is a roll of the dice.on these unless you have a strong reason to think otherwise. If you're CURRENTLY in a team with fantastic deal flow / culture, do not take that for granted. Search "burnout" or similar on this forum and see the number of results; AND
3) You're comfortable with a slightly lower short-term payoff and greater short-term career risk. You're unlikely to be paid a big bonus in your first couple of years (you're a very unlikely flight risk as a new joiner) and you're likely first to get cut during your probation period if the team needs to downsize - you're much cheaper to let go in terms of severance; AND
4) You're ready to work like a bitch for 6 - 12 months to rebuild your internal brand and network. If you're a top bucket in your current shop and everyone knows they can rely on you, remember that you'll lose all of that; AND
5) You have the energy to go through recruitment. It's not zero-cost and at some point life is too short to keep trying to optimise everything
Thank you so much for this- very clear and logical.
Just a follow-up on the lateral recruiting bit- are the interviews usually purely technical/would you have insight into the process (even details like if this is purely applicant-led or is the HR involved)?
Also, not sure how limited deal experience due to limited time in the firm would impact perception despite reasonable interviewing skills/standard IB prep?
So, I speak only from my own experience. Last time we recruited an AN1 / 2 into our team, we outsourced the initial steps to HR (they advertised the role and filtered through the applications). We had 300 - 400 I understand, and HR sent the team a "shortlist" of 30 of the best. I don't know what criteria they used to choose but I imagine it was the obvious, and I doubt HR interviewed anyone (I don't work in HR so don't know for sure).
The staffer received those 30, and with a couple of VPs / Seniors selected 8 - 10 for interview. Interviews are team-led; no HR involvement.
Now, I at least (I'm a senior in the team) wasn't given any script for the interview. I ask what I want. I imagine this is the same across banks and teams - it's only grad recruitment which is a bit weird (personal view). So to answer your question, the questions can be anything. At the AN1 / 2 level we weigh heavily (once we've had the interviews, we discuss our views with the staffer / small groups) motivation (do NOT want someone who will immediately hop to PE / another IB) and technicals / smarts. No competency bullshit. Technicals means the usual, but also (depending on seniority) walking me through a deal process (to show any learnings they've developed) and SPECIFCALLY what the candidate has done. E.g. if you've managed a VDR or bidder Q&A, that's good, say it. Be specific.
I don't know what you mean by "applicant-led". We won't hire someone just because they reached out - there needs to be a vacancy in the team.
In terms of limited experience, we all get the joke that (A) not your fault your team didn't have dealflow. You're hardly responsible at the AN1/2 level, but (B) if you have ANY kind of deal experience (even if it didn't close, even if it was just a bake-off), describe it and what you did. Makes almost no difference whatsoever whether the deal closed - you probably weren't going to be the one negotiating the SPA in any case.
Hope this helps.
By applicant-led, I meant if networking could play a role, but seems like HR drives the 1st part and the rest is dependent on the interviews.
Thank you for this, very helpful.
Oh I see - I'm speaking again for my own bank / team / etc., but the likelihood of your outreach to a specific team member when there is NOT a role available going anywhere is kind of low. You might get lucky (someone just resigned or we were thinking of growing the team anyway), but you probably won't.
Also I want to add a couple of things to my original post which I forgot.
1) If you're happy where you are, be happy. Nobody, least of all you, will care about your employer's brand (and this is your employer, not your lover, not your travelling companion, or anything else) when you're in your retirement community if it doesn't lead you to where you want to go in life. Don't lateral just for the sake of that brand
2) Don't jump from one place to the next to the next. That can look bad optically.
3) If your real goal is to move to PE, there's a time limit on that. You can still move at the AN / AS level, but it gets harder as you get more senior.
4) Don't move to a sector or product team you don't enjoy
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