Is There a Right Way to Quit

Wanted to get this board's advice (hopefully from folks with some actual experience)

Situation:

- Lateraled ~1 Year ago and am currently a senior analyst (analyst 3) 

- Would've been promoted to associate later this summer

- Expect bonus to hit over next month

- Recently took a PE position that I'm excited about

I lateralled a year ago to a better platform and I'm currently a 3rd year analyst. I was told at midyear that I'd be promoted A2A and the team wanted me to take on a bigger role moving forward. Want to get investing experience, so I recruited and found an awesome PE opportunity that I've accepted. I really do appreciate my current team, and want to exit as best as I can. Obviously, they're not going to be happy about my leaving but I've done a good job on all of my staffings and have built decent relationships. 

In an ideal world, I'd like to tell them now so they can get a head start on replacing me as we're quite busy and it would be best for my current deal teams (teams are pretty lean), I respect the people I work with and want to leave things as best I can. Risk of doing that is that bonus will be impacted and I could even be told to resign immediately, losing my bonus.

Question: Am I being crazy for even considering letting them know ahead of time, or should I just send the standard resignation the second my bonus hits the account?

6 Comments
 

Yeah it's going to be a headache either way because they'll also be handing mean A2A bonus that I'll then have to repay pre-tax, wish there was a more transparent way to handle it but I think you're right

 
Most Helpful

This is sweet of you but sadly there is too much risk that your hard work will go to waste because once you tell them you're leaving, you can say goodbye to your bonus. Wait for the bonus to hit and then tell them. They may be mad but trust me, they understand. If another bank reached out to any of those directors and offered them a much better compensation package, they would leave the bank as quickly as a horny man would leave a club if a girl asked said guy to come over to her place.

If they really valued you, they will be very happy for you about your move.

 

I agree with the other comments. If you look at your contract, most likely with say something along the lines of they can fire you up to the day of the bonus payout and that will allow them to not pay you. You lose nothing by telling them after bonus hits your bank, as they will obviously understand (and they probably expect it on some degree). Sure. They might be upset cause it creates a hassle for them, but after a few weeks, they’ll get over it once they replace and what not.

Do yourself the favor, don’t expose yourself to any risk. Take the bonus for your hard work and exit politely. Don’t burn a bridge, but don’t light yourself on fire either.

 

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