Lateral Advice — Help
Hi Everyone,
At a bit of a crossroads career-wise and would really appreciate some input. Currently newly promoted VP2 (A2A2VP) at a large balance sheet bank (think BNP / TD) in a coverage group. My long-term goal has always been IB, preferably M&A Advisory / coverage.
I launched a lateral process a month ago and so far, I’ve had extremely poor results. I think I’m interviewing pretty well and the feedback I keep getting is: “don’t think you have the right experience for the position”, “need more sell-side M&A reps”, etc..
Honestly the feedback is very fair. I’ve worked on several buy-side assignments however minimal sell-side work just given the nature of the bank.
My question is: do you think it’s worth it to try to go upstream (BB / EB preferably) and take a step back to Senior Associate? Do you think it would make me more competitive? Would BB’s / EB’s even entertain the idea?
IB is still the goal albeit I’m a little deflated after several rejections in the last month. But my goal is still to pursue IB as a career and if M&A / coverage is the pursuit, then it might make sense to take a step back to get more reps at a better known shop?
Really appreciate the feedback.
Bump
Issue is there is no guarantee you will get sell-side reps at a BB either. To gain them, you will need to be at the shop with best deal flow.
Bump
It might be how you're positioning it. Running a process is running a process, regardless of sell side/buy side. You are basically a transactional finance project manager at this stage. Yes, there is some difference, but it's really about your ability to manage a process and demonstrate some ability towards moving up some day.
Thanks, that’s helpful. Definitely have more buy-side experience than sell-side that I can speak to. I think it’s just lower “risk” for the firm to hire the VP from MS / JPM vs. take a chance on someone from a lesser known shop.
Seems like the recruiters I’ve spoken with support the decision to recruit for ASO roles but that’s not very surprising. Do you think this would help my credibility? I’m ok with grinding it out a few more years since IB is my long-term goal.
I think you position it simply, say that you want to move and are open to most relevant opportunities and that your goal is to stay in IB longterm. I feel like a lot of us want to over explain, and it's often best to keep it simple with recruiters and in interviewing.
Thanks, appreciate it. Seems like the lateral market is pretty soft right now
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