My comp was bad (at a well-known bank but in an underperforming group) and looking to lateral ASAP. Is it fair game to be straightforward that $$$ is an issue (given I am at the associate level) in lateral interviews, or are associates considered too junior to cite money as a reason for wanting to leave?
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I would just say that you are an overperformer in an underperforming group so you are looking for a group in which your talent can be better used.
It’s a good reason to leave but you’ll likely get probed around is it a group issue or you just suck. People are desperate enough now to hire underperformers. Probably an easier conversation if you can say something like EBs pay more than BB and your group has low deal flow / senior attrition and prefer to be somewhere with more excitement
If your group is underperforming, I would assume that you are not getting the deal exposure that you want. I would focus on that as being the reason that you want to lateral, as opposed to comp.
Quick Question for you, I am in a group that has average/low dealflow. I am not trying to recruit to PE and I am happy with my WLB. Is it bad if I stay with the group and ride the wave of slow deals? Do you think this is detrimental to me in the future?
If you are happy with it, then I probably wouldn't rush out to make a change. But longer term I would think that there are risks - can you move up at the pace you want and in a downturn will your bank look to your group for more cuts than other groups.
The risk/reward of citing comp as the reason just isn’t there. Just use some bs answer that others have noted above like senior attrition and lack of requisite deal flow to keep you there.
I highly doubt banks actually give a shit about lateral reasoning right now, but at least this way they think you aren’t just going to ditch them for another bank the second you get offered more money.
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