Lateraled into a bad culture - how long before looking around again?
Short story: I was at a firm that makes up pretty much all of the new threads on here. Use your imagination which one. It's a European bank. Anyways. I felt like my seat was shaky so made a lateral move, but the new group definitely seems to have cultural issues below the surface, not as in someone is just a straight up asshole but people are being run into the ground unnecessarily. Disappointing since I have multiple alumni there who I rely on to give it to me straight, and they said good things, but this is how it's turning out.
This isn't optimal to jump right after jumping, but life is also short and if this is going to be unsustainable as far as any kind of WLB even for banking standards, I'm considering options. Fully aware banking is long hours since I literally worked in banking, but there is also such a thing as unreasonable. My main thought is to jump around bonuses next year and start networking leading up to that. Just hoping I can deal with it between now and then.
Tough spot, but I’d try to stick it out until at least your 2-year mark if it’s even remotely manageable. I’ve done hiring for both junior and senior roles, and anything short of 2 years tends to raise questions, especially if it's two short stints in a row. The assumption becomes: Were you pushed out, or are you just someone who bails when things get tough?
The one real exception is if you’re making a clear move upmarket, think RBC/WF to GS, or something tied to a senior MD with a strong platform and long-term trajectory (more relevant at VP+). But jumping from one platform in the same tier to another (e.g., DB to Jefferies) or only slightly higher than another isn’t going to get the benefit of the doubt unless there’s a compelling narrative (e.g jumping from DB energy, if they have that group, to Jeff energy because Jeff has a way better energy group despite being roughly same tier of firm). Fair or not, most top-performing juniors don’t leave spots with good culture and internal mobility.
That said, if the current seat is truly unsustainable (e.g., burnout risk, health concerns, or a totally broken culture), start discreetly building your network now and target a move post-bonus. You’re right in that banking hours are long, and there’s a difference between hard and toxic. Just make sure that when you do move, it’s to a role where you can actually settle for a bit and rebuild the story to show the ability to work in a team for a while.
For what it's worth I did 2 years at my prior firm
One option I'm considering is an internal transfer maybe if I can identify a less sweaty group. Appreciate the honest feedback.
I think internal transfer is smart, but realistically, most firms that invest in internal development only make that viable after ~2 years. On the “sweatiness” point, deal flow drives hours, plain and simple. Any top BB/EB is going to be intense. M&A, in particular, is structurally brutal across the Street; it’s not a bank issue, it’s the nature of the product. Tech and CR tend to be relatively chill unless you’re in a top-tier group. But we’re still talking about a delta of maybe 5–15 hours/week. IMO, that's not enough to justify sitting in a group where you don't see a long-term fit.
As a young associate, you should be optimizing for deal flow and strategic alignment with your future goals, not just trying to shave hours. Group matters a lot post-analyst levels (I think everyone understands group placement is fairly random, and interests change for people once they start work for the first time). If you stay in IB, it will directly influence your exits, whether that’s corp dev, or staying in IB. And the longer you stay, the harder it is to pivot. By VP, you're largely locked into your vertical because that’s when you start building your book. Switching groups without any transactional credibility becomes nearly impossible at that stage.
If you're planning on making a long-term play in IB, the calculus shouldn't be “where can I suffer slightly less?” It should be “Where am I building the right platform for the future I want?”
Curious how bad could it be? What are your hours vs expectations coming in?
Not me but multiple juniors worked July 4th and the whole weekend
Weekend work is understandable for live deals, not optimal but that's why we get paid, but some of this is general marketing and sponsor books. This isn't normal.
Would suggest you move to corporate development or IR. Similar skillset, fewer holidays worked through if that's a deal breaker for you.
You're just going to run into the same thing everywhere and hurt your credibility in the process.
I think he was at UBS.
What level are you? I had a friend do 1yr at a global bb, move to a boutique with bad culture and did 1yr before moving again, now an analyst at a different BB. If you can seal the deal it won’t harm you - better to rip the bandaid in my opinion IF it is a clear upgrade otherwise won’t be worth the trouble and potential odd looks (e.g shit eu bb -> GS vs shit eu bb -> FT partners)
If you moved from an EU BB to FT Partners, the assumption is going to be you got fired/pushed out unless you moved in with a bunch of MDs from your firm. Also shit and BB are oxymoron's, all 3 of the European BB's are and will always remain a top 95% outcome for people that get IB jobs, vast majority of IB firms are random boutiques with no reputation to speak off around the street. DB will always be known in the street and respected, no matter how much juniors on WSO shit on it (as they have done since back when I was a junior as DB went down in the league tables; pretty sure their exits remain the same and broader reputation amongst seniors has barely gone down).
Haha I used to work at db and would always shit on it but now at a different bb I realise it is all the same as a jnr. Funny enough I used to think the worst of db but now I realise it is still quite well respected globally , although couldn’t say the same if I had come from a boutique
Ha! Shouldn’t have listened to Senior VP in CorpDev, UBS is actually paradise.
What I am listening to are the multiple MDs in my old group who left and I didn't want to be the last one playing musical chairs
Not talking about UBS, so not sure why it's relevant. I understand the original poster left UBS most likely, but he's not there anymore, so not relevant in this instance.
Curious as to whether you were in sector vs. product group at your former bank asw as the corresponding lateral move. And were you promoted to associate?
Sector to same sector, different bank
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