Title says it all. I am six months into the job (BB coverage group) and realize it just isn't for me. Not sure what the alternative would be outside of grinding it out until first year bonus. Also not sure how great bonuses will be this upcoming year. Anyone on here leave early post MBA, how did it turn out for you? Anyone currently feeling the same way? I can't be the only one out there….
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Sounds like every person in my group 😭
Would advise grinding it out until the end of this year and getting your first full year bonus, not even for the money but due to the greater optionality, better resume when exiting and current job market. But if you really can’t stick it out, you’ll still be fine in the end.
Not op but also a first year post mba. I always here this, is this even true at the mba associate level? PE HH VC not really open to use. Is it really that much of a resume booster? A year vs 18 months?
I think it really matters about the deals that you worked on and how far they got. Were you at one of the sweatiest shops and got a ton of good deal experience? Did you get multiple live/closed deals under your belt?
The longer timeline I think help solidifies the number of deals you can get as well as the probability that someone believes that you added value to the deals.
I would stick it out. A decent number of folks bail 18 months in. 6 can raise some flags.
Honestly the real marker is 2 years. So if you don’t want to wait until that leave ASAP. You are not an analyst with no other work experience.
Leaving post mba in the period 0-2 years after banking or consulting will get you functionally the same job.
Meaning that time spent won’t move your career forward. So best leave after 2 years or asap. Waiting for 1 year or something stupid is functionally a waste of time.
OP here. You’re saying functionally the same job as if you were just coming out of business school again? As in same market of job types should be open to you? Example like IB to tech or IB to consultant. You just obviously don’t get a position credit for your year or six months or whatever it was in IB
Yah. Exactly. A bunch of my fellow classmates left GS and BCG in the 8 months to 1.6 year timeframe to gigs that were analogous to what they could have gotten out of school. All went to tech.
Typical MBAs
The 8 month to 19.2 month (1.6 years) timeframe? Either oddly specific or u can't do math
Just out of curiosity, what kind of opportunities would present itself at the 2-year mark that might not necessarily be there at ~1 year mark?
Corp dev type gigs. More likely to come in as manager
If you weren’t in banking or even finance prior to B school. Then it will be difficult to recruit for the “next” finance position -> with “experience”, such as a Corp Dev Manager / Director at a Port Company or Fortune 500 / IR Jobs or PE / Asset Management gigs or a Finance role in a startup.
2 years of banking is solid enough to say that look you tried, you did it. You ran maybe 1 or 2 sell sides, you did a few financings, you seen the inside of a couple of committees. This experience is valuable to clients looking for former bankers to help them navigate both financings and M&A.
You may be able to land that FP&A job though without banking experience since that can be more operational tuned.
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Obv if you just found out that you don’t like banking, you probably weren’t doing it prior to school.
Only leave now if you can get something legit, otherwise push it out until 18 mos
I think these posts are more for people to vent, just express their fears into the internet void or just want to read some comments of encouragement.
I can’t imagine you actually think having a top mba and leaving a top banking job after a few months is actually some type death knell.
You can do whatever you want man, just make sure you have the money saved in case you don’t find a job quickly after you quit.
Del
Left after the first bonus cycle to the corporate world. I was in a similar position, realized early in this wasn’t for me. I’d seen a few folks leave within first 6-12 months and go to consulting or other corp roles. Start thinking about what you want to do next and try to cater your IB experience to what will help you get there. One of the biggest things is translating the work you do in IB to the job requirements for what you’re looking at. Keep your eyes open for anything that may interest you but don’t jump on the first role that comes your way (unless you absolutely need out). For what it’s worth, I started getting way more looks from hiring managers once I was approaching the first bonus cycle. People realize this job isn’t for everyone but it’s helpful to show you can stick it out for a full cycle. Personally I don’t think ~18 vs ~24 months makes much of a difference as long as you have good experience to speak to.
What type of corporate role (Corp Dev, fp&a etc.) and what experience did you have pre-MBA? Currently an analyst considering corporate options.
Corp dev. Mix of finance and operations before MBA
What coverage/product group were you in during IB and did you exit to the same industry?
Have seen anecdotally a couple people exiting to different industries than they covered while in banking, so just curious.
Went to a tech company. Was in the TMT group at my bank and had experience at a software company pre business school. I think as long as you can speak to the industry / companies you’re targeting, moving industries is doable. At the end of the day, a few years in IB doesn’t make you an industry expert. It shows you can work hard and learn on the job
Think it's difficult to leave at 6 months as an MBA associate. I'd try and at least make it to your first bonus unless it's becoming a serious mental health concern.
It's one thing for the 23 year old analyst to do since they likely had to decide on IB at age 19, but someone further into their career who went back to school specifically for IB is expected to stick around a bit more. Especially right now when you're not really getting grinded, might be more acceptable in a 2021 type market where IB hours got so unsustainable that it hit the news.
Opportunities wise, agree with the other posters saying you won't get too many interesting jobs until 18 months-2 years. 6 months experience is not enough to be useful to other finance jobs.
Two years is enough to get director roles?
Maybe at a small portco but not at a public company... most people I see leaving after 2 years are in an associate or manager role
OP here. Tend to agree. Not sure that I’ll get the opportunity to see that “normal” bonus. As it sits, plan on leaving after first bonus, and not sure how ‘23 will be better than ‘22 and bonuses were shit this year.
I’d say a combination of lack of interest and mental health. Okay grinding Monday through Thursday and even work on weekend. But the unpredictability/lack of visibility and disgusting Friday-Sunday on call hours (due to poor senior mgmt on deal items) really takes it toll on one’s well-being.
Would consider going to consulting now but don’t want to leave after 6 months and then not be able to return to the world of finance. Whereas I feel like if waiting for the full bonus, one would have about 20 months of experience in IB as an associate and could likely return to high finance later down the road…or at least be better positioned to
Any chance you can try to align with better seniors? Or are all of them about the same in your group?
How bad is it?
How bad is what? Investment banking? Or current situation?
Current situation. What kind of hours are you clocking / how bad is your group
Agree there is generally no distinction in what opps are available to you post-IB between 6-24 months. You’ll be able to be an immediate contributor wherever you go, especially if corporate side. Definitely see better options pay/title wise after 2 years, given perceived modeling and project management abilities. Long winded way of saying if you see something you like now go for it.
I’m actually considering about the consulting rout but also think it might be important to have that 18-20 months (full first bonus) experience on the resume opposed to 6-10 months so that the door to return to finance/high finance roles would still open…thoughts?
Return to IB specifically? I'd say depends on the relationships you build/maintain when you leave. There will be people/seniors that may be upset if you leave 6 months in or 18 months in (hard to really forecast an individual/group's reaction to that, especially if you're leaving at a super busy deal flow period). Btw when I mention individual here, I mean the couple rainmakers in the group that can easily slot you back in if you decide to come back.
Anecdotally, people have left 6-12 months in as an MBA ASO to consulting, VC, etc. Their ability to come back imo really depends on if their exit pissed off the wrong person (again hard to forecast).
If you leave banking now for mgmt consulting or corporate, I think the only way to get back into some high finance post-IB role (PE or HF) would be if you have some deep technical understanding of an esoteric industry aspect you picked up in your previous role. Otherwise there’s gonna be the normal pipeline of MBA associates who did IB for 2+ years there to take the normal buyside exits. Have seen a good number of MBA associates jump to corporates and do some cool things then go to a fund with that knowledge/skill. Depends on the industry overall.
Need to clip the first full year bonus if you want a credible story and be able to come back to Banking later on down the line
Agree with the the posters above who recommended either sticking it out or leaving asap. You'll get little to no credit for IB if you leave now but it will allow you to have a clean slate if you desire. If you leave for a corporate role and want to pivot into a non-finance function like corp. strat, S&O, biz-ops you'll enter as an associate and spend the next two years before making it to manager. I doubt you can get a manager role at this point; just too early even for corp. dev or strategic finance.
If you stay two years you can leave for a manager role somewhere. You probably won't get the same exits as ex-consultants but will get good looks for strategic finance, corp. dev, etc.
Most MBA bankers leave and in the long-run whether its six months or 18 no one will care. Seems like what matters most to you is job satisfaction and health. Answer is clear to me.
Do you like the actual job or is it the hours / work culture of your specific bank that's hard for you? IMO, those are two different things and will determine a different decision here.
If you like the job but it's the culture, I would recommend lateraling to a different bank.
If it's the job itself, I would look for other opportunities as fast as possible and don't look back. If for some reason down the line you wanted to pivot back into finance, you could frame it as you liked IB but you were fortunate to have such an interesting new role fall into your lap that it was hard not to explore it (if they even ask at all).
Chiming in as someone almost 3 years in who has hated it forever, but kept saying ‘I’ll leave after the next bonus,’ if you know you want to leave figure out what you need to make the leap and just bounce. The people in my class (2.5 years in) who just quit a few weeks ago are landing associate level roles in PE and Corp Dev. There were people in my class who quit the very first week of training because they hated it so much and are 100% fine now. I wish I was as brave as they were honestly - I got sucked in and regret it and can’t wait to leave (for real now, especially after a shitty bonus).
I definitely suggest working backwards in terms of objectives. In my case, my sole goals are to spend more time with my family and maintain a decent enough salary to live in my current neighborhood and take 3 solid vacations a year so that equates to X, Y, Z next role even though it’s a pay cut. Not sure if you know what your longer term objectives are, but it could be helpful to frame your next move that way.
Good luck!
"There were people in my class who quit the very first week of training because they hated it so much and are 100% fine now"
Were these post MBA bankers? Have a hard time believing this happens but if it does, power to them honestly
Yep! Post MBA Associates- it was impressive! They both ended up in solid non-finance tech roles. It is rare, but happens when people realize that they really didn’t love their summer and were just going through the motions in terms of accepting the return offer and couldn’t bear the misery of training let alone doing the job full time. They were able to negotiate down the signing bonus payback too which was great,
I thought PE roles out of post-MBA IB was difficult - was it a common exit in your class?
Not common, only a handful of people. My point was more that the title was still associate even after a few IB years under the belt
Hey kinda related question but have you seen anyone leave and then go back into banking? Left for a corporate role in my second year (analyst) and realized now that I liked the work but really didn't like my group but would be interested in going back to it somewhere else.
I have, but you need a really good story. Guy I knew left after 2.5 analyst years to a startup then came back to IB after 2 years away as a first year Associate. Just made VP. He was able to convey the fact IB was his very first job and he wanted to stretch himself to try something new after a while, but ultimately enjoys the "rigor" of banking.
Hard time wrapping my head around the fact that OP (1) finds investment banking so unbearable that they want to leave ASAP only 6 months into the job and also… (2) is trying to keep optionality open to return to IB in the future.
Brother. Either decide that you want this, put your 110% into it, and keep grinding until whichever comes first: you hit the 2 year mark or lateral to a better IB opportunity. Or decide that it wasn’t meant for you and just move on with your life and put your 100% into a different role or field.
You can’t have it both ways. Chasing two rabbits at the same time means you’ll starve to death. First 6 months of the job is table-stakes anyway, it doesn’t get remotely bearable or enjoyable until you start getting good and leading interesting work streams and deals.
Not at all being critical, not suggesting there’s a right or even better answer. I just think you should make a firm decision and then continue down that path relentlessly. No matter what field, the successful and happy people I know have grit and go all-in.
You should be a motivational speaker - tbh quite inspirational
I don’t disagree, but I’m not surprised by the wish to keep IB open. MBAs usually follow the herd into tech, IB and consulting. They like the well trod path, hopping off of it is scary and they feel conflicted between the certainty of the path and the fact that they fucking hate their life on it. Also, the associate years are generally a wasteland. At least analysts get paroled every two years, as an associate the path is another 10-15 year miserable slog to MD.
ask to be laid off so you can get severance
I'm sure some other student at you're MBA program was gunning hard for an IB associate job... and just got cut. Only for people to end up like this. Sign. Whatever. You should grind it out for a year until first year bonus at least.
Guess they should have done better during recruiting? What even is this ridiculous post
I’m suprised anon1299 isn’t here trashing you because you’re a post mba associate
What do corp. dev managers make?
Base 130-150k, bonus 15-25%, source cdev manager at f500
Sounds like CS wages
Did you start in banking? If so, how do you feel about the payout?
Fuck it’s that much of a pay cut?! That’s almost like a 50% drop, are the hours like ~40 a week?
You’ll be fine, whatever you choose. Probably at least one person from every bank from every class does this. It almost always works out well for them. Just make sure you give yourself some time to go to the right place. The best spot to be in is feeling like you’re taking a step up towards your next job, not running away from your current one.
Point was raised above, but what is the appeal of going to MM PE starting at an associate title as a senior IB associate? Feels like comp is lower, no improvement in lifestyle and another 5+ years waiting to score a small sliver of carry on a fund.
Corp dev, Investors relations, corporate banking, maybe investment management would be ideal roles post IB but they all pay less.
Run away from FP&A. The hours a tough, especially during budget season, and you won't be rewarded for your efforts.
If you have to grind, you might as well deal with the formatting and menial edits in banking.
What difference would it make if you stayed for 1.5 more years? Think it really depends on what exit you are looking for then optimize for it
OP what did you end up doing?
Still grinding on the job. Trying to figure out the next move. Market wasn’t exactly presenting an ideal time to leave especially given I had only been on the job for a few months.
Ah nice at least you hit one year mark by now then. I just started and regret doing it already. Planning to leave after 1 or 1.5 yrs
Please just sh*t or get off the pot.
Sincerely,
The Analyst You're Cramming
OP how are you doing? Survivng or leaving soon?
Still grinding it out. Definitely not leaving before bonus since it’s about 3 months away. Still unsure what my next move is, outside of obviously leaving banking.
Some buyers remorse around picking this life post business school
Oh wow do you feel like it's any better now? Or still hating?
Don't be too harsh on yourself. Let's be real, most of your classmates will probably leave their current employer in 2-5 years. In any career path, you usually have to jump around to keep advancing.
At least you graduated in a boom economy, I likely will be taking any reasonable high 5 / low 6 figure job I can get my hands as a current 2nd year at a T25 MBA. It's brutal out there honestly if you don't have strong referrals / contacts. Many employers and classmates I've spoken to seem optimistic Q1 2024 may have better job outlook for MBA-caliber type of roles but who knows. If you're planning to leave in 3 months - you should probably start networking.
Gotcha looking back do you think you're glad to stick around? Or you think you would have still left if job market was not so bad?
OP, now that bonus cycle is passed, where's your head at? Interested as I'm starting to feel the same way. Wife is pregnant and I don't think this is the family life I want
Still actively trying to get out as soon as possible. Harder than it sounds to do while also maximizing exit. Economics at junior level are dead. So unless you’re in for long haul or at least six years, I would jump if / when possible
By 'economics at junior level are dead', do you mean that the pay versus hours worked is whacked out? Low bonus / deal flow etc?
Update - I am out!!! Got a great job offer paying me more than IB and working less hours. Light at the end of the tunnel for all those wanting out
Taking over the family business…
Made him an offer he couldn’t refuse
I feel everyone I know who has that luxury of a legit cash-generating family business are going back to it right after graduating their MBA.
Tell us more. What’s the role and approx. Comp?
Congrats man good for you! what type of job and comp though, think we're all curious?
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