Poor Reputation in My Group - Should I Leave?
Basically title. To make a very long story short, I'm a first-year analyst at a BB and it's pretty clear that I am not well-liked or have a strong reputation. Think it's both a mix of both a cultural and competency issue. For one, I really just keep to myself and don't "play the game" with other analysts/associates/VPs etc. For two, I'm just not good at the job and don't think my skillset aligns with what it takes to be a strong analyst. I’ve also been consistently staffed with two senior analysts/associates who clearly don’t enjoy working with me (multiple call-outs and criticism received) so I'm nervous about my performance reviews.
I know how important first impressions are and how much of an uphill battle it can be to turn things around. Think the writing is already on the wall here. Also paired with the strong general dislike I have for this job, I'm already eyeing at the door.
How early is too early to leave?
I’m not overly concerned about the bonus — realistically I’m headed for bottom bucket anyways, and I’m not sure sacrificing my health and every spare hour for another six months is worth it. That said, I’d never leave without another opportunity lined up, but I also don’t want to shoot myself in the foot if staying a full year truly makes a difference for non-buyside opportunities.
Should I tough it out even as the worst analyst in the group? Or am I better off starting fresh and rebuilding my confidence and reputation elsewhere?
I’d leave once you’re 9-12 months in. Generally, that’s an acceptable point where you can start interviewing without pissing off boomer interviewers.
I got fired because of this. It was a cultural issue, not a performance issue. If you’re in a cult-like group, they won’t care if you’re good. If you don’t conform to their orthodoxy, they’ll look for any reason to can you.
My advice would be:
1. Get better at the job. It’s really not that hard. Just try. Don’t give them another reason to can you. It’s hard looking for a job after they fuck you. Cultural misalignments can be solved by jumping around; performance issues can’t be. This won’t save you, but it won’t work against you (as it is now).
2. Start networking and have a compelling reason why you want to leave (make sure the reason conveys that you’re running towards something vs GTFO of your group). Send as many emails as you need to gain traction with groups you’d like to join. Doing this can even land you in better/top groups.
3. Don’t say anything controversial or try to start something. You’re skating on thin ice and now isn’t the time to chimp out.
Doomsday Prep List:
1. Print all of the materials related to the deals listed on your resume. This will help you enhance your resume bullets and hedge against the risk of you forgetting everything you worked on.
2. Don’t leave valuable belongings in the office. When they let you go, you’re usually not allowed back to your desk to get your stuff.
3. Make sure you have at least 6 months worth of expenses saved up
Don’t fuck this up. It can take years to climb back up.
+1 for great advice. I've noticed most people get canned for "poor cultural fit" rather than "performance" in finance. The job is not hard but high proportion of difficult people in the industry make many places toxic.
To add, once you get a bad rep in a team, it is basically impossible to turn it around, so the only option is leaving ASAP.
You're not a bad analyst, you're in a bad group.
I think what is happening is that your group does not like you and nitpick everything that you do and make you feel like you are uniquely incompetent but in reality you don't make more mistakes than the average analyst.
I was the same when I was an AN1. I was in a terrible group with a mix of uncaring, cliquey, and toxic juniors and unsympathetic/distant seniors. It was very orthodox and two-faced, on the one hand they kept harping about good WLB and being able to work from home some days, but would then complain if you weren't at your desk in the office one day or even if you were grabbing lunch, making snarky comments or why you weren't at your desk when you were in the office. I had VPs with massive egos who would ask a question and complain about the nature of it being answered. Essentially, I was in a group that treated Analysts just as a resource and there was a culture of where they wouldn't invest in you unless they really liked you (the rest would get terrible ratings).
I was picked apart for the most minor things. Not dragging a box all the way to the end to align with the invisible border of the title textbox (lol), asking a question about something that apparently was deeply buried in an email chain and get told that "you don't care about the job" (I had just come back from vacation, sorry I missed that?), and asking clarifying questions for something an Associate had explained poorly ("oh so you didn't listen to what I said then?"). All while other Analysts in the group would prepare work that would then go to clients and which wouldn't make any sense and would get called out live by the client (pitching a debt product in USD over a GBP interest rate - I don't need to tell you why this does not work).
I thought I was terrible and that I deserved to be ranked at the bottom. Then I moved teams. It was night and day, I was being praised for my work, my "great attention to detail" (which I was made to believe was atrocious), my work ethic, attitude, likeability etc. My reviews started to say that I was an extremely competent analyst, very technically strong, that I'm great to work with... etc etc. It was a massive confidence boost and turning point for me. And here's the kicker, did all of those things really happen in like the first 2 weeks of me being on the new desk? No. That means that I was never a weak analyst, I was just in a terrible, toxic group.
The point to all of this is that I don't think you are the problem. There are, really, very few Analysts who are truly "bad" (come in late, leave early, like really, really don't get the work and don't care). Most of the time, like over 90% of the time it is just a cultural fit issue. You need to be in a group that you align with culturally and that will support you professionally. This group isn't doing that. Once you're in a new group, you will see for yourself the night and day difference and you'll realize that you are, in fact, an asset.
You are not bad.
Thanks man, really needed to hear this today
You're welcome, I hope things turn around for you soon. I know how tough and demoralizing being in a bad group can be, you start to no longer believe in yourself but I genuinely do.
Hey man, I was in the exact same situation as you. Absolutely despised my group and was dealing with horrific culture. Hang in there and jump ship as soon as you can, I’m doing a lot better now than I’m out and I feel so much better about my work and career. Know this, you have been through a super tough situation so anything you do afterwards will feel like a walk in the park.
Godspeed
This comment is spot on - the industry can be fucked up and cultural issues can be masqueraded as performance. To an unsuspecting new hire and especially a first year analyst, the level of politics involved in your “performance” review is obscene. This job is not rocket science and attention to detail is not some innate skill as some may have you to believe. You are capable, and assuming you care and put in the time and effort - performance is rarely the issue. The pernicious point is the damage that being on the receiving end of politically motivated derisive remarks about your “performance” can do to your motivation and your willingness to stick it out in a career in finance. Be kind and supportive with yourself. Again, if you are capable enough to get the job and you care about doing the job well (neutrally, not for this team but you generally like the work), then you have all the tools to do well. As the above comment mentions, cultural differences are real and will inevitably resolve themselves as you lateral. Do your best to be a good team player and play the game, and if you do not like the game / vibe of the team - just lateral till find a team that matches your groove - they are out there. But i’d say that above all do not let some tight ass seniors and shitty coworkers dissuade you from a career in the industry - fuck them - this is your career and your career is bigger than any one team or one company take ownership of it and flip the bird to your current employer!
Are you by chance a diverse/POC?
Had experience with this at one of my earlier shops where I was the only POC on the team and it was more difficult to fit in culturally and harder to relate to others on the team.
If you fit in this situation, prob should look to lateral. Having a sponsor on a team is very important for mobility/progression and you probably won’t get much of that on your team if this is the case.
I come from an ethnic background but am pretty white passing myself. But don’t think I have seniors invested in me. Sorry to hear that happened to you, hopefully you’ve moved onto somewhere better
do you ever get tired of using the race card ?
I was bottom bucket with a zero bonus and went to a top-tier MF then solid single manager and recently touched closed to $M NW. I turned around my rep but then got distracted w recruiting and blew it so was bottom bucket anyway. My punchline is that your situation is hardly a big deal. Things seem bigger up close than they are
This gives me hope. Did they ask about your ranking in interviews tho? Or did you have strong references?
I would definitely lock down a couple key references.
Same experience here. MF PE, bottom bucket but had a few good references with the people who liked me and had no issues with SM HF recruiting. Screwed me on my bonus but it's nothing compared to what I'm making now.
Ignore title: was top bucket An1 and am now An2. If you want to lateral, easiest timing is 1-year in post your bonus as opposed to so early into the first-year.
As a junior, it's all about who you work with and how much they are willing to invest in you vs. not. There isn't a real difference in how smart people are from a top BB/EB to a bottom one (I am at one of GS/MS/JPM and have freinds across the street). The reason why I think after 2 years, there does end up being a difference is that you simply learn more at some of the top firms both because of people / culture and deal flow.
When you're staffed with seniors who don’t like working with you, you lose the learning from people. You improve because someone slightly more senior is willing to teach you, tolerate early mistakes, and keep giving you reps. Without that, even talented people stagnate and start doubting themselves. You can do a few things here in the short-term: try to work with different people by telling your staffer (just frame it as wanting more experinece in xyz vertical that those same associates or VPs you mentioned don't work on) or just getting the current people you work with to like you (much harder to do since it seems like they have moved on to not liking you as opposed to just being neutral towards you).
Ignore my title, I am a senior director. OP this seems like a cultural issue than anything else. By any chance are you an Asian / Brown / Arab male who is in a super white team. In that case, being white-passing doesn’t matter because the culture is cultish and they will find an excuse to can you. Just change teams man, upwards mobility will be tough as you won’t have sponsors in this team.
Should I start looking/applying now? Or do you think I need a full year under my belt before I jump ship?
ASAP. Not easy to time these moves.
Completely resonate with this. Was in a team that was very white, and struggled significantly despite putting in the best efforts. Would leave. Life is too short to waste any time or energy on things like these.
I actually went through almost the exact same thing at a large U.S. bank in a satellite office with a very small team. On paper everything looked great — big platform, good pay, good brand — but the day-to-day was honestly brutal. Constant stress, always feeling like I was on edge, people subtly undermining me or doing it explicitly in an office with the door closed, and this unspoken expectation that you should just eat it and be grateful. Can also relate to the constant nitpicking of what you did wrong, not giving good feedback/being patient with reps, while simultaneously doing the opposite for other people that they just liked better who would kneel down and kiss their asses all day. I was probably better than most of the others in that office at the job, but they made me feel like I was atrocious - usual suspect offences "lack of attention to detail, lack of presence, and missing the big picture" as consistent feedback aka nothing they can actually prove but it sounds bad enough to get you canned.
I kept telling myself it would get better or that I “just needed to push through,” but it never did. As I got closer to the associate > VP timeline, I could feel the writing on the wall. It was like no matter what I did, I wasn’t going to be seen the right way by the people who mattered, and that messed with my mental health more than I realized at the time.
I stayed ~3 years and honestly wish I left earlier. I only stayed because I was scared of how it would look, scared of losing momentum, scared that leaving meant I “failed.” In reality, leaving was the only thing that actually helped me reset.
So if you’re in a spot where the culture is toxic and you feel like you’re constantly defending your reputation internally… I’ve been there. Sometimes the right move is to stop trying to fix something that isn’t fixable and just walk away. Career-wise and mental-health-wise, that was the best decision I made — and I wish I figured that out sooner.
I'll offer a slightly different point of view here: I can definitely say that I have been able to "win" people back to my side after developing a challenged reputation in my current team years ago...and same type of comments ("bad attention to detail", "not thorough", etc.). It's definitely easier to leave and would echo the above, but if you're adamant about staying, there may be things you may be able to shift in your favor.
Two things I would consider on your end: (i) are the people who don't like you potentially incentivized to prevent you from getting ahead, (ii) can you make yourself "likable" enough to be someone who they can't say bad stuff about without being specific. Consider incentives and what you can do to "improve outcomes for both of you" or "increase team resources". Admittedly, it's "playing the game" but definitely worked for me.
In my case answer to i) was a most definite yes. Had several associates who were senior to me who were all gunning for a VP promotion where there just wasn't enough room for everyone.
Whatever you decide, just don't say anything stupid (I know it might be hard in your situation), so they don't have a reason to fire you as it'll be really hard to find a new job
I don’t think that matters as they will find an excuse regardless. If it is not performance (PIP etc) then out of nowhere his name will be on the downsizing list and his role will be eliminated although will receive a chunky severance. Firing someone with PIP takes at least 6 to 12 months in most firms and is not easy.
Here is what OP can do. Preemptively file a complaint with HR about mental health/team culture and go on leave. He can’t be then fired in the near future as that would be retaliation and he could use that time to recruit while keeping his job. He would also be entitled to full year bonus as well.
Why would he be entitled to a full-year bonus, considering he's been on a sick leave?
A fellow first year analyst here feeling exactly the same thing (I could’ve written an identical post)
Feeling lost and uncertain too
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