Possible to lateral Regional Boutique to a Larger Boutique or EB in a few years ?

Hello all,

Started my first ibanking full time gig last month at a middle market regional boutique in a city on the West Coast (think Portland, LA, Seattle). I come from a non-HYP target on the East Coast, but for family reasons needed to be on the West Coast. The firm definitely has a bunch of small and a few large deals in the pipeline (50m-200m EV), so I got put on 3 projects on my first day. Hours are decent 9am-9pm and pay seems to be on par (aside from a smaller than street bonus). The firm has about 30 employees total. My end goal is to be at EB or a well-known middle market bank (Stifel, Houlihan) in NYC/SF.

Do you think I'll have good chances when lateraling next year after I have some transaction experience on my resume (about 1 year and 3 months down the line) ? Or do you think firms tend to overlook resumes from analysts who come from fairly unknown boutiques ?

4 Comments
 
Most Helpful

After 2-3 years on the job, both your experience and the name of the firm count so if the name isn't doing you any favours, work on nailing your job, learning as much as you can and playing an active role in deals as they come. There are plenty of success stories about going from a no-name place to top ranking banks so it is definitely possible and it's a mix of hard work, networking and luck. Also remember, there is somewhat of a gap between the MMs mentioned and EBs so clearly chances of getting to MM are higher than EBs but neither is at 0.

 

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