Quit BO role before I hit the desk to pursue FO role?
3 weeks into my training at one of the top 5 investment banks and I already want to quit. I am already looked down upon as the compliance guy and I am sick of it. AND this is by colleagues who haven't even hit their desk yet. I am very intelligent, an assertive body and I thought after some UN work regulations would be a good gig as I could combine my FO experience with my UN stuff and compliance would be the ultimate dream. HOWEVER! I have never felt so looked down upon, so rubbish and just worthless then as I do now. I am scared that if I don't quit my job now before I hit the desk I will be stuck in compliance forever! What should I do? I think I am better suited to wealth management/in-house lawyer, more advisory with a serious title other than compliance etc. I feel quite ashamed putting it on my LinkedIn
Should I play it smart and opt for an advisory role in compliance, join the legal team and then ask for the bank to pay my law school fees to become an in-house solicitor? either way, this is really a pride thing. I am too smart to be a mediocre compliance guy. I should have played this move smarter!!
So now that you've seen what these people are like, you want to try to work WITH them?
Better option. Look for a bank where the bankers are less douchey. Typically but not always better at EB/MM firms than BB.
So I should quit the role - I have 2 more weeks of training left. If I stay with the bank for 1 year will it effect my chances of moving to FO or even law? I just want to be respected and not to be known as the internal police or the compliance guy.. eye roll
Did you not know what you were signing up for? Usually the people who are in BO roles don't even know what "back office" is and they are completely content with their jobs. However, in your case, you seem to know what it entailed so I am confused as to why you chose this in the first place.
It sounds like you have way too big of an ego for someone coming right out of college. There is a good chance I am around the same age as you and I simply do not operate like this.
You obviously made a poor decision choosing this route (not enough research on exit opps or the role in general) so I would say if you are truly unhappy, I would look to move somewhere that can help you reach your end goal. Also, doing compliance for 1 year at a large bank wont KILL YOU in terms of moving onto law or advising in that sense. So you can also just stick it out for a year and then move on.
I am not an expert on what you are trying to get into. These are just my thoughts.
Look into becoming a trainee solicitor at a good City firm instead.
You didn't do your homework before taking this job, your ego is far too fragile for it and you haven't even hit the desk yet. Given the situation you've got yourself into appears mainly to be a product of your lack of diligence and insecurity, I'm not sure any advice will help you.
disagree. he's a young kid, he seems willing to listen and learn, and has plenty of time to change things around.
i would estimate 90%+ of students don't do their homework before taking their first job. parents and career centers need to do a better job of encouraging students to prepare for what they're getting into.
Law isn't compliance. No idea why you're conflating the two. There isn't even a lot of overlap between in-house counsel and compliance teams. Why should the bank pay for a qualification unrelated to your role? Generous of them if they do.
are you retarded? a vast many chief compliance officers are attorneys/former attorneys. these two directly overlap and you obviously have know clue what law or compliance is.
I would agree that many of the top folks have those qualifications, but I would disagree that the entry level and lower level supervisors do.
I am a BB banker with a legal qualification. Guarantee you our legal counsel do not consider themselves compliance and don't do compliance work. Compliance, on the other hand, might like to believe it's linked.
A majority of banks have also separated their legal and compliance functions in recognition of this given the regulatory scrutiny...
Nice attitude.
Edited to add: no banker cares about these teams beyond what's needed to execute a deal (compliance = dealing with regulatory issues like AML, legal = basic doc review and liaising with external counsel), so your 'You know nothing!' attitude ia faintly amusing. No one sits there analysing these roles and if you call an in-house lawyer to try to discuss a compliance process they will, lo and behold, tell you to take it up with compliance. I also can guarantee you a vast vast majority of low and mid level compliance people have absolutely no legal qualifications.
lol nah bro. the VP of Compliance at Zenefits was a prosecutor before becoming the compliance guy. Law + Compliance definitely overlap.
Ha, how's that going for him? A prosecutor should have been able to see all of the rules being broken at that train wreck.
Good article on it: http://www.bloomberg.com/features/2016-zenefits/
Of course it's easy for a lawyer to move into a compliance. That is a downwards move. Why would you think it's easy for a first year compliance kid to expect funding for a legal qualification from their firm? How is that logical?
I would quit and start devoting 100 percent of your time to your MTV reality TV show audition tape. You seem like a prime candidate with the following key characteristics: insecure, egotistical, dramatic and "smart".
P.S. if you do land a gig on MTV, i am officially your agent and will be taking a 25 percent commish
^this
Seconded
compliance and policy-making has a far brighter future than 'models in boddles'
Just make sure before hitting the desk that you clear the area and get your belongings out of the way, projectile staplers are no joke
A bird in hand is worth two in the bush. What would you honestly do for money if you quit? Stop worrying about what others think of you and make plans to get where you want to go. Rome wasn't built in a day.
1.) Your first job is not your last. 2.) Something tells me you'd be a pretty zealous and successful dude at the SEC, DoJ, or NY Attorney General's office. 3.) You signed up for this. You won't run into these people all the time. Stick it out for 30 months.
4.) The secret to getting ahead in life is to have a good attitude. Right now, learning humility will help.
The fastest, most straightforward way to get ahead is to stick it out for 30 months. If you can't do that, at least don't quit until you have another job lined up.
So you're in Compliance which is a legal role on some level. Perhaps you've been to law school or perhaps you'd be considering it.
In the ideal compliance role, you get a front row seat to watch all of the shenanigans that go on at your bank. I think banks are generally compliant, but if you've worked at one in compliance, you know how they handle things.
Then, go get a JD and work for Eric Schneiderman's office. You might not be willing to stay up until 2 AM to get a deal done, but you'll do it to put white collar criminals in jail.
1 year of experience in that role won't destroy your chances of moving into another role, especially wealth management in a legal position. Not sure why the community at WSO is so fixated on the idea that your first job out of university is going to define the rest of your career lol. As long as it's somewhat related, and you can spin a good story, you'll make the hop over if you really want it. You're still fresh and trainable.
It's good that you realized that this is not something you want to do sooner rather than later. But, you need to figure out what it is you really want to do, and research what you're getting into in advance so you don't repeat your mistakes. Find someone on LinkedIn that does what you're interested in doing, and ask them out for a coffee and express your interest in learning more about what they do. If I were you, I'd stick in the role, leverage as much as you can, and look around elsewhere. Once you find an opportunity you like, position yourself for it (use your imagination, spinning your story is part of the hustle), and keep applying. Keep meeting people. Once you got an offer in hand, give your current places 2-weeks notice and you win.
But your first task is to really zone in on what YOU want to do. Fuck what everyone else thinks.
Once again, one year in compliance is not going to kill your chances of moving on to something else.
However, at the beginning of your career you will always be looked down upon. You need to earn respect.
Even in IB, analysts are nothing more than highly trained monkeys, who basically format ppts all day long and if they are lucky then they might get to do some modelling. In fact, some md's will not care about you at all and purposefully hand you last minute work.
If possible, I suggest you leave your ego at the front door and work as hard as possible for 1 year. If you do this, your boss will be impressed and he will understand your motivations for leaving and he might even write you a stellar letter of recommendation.
Good catch on the ego issue as well.
If it makes you feel better these people probably need you more than you need them. In banking(as well as any other office environment) you mistreat the support staff at your own peril. I know of one guy who was abusive to the tech guys and the moment he moved to another office his user account was "somehow" deleted from the corporate systems.
The other thing that helps is that you have to try to bring some pride and (as PC as it is to say this) masculinity to your attitude. I know a couple of biker types who work in support jobs. Care to guess how often the people at the top of those organizations(the salesmen in one example) shit on these guys? Not very often.
To quote Michael Lewis:
"What was the secret to dealing with these assholes? “Lift weights or learn karate.” "
You excessive use of capital letters (see a few posts above) and your extended "youu" leads me to believe that you're a 14 year old girl who has successfully trolled all of us.
This is not a One Direction fan club.
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