Quit Today
Collected my bonus. Quietly packed my belongings. Got up and left. No goodbyes, no explanations, just a simple resignation email and a quiet departure. Did I burn a bridge? Probably. Do I give a fuck? Absolutely not.
I stuck around long enough to get my bonus payout and left. All that matters to me. This profession is inherently interesting - working on arguably one of the most important aspects of the U.S. economy: Mergers & Acquisitions.
However, everything else associated with this profession is literally dumb as fuck. You're brainwashed if you don't see it - and you're a flat out idiot if you see it and you're okay with it. Fragile egos, endless politic cock-sucking, mountains of useless work, toxic environments, the list goes on.
Just venting, but happy to be gone. Hope some of you wakeup.
If you aren't having a good experience, work under crappy senior bankers, can't handle the pressure, etc. I feel bad for ya. But don't act like those that succeed are losers just because you couldn't make it.
There is no cope here brother. It is simply a function of caring about the quality of my life - spending 12+ hours a day in a cubicle under fluorescent lights sacrificing everything and anything within your personal life to make an hourly-adjusted ~$30/hr because "Investment Banking" is a cope.
It's a cope within yourself because you're too fucking scared to act on your shitty miserable life, again, because "Investment Banking." The only decision being made out of weakness is continuing to put yourself through a miserable profession because you don't know what else to do with yourself or you're scared to take a risk.
That's what makes you a loser. If you're one of the few that actually enjoy this profession and the bullshit that comes with it, then it doesn't apply. It applies if you're miserable, know you are, and stick around anyways.
That isn't me.
Idk man, plenty of us have really good outcomes once we hit VP/Director level. My WLB is not bad at all and comp is more than I need.
My first comment was outright mean. But in my defense, I just don't like when people project negativity onto others for their own benefit. And I do think your post included a bit of projection. It just came off very "Hey I had a bad experience so this whole industry and anyone in it is gay" which is what a lot of Analysts come here to effectively post.
Also, part of why that mindset annoys me is because it's typically espoused by those who entered the industry for the wrong reasons to begin with, with an immature desire for easy money, prestige & sex appeal. Then these kids who grew up on Wolf of Wall Street realize that's not true and that their expectations were silly and all of the sudden it's like "Well all of you are gay anyway and anyone who likes this is a loser" and they same-day quit, throwing the rest of the team in a shit position. It's fucking annoying. Your ex-coworkers are probably in a bad spot for the time being. This job is hard and you were warned, you aren't a hero for seeking out a career you hated and then quitting immediately to the great disruption of your team and colleagues. Not cool stuff.
That said, shit happens, your former colleagues will deal with it and life will go on. Sorry you had a crappy experience, no doubt it happens too often in this industry. Best of luck moving forward and finding something that you like better.
Wtf is this comment?
Are you trying to step on my toes?
I’m the one whose condescending, trolls and is mean to all the whiny losers on this site. Know you’re role, especially since your posting anonymous, and stay out of my wheelhouse.
*your - you’re a dumbass
Baller. Want to do the same when I get mine
You call us idiots if we accept the flaws of banking and look the other way but prior to fucking up your career you accepted it yourself for years
You're sadly mistaken if you think that quitting a job will fuck up your career. So you're either naïve, stupid, or just a pussy.
If anything, you're risking your career posting to WSO trying to fuck on SA's because you can't get pussy anywhere else. Focus on yourself brother.
So you're saying spending your entire college career trying to break into IB, just to quit after one year is somehow the prudent or optimal decision?
How is the past relevant to a decision being made today about tomorrow?
U work in ib and don’t understand sunk cost?
Well done. Nothing feels better than quitting a job you hate. A lot of people will say it's not smart to burn bridges or quit without having something else lined up. Objectively, they are right. However, sometimes you need to burn that bridge in order to reset mentally.
I felt that I had had enough of a prior job and quit on the spot. Horrible decision objectively, but I never felt better. Took a few days to relax and after that, I was more motivated than ever and had a new job within 3 weeks. Agreed that people who don't see the extreme flaws in IB are brainwashed. The only time IB would ever make sense is if you are at a bank with good WLB and culture or intend to leave within 1-2 years and just do it for the exit opportunities.
Why not put your two weeks in and quit? You don’t have to do much anyways during those two weeks but it’s a sign of respect and won’t burn any bridges.
I had a close friend of mine who was in my group who quit without giving any notice and burned a lot of bridges. Unfortunately she fucked over a lot of people by quitting so abruptly, made them barely sleep while the staffer scrambled trying to find people to cover. She wasn’t able to get any references post leaving even though she was a good analyst and word spread around the whole office of how much of a childish move it was. Not a huge deal I guess but finance is a small world and you might need references for the near future. Putting two weeks where you duck around/do minimum isn’t that expensive.
I understand that you think it’s cool to be like fuck you guys, this was so shit and I hated everyone but it’s just immature. Don’t get me wrong I was very tempted to do the same multiple times especially after bonus but I wasn’t immature enough.
If your only avenue of professional networking is within your immediate workplace - that's your first mistake. No one thinks abruptly quitting is cool except someone who does it for the wrong reason.
With regard to your example and your conniving tone in your response - who gives a fuck? You're going to dictate your entire future over MAYBE not getting a reference from one professional experience and simply continue to suffer everyday becuase you might fuck your team over when they'd can you in a split second? I see where you're coming from, but even still your delusion is alarming.
Immature. You are not suffering for long, you are literally working two extra weeks as a sign of respect to your teams. Yeah fuck the firm you think, but in reality the only people you are fucking over are your teams. I'm sure some people are dicks and deserve it but I'm also sure there are some nice people you worked with that you are showing no respect towards.
You aren't doing it because you think you are cool? You are literally running to a forum to brag about it and tell everyone that they are stupid for being in banking and/or not agreeing with your approach.
I'm sure your parents raised you better. Have a great night man.
Shut the fuck up dude. She doesn’t owe the company or her team anything. They took the risk that she would do something so terribly inconceivable as abruptly quitting after no doubt being abused for a long time and probably doubly suffering giving how male heavy it is (possibly overstepping here.) Plus I’m sure all of the other team with any shred of common sense would’ve understood
Congrats brother always love to see homies quitting IB for other pursuits, this job is full of pussies
I have had both PE firms and HFs ask for reference checks that required me to go back to my former IB colleagues. Better hope you have some other references because it’s highly unlikely anyone at your bank will say anything to help you.
Lesson to everyone - do what you can to not burn your bridges. It’s both a negative to your reputation and an anti-positive in that you definitely won’t have any favor that could lead to future opportunities. I’ve burned a single bridge in my career and frankly my boss was really the one who burned it, I just knocked it down. But I built other bridges in that role and it more than paid off.
This take is simultaneously terrible and accurate. Here's the business model lads:
Investment Banks Provide:
Sure, other jobs provide one or several of the above (consulting), but the IB analyst role is a goliath at creating corporate machines in a way no other role is. They know this, so paired with compensation they know they can take:
If you are smart, you realize this is an asymmetric trade as long as you are learning. Once it tapers off, it's time to leave. If you are staying in IB for the money, there are probably better ways to maximize your income/free time matrix. Sounds like you got there OP and I'm happy for you, but don't be so ignorant you crap on the career.
The job is great as an intro career and almost nothing beats it. I despised IB probably even more than you, but after leaving for several years and being in alternate environments, I dig into my IB skill set all the time. The job is amazing early training for investing, entrepreneurship, finance, sales, ops, virtually any role it is such a good first job. But once the learning tapers--its time to gtfo!
If they can fire you in a day, you can resign in a day - “at will” employment should go both ways.
EV positive move is probably not burning bridges…but makes this all the more badass.
You didn’t quit quiet enough if you had to boost your ego by posting here.
Good job, take a lollipop!