Return to IB after quitting due to mental health issues!
Hey guys,
I try to make it brief: joined a BB out of college (return-offer after summer internship). Quit after 14 months due to mental health issues unrelated to job but had the feeling I had no space & time to deal with it in IB.
Now in a less fulfilling corporate role, planning to return to IB after a year at corporate since I have had therapy and can value IB more now that I have seen the boring and slow nature of corporate world and actually enjoyed IB overall (even though I am still aware of the crushing nature of parts of the job). Need tips on explaining my year off and shifting away from my current industry in job applications and interviews without seeming to be weak or a risk when being hired.
Thanks!
In a similar boat myself, would love to hear some perspectives on this.
Yes, I mean - I am quite sure that we are not the first ones to walk such a path. That's why I am hoping to get some advice in order to prep for these talks. I have some rough ideas how to spin this more as a growth story (which it actually is in my mind) but maybe someone has real insights.
I would frame everything around being interested in your current corporate role with that being the reason why you decided to jump off the IB ship early. But now you’ve realized how slow the pace is and that the pace of IB is a much better fit. Not going to lie, it will be an uphill battle to convince banks that you can hack it. Acknowledging that switching to corporate was a mistake and trying to inspire confidence that you are fine with the IB lifestyle will be key.
What if there’s a long months gap between the IB role and the corporate role due to the mental health issues ? How do I make it seem the corporate role was intentional ?
A lot of my friends and peers who made the switch to corporate from too early on had regretted doing so, given the slow paced nature of the roles, the slower promotional cycles and lower comp
Corporate jobs are a great path because the work is generally interesting and impactful and the lifestyle/hours are much more ideal than in IB. Will say it’s more optimal to move there after the VP level in IB, not after your 2 year analyst role. If you move in as an IB vp, or after doing PE for 3-4 years, you have more experience and can jump into a more meaningful position in any corporate group, and can move up more quickly than if you started as an aso or manager, while still being in a seat that pays pretty well, and definitely for the hours put in.
If you move after you’re an analyst or associate in IB, you’d have more chill hours but you may feel stuck in a slow moving role as an aso or manager for a really long time before getting to a solid point like director or vp / head of M&A in many places. A few tech firms move people up quickly, but it’s really group dependent and still rare from what I’ve seen.
You can elaborate on some of these points as they are quite common for why people realize some junior corp roles aren’t ideal.
Completely agree, I would also add that it often keeps you from having to become an expert for some operational risk. Someone who starts off at a corporate as several years of non-leadership work that is very focused on one specific topic without any major strategy-exposure.
Nail on the head. I left a boutique after 12 months to join a non-profit job that I thought I would make me happier. It was certainly more relaxed especially once I was able to work remotely, but in the long run I wasn’t any happier. There was something really depressing about going from working on $MM transactions and the high of bonus season to hunting for a $150 reconciliation and explaining simple financial concepts to financial leadership 10 or 20 years older than me. The loss of prestige and octane and all that came with that was also depressing. My friends and family went from thinking I was a cool guy with an impressive job to…well, the opposite. I ended up going to graduate school in the end, which was a good decision for me, but I wasted too much time making it. So in retrospect, I wouldn’t have wasted so much time. But I would’ve done things differently either way, graduate school or no. Whether you exit to non-profits or to corporate, you should try to exit with as many bargaining chips as you can and not be afraid to use them. In retrospect, I might have lateraled to a better firm and stuck out another year, or have fought for more senior position, and I would have been less afraid to not settle for anything less than a leadership position at the non-profit. In retrospect, I could have that and I should’ve had that, but I didn’t try to use all of my bargaining chips. The hardest part of leaving is knowing what you want to do and going off to do it, but in light of not knowing what you want to do, you can always try to leverage your current position as best you can so if it doesn’t work out, you can at least be pivoting again from a position of relative strength. In my case, a leadership position would’ve looked a lot better on a graduate school application and I might have felt ready to apply earlier. So if you’re going to leave for corporate or whatever, you should really fight for those chips so you’re not so frustrated by things like the slowness or anything else.
Lol so many of these entry level strategic finance, fp&a and start up corp roles at tech companies try to entice IB analysts with more chill lifestyle where they could “work in a rapidly changing tech environment, wear many hats and every day is unique and different but you won’t have to work 80 hours a week like in IB” which essentially means:
- you’ll be doing 3 peoples jobs and you’ll be held to the highest expectations for all those roles you take on
- there’s no job stability whatsoever
- still lots of unpredictability
- people quit all the time
- you’ll still be working 50-60 hour weeks
- despite working a little less, you may still often feel unhappy, unfulfilled and stressed out like you did in IB
Lol had a friend who went to one of these tech finance roles, sounds spot on to what I’ve heard
Say you had a serious health issue (true) which prevented you from being able to continue with IB.
Agree. Don't say mental health. I am pro-getting help but someone looking at your resume for 30 seconds isn't going to take the time to tell the difference between someone who needs help versus TikTok style "mental health" complaining. Just say health issues that are now better. You're under no obligation to disclose the details.
Yep definitely agree. Serious mental health issues are completely equal to physical health issues in terms of severity but unfortunately some people will still have a stigma likely due to the type of people you mentioned. Best to not mention as its a private matter anyway and stick with a serious health issue.
First of all, thanks for the answers. This is actually an approach that I haven't thought about.
Only doubts I have about this is that:
1) Financial industry is a small world - people might ask their connections at my previous bank about me and these health issues. They would be completely unaware of both mental and physical health issues as I did not communicate anything there.
2) Networking is still a large part in the whole game and many people would ask the same questions. I am a bit worried about "lying" to 100+ people about that. I also have friends at most companies that I would go for - don't know how to balance what I can tell them off-the-job vs what I tell recruiting.
You aren't and weren't required to disclose medical details to your (former) employer. That's all it takes to explain why they wouldn't know about it. if you just say "major health issue" nobody should/will be able to press further. Just say you'd rather not go into it. And what would you be "lying" about? Its the truth.
Just be genuine in your reasoning. People can sometimes be stubborn or narrow minded, but if you’re young and come from a good school and bank then it shouldn’t be difficult for you to move into IB. You don’t need to emphasize too much on the mental health aspect of departing from your previous role, it’s important for you personally, but not super relevant when interviewing for new jobs
Just say the truth that you had a health condition that didn’t permit the hours (don’t specify what) and that you’re better now and want to jump back up
A lot of great advice here.
Would add that there’s nothing wrong with taking time off to figure things out or find what’s right for you. Shit happens, you’re young and people generally get it - if your interviewers don’t, then you likely don’t want to work at these types of groups as they’ll expect you’d dedicate all your free time and efforts to doing menial tasks, which is the majority of the reason why people get tired of the analyst role to begin with
tell them you want to get back because "this comeback is personal" with a straight face and see HR scream LFGO
I'd strongly recommend you don't mention mental health issues. While it's a perfectly legit reason and many had similar issues, this industry is still way too toxic to understand / openly admit to these and may sadly raise questions which can only hurt you in getting an offer. Craft a solid narrative around your career moves and stick to it.
Corporate analyst just ain’t it
Ok Analyst 2 😂
Just chiming in to say that I did something similar and ended up spending five years out of IB. I started applying at around the four year mark and go zero interest at all. I now think I basically couldn’t get back in if I wanted to. I suspect the length of time away has been a problem. So if you’re going to go back, try to do it ASAP.
Will just finish one year here to get some industry learnings and make it seem as a deliberate move.
Then off to IB again (if the banking gods are benevolent) 😉
I wouldn’t even wait a year. If you’re absolutely certain you want to get back into IB, just start applying immediately. You won’t learn enough in a year for It to be of any long-term benefit unless you’re doing it out of some personal learning principle, which is valid.
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