Same boat right now, almost 5 years of exp including IB and am just burned the f out. Hours / job haven’t even bad lately but just hate this corporatist bullshit.

My thoughts are that you’d have a hard time returning to IB/PE (unless your current shop loves you, in that case maybe negotiate a return) or getting super competitive roles like VC/HF, but you can find a decent corporate role even after taking this break. That said it’s obviously better to find a job while you have a job and you’re less likely to regret quitting IB if you find a great opportunity, whereas quitting w/o job hurts your ability to do so, bit of a catch 22 here….

 

Yeah my hours have been pretty good lately but I'm just tired of the people / being chained to the work environment. Really want to get out and explore the world for a good period of time, especially before i turn 30...

I have enough savings to last a while so money isn't an issue. I wouldnt be too worried about a career gap in a normal macro environment - but this upcoming downturn is concerning  

 

I’m coming up on my two years. With wfh (in a cheap city) I have saved a lot of money. I am most likely going to take 3-4 months off and then try to recruit into PE or back into a MM banking. Been told that’s an awful idea… I don’t understand why?…

I’ve seen people go from big 4 accounting to BB M&A. Why can’t someone with banking experience take a few months off.

 

I dont think 3-4 months break is bad at all and should be fairly easy to return back to the work force - that's if it were in a healthy market. However my main concern is the current macro environment where there's potential for layoffs and hiring freezes for extended period of time 

 
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