Struggling to find a job as a laid off analyst
Hey all -
I was laid off recently. I have gone through many interviews in the last two months since the lay off, but have struggled to convert. I did receive 1 PE offer, but turned it down due to low comp and a long commute to CT.
In the beginning, I definitely was not ready for cases, but have since seen that my problem is simply not having enough experience. Even though I was employed for a year, I really only had 4-6 months on the desk and deal activity was slow. I have learned to start embellishing my experience since then, but was wondering if anyone has advice on how to navigate this?
I am starting to get nervous now that I have been looking for 2.5 months seriously. My employment officially ended about 3 weeks ago and I would prefer not to have a long gap on my resume as I assume this is a red flag.
I am targeting buyside roles that typically require 2 years of experience as I really do not want to go back to IB. I feel I would definitely have to downgrade firms as there are only a few groups comparable in terms of "prestige" for whatever that is worth and I also hated banking.
This is a bit of a rant, but I guess my questions are
1. How are others faring recruiting in this environment?
2. Is buyside after 1 year reasonable or should I lower my expectations and try to do another year of IB?
3. When should I start to be worried? I don't have any liquidity issues thanks to saving aggressively, but am afraid of derailing my career after going through a long journey to climb the ranks and get to this group / bank.
Any advice is much appreciated!
Well the market isn't great right now. Don't be discouraged. Experience is experience, no one really cares if you have have 1 or 2 years if you can do what someone with 2 years experience typically do. 1 year IB doesn't sound like a great resume for buyside. You don't like IB. I don't really know your situation, but some ideas I might suggest:
1. Check out S&T? It really doesn't sounds like IB is your thing. You might find this more fun.
2. Apply for an MBA. 13 months is almost 2 years, and you worked at a BB. You kick the can, and can do on campus recruiting.
3. Leave the industry. You just don't sound like you love this business. It sounds like a chore for you, something you have to do, boxes you have to check. Maybe that's why you're not converting interviews. Maybe think about if this is what you really want to do, and if it is, come back with enthusiasm.
Your next move probably is not to a BB or equivalent buyside firm. Figure out what roles you want to target and then take a look at some less fancy firms. Worry about that later.
I'm not in IB but also got laid off and struggling to find work. You're not alone. Been through a lot of final rounds with no offer.
Hey man really hope you find something soon. Just keep getting shots on goal and try to see your processes through to the end. Market is terrible right now with far more junior bankers looking for seats than are available.
I was laid off late 2022 from my bank with even less experience (joined Summer 2022 lol). My class was hit hard and many are still looking. It took me quite a while to find my current seat. Needless to say, the hiring market has been completely dead so far this year. I got looks mostly from regional or industry boutiques and some smaller funds. Had about 10 main interview processes. All were pretty lengthy with case studies, modeling tests and writing samples. Spoke with about 30 places in total but many just ghosted.
I was mostly looking at banks but was open to PE so I interviewed at some cool LMM shops. One of those worked out and I’ve found myself on the buy side a bit earlier than planned. I think in this market you have to take whatever you can get and maybe lateral to what you really want to do when the market improves. Best of luck
How did you navigate explaining the lay off? I’ve had varied responses. Some don’t care at all and say no problem it’s happening a lot in this economy but others become very skeptical of my performance. I mention up front that I can provide references and that the lay off was not performance based but was just laying off the lateral off cycle hires. Seems some people don’t buy that
can you please pm me?
Did you find yourself obtain these LMM interviews through headhunters or networking?
Buyside associate is not realistic with only 1 year of experience and not currently having a job. They are going to take people with 2 years of experience or even 1.5 years of experience ahead of you. Unfortunately the layoff does hurt you a lot here.
Think you need to be a lot more open to a variety of roles. Even back to IB is going to be tricky because there are VERY few jobs for a LOT of laid-off analysts. I would look at corporate jobs - corp dev/strategy etc, general corp finance, things like that. You may need to flex a bit on role, 6 month gap is about the longest I'd recommend without inviting a lot of questions or concerns and interviews are taking forever these days.
I wouldn't be too worried right now given only been a few months, but don't waste another 3 months looking for buyside associate roles you're honestly not qualified for.
The thing is I have been getting interviews for buyside associate roles so it has to be possible right?
Interviews aren't offers... you're underqualified for associate jobs especially if you had little time on the desk and no real deals. See if you can find any PE analyst roles if you are set on buyside, but those are still incredibly competitive and someone with more experience/more dealflow is going to be in front of you.
You can keep interviewing for associate jobs as you look at other roles... but if you are struggling that is why. You need to be open to other jobs otherwise you may be looking at a 6-9+ month gap
You definitely have a chance. I recruited for buyside after 1 year and got multiple offers and as you said, you are getting interviews. If they didn’t think you were qualified in the first place then you wouldn’t get an interview. I found that you just have to be extremely confident and competent. You have to prove to them that you can be as good as a 2nd year analyst mostly from a maturity standpoint / knowing what makes a good investment, delivering an investment thesis etc. good luck tho, you got it!
MM firms like KeyBanc / Raymond James / Harris Williams will take you in a heartbeat. Might have to move to a non NYC office though
edit
You should have taken that pe job. Call them and see if you can still do it.
This is the worst hiring environment on wall street since 2008 through 2010. It may not get better for a few years..and could actually get worse.
You had an offer to do PE. The pay you want can come later. As for the CT commute...deal with it. Trust me as someone that lived through the recession turning down a job over taking the metro north 38 mins to greenwich was not something people did.
Do you think deal flow and the hiring environment will be like this for years? Obviously never lived through a recession in my short career but thought deal flow would start coming back when rates start getting cut next year after we peak and pause sometime in the next few months.
Ill bite - try looking for a sell side equity research position. This is the great 'bridge' between S&T (truly having your pulse on the markets) and banking (strict focus on 'value' and strategic alternatives). The comp is fine and will still land you in the top decile of your college class. Time spent in an ER role with a decently ranked analyst can bolster your rep as a guy who understands their respective industry while also checking off the 'thinking like an investor' requirement of buyside roles you want to apply to 1 to 2 years down the road. Say what you want about SS ER but you will be up against IB analysts who have never been challenged to think like an investor a single day in their careers. Without knowing the details of your IB experience, I would suspect that most aspects you hated about your stint in IB (inhumanely long hours, pressure to make shit up on short deadlines, etc.) will not be present in ER. While its up to you to execute on your ultimate conversion to the buyside, in my experience buyside firms and recruiters eat up the ER + IB backgrounds as its the best of both the investing and technical/process knowledge worlds.
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