Started in ER with a boutique firm covering tech in 2019, and 2 years later moved to a slightly larger MM bank in 2021 as a 2nd Year Analyst in IB. Got promoted to ASO, but in late-2023 was RIF'd due to drop in deal activity. Secured a job in 2024 with a 20 person M&A boutique paying ~30% less than most. The WLB is good with some spikes in hours, and very non face-time after 6pm and WFH often when MDs travel. The kicker is mandates are often $10-20M ARR companies falling flat on churn or concentration and management puts lots of BD stress on VPs and Ds working longer hours than juniors prepping campaigns and CRM reports.
Long-term outlook seems rather bleak so I've tried to leverage my experience to break into CorpDev, IR, move up to a larger firm, or attempts at VC / PE (very longshot, yes). The success I get for 1st round interviews are just other IB boutiques vs anything else.
Curious if there's anyone that can speak to moving up/out of the boutique landscape and if this is just a factor of the broader market or should I just accept I'm in boutique IB land for long haul and just be grateful to still be in the industry and enjoy the ride?
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