Thinking of switching from IB to a boutique firm

I'm currently a first year associate at a big four bank working in real estate. My team relies alot on juniors, and VPs on the team are unreliable and often pawn their work off to juniors. Everyone on the team has gone to our MD about this, and they refuse to do anything and infact have promoted people despite the feedback. I'm thinking of leaving to a boutique real estate team started only a few years ago, and I'm excited with the idea of being a driver in a company rather than a cog in the machine. Does anyone have any advice on how to determine if I should go that route? I love the security I have at my job, but I think that because of it no one ever gets fired for being incapable and I want a job where everyone can contribute. 

2 Comments
 

Can advise a little bit as I work at a boutique with similar characteristics as you mentioned, but I’m an Analyst so take it how you want. I can say first-hand that it’s really fulfilling being part of a team where you’re actually driving the firms growth as a “junior” and have a lot of autonomy over your work. The whole concept of a “cog in the machine” really resonated with me and it’s not necessarily that I actively hated it but it’s more of a “grass is a lot greener” in that respect kind of thing. The environment I feel has a lot of pressure but that’s the trade-off you get with more responsibility.

If the comp can be the same with bonus, i think it could be a great thing since you’re craving some of the things that boutiques would definitely provide.

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