I am giving serious consideration to requesting an internal transfer to my group’s London office and would appreciate some takes and advice from people who have made a similar move.
My background: I was an analyst to associate promote at a MM bank and have spent my career in one coverage group. I’m in my early thirties, married and no kids. Have been in NYC for 15+ years and while I love the city, living abroad for the short-medium term has always been something that strongly appealed to me. My wife is in tech and therefore able to work remotely from anywhere. I feel as though this is my chance to enjoy no strings attached life before having kids in ~3 years. We are avid travelers and would use this opportunity to visit different sites in Europe on weekends and holidays.
Considerations and concerns: The three main issues I see here are timing of the ask, compensation, and career progression. Biggest concern is timing of the ask - how to delicately and tactfully open the discussion with the manager. Given the business disruption from COVID-19 and the general chaos, I would love to hear opinions on how to best approach this. Other considerations include whether a salary cut is in play, and how this would generally affect career progression and the ability to come back state side after a year or two.
Would love to hear some thoughts. Thanks.
Sounds like a good thing to pursue. Most top level execs these days have international work experiences.
Biggest things to keep in mind are: 1) a contract to return to, unless you’re fine with staying on in London, 2) proper wage adjustment as NY pays more than London.
Depending on your relationship with your manager, you should certainly bring it up. it’s always better to have an employee work within the institution than leave it.
Thanks, can you clarify the first point: a contract to return to? I signed a contract when I got promoted to asso. Are you suggesting I request another contract that governs the terms of my relocation? What would be the stipulations? Thanks for your input.
how senior are you? basically the guy means make sure you have a spot back in NYC when you want to come back. aside from 3rd year analysts doing 1 year stints, I’ve seen so so so many examples of people going to london thinking it would be only for a couple years but then getting stuck there for 5-10 years. it happens all the time because when you do a transfer, from a headcount perspective you’re gone from the NYC books and they will only take you back if there is a new hiring need that comes up down the line. one of my old bosses got stuck in london for 7 years when she thought it would be 3. she basically ended up begging the partners she knew to find her a place and got one but doing something different than what she originally was doing/different group. (ended up getting British dual citizenship in the meantime tho lol)
Bump
Anyone else relocated to London that can offer some pro tips
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