Want to Work in NYC. What Should I Do?
I am a college senior who got a full-time offer at a MM/EB firm in a regional office. The team is one of the best in its covered industry (good deal flow and many >$1bn deals, great comp as well). However, I am not very interested in this industry and I always wanted to work in NY for the generalist program. I really need some advice here and I would appreciate any suggestions on how to make the jump.
I guess there are two questions:
Should I continue to recruit for full time or should I wait for lateral opportunities after I start working full time? Given that full time recruiting is basically over and it's also dangerous to burn bridges now.
Is it worth it if I join a weaker team in NY? I know that many would say that if I am not interested in the industry, I should look for other opportunities. However, maybe the exit opportunity would become worse if I jump to a weaker NY team?
I would appreciate any input!
Living on analyst money in NYC is pretty difficult. The "NY dream" sucks in reality when you are living in a 600sf 1 bedroom flexed to 2 bedrooms and still paying huge rent.
It's going to be hard to find an equally good FT job at this point, and very few NY programs are "generalist" - you will be placed into an industry, probably not of your choice. M&A is "generalist" but that is usually pre-filled with returning interns.
My advice: Stay in your current role for 1 year and then start looking for lateral opportunities if you still want to be in NY. It will not be hard to move to an EB/BB with a year of solid experience
Thank you for your advice and it's very helpful! Is it really not hard to move to an EB/BB in NY after a year working in a regional office? I always feel like opportunities are limited for EB/BB laterals. Thanks!
More analysts than you'd think leave after a year/year and a half, and it's hard to poach other BB/EB classes especially those with PE offers. EB IB analyst (even if from energy, tech, or some other non-NY industry) with deal experience >>>> FP&A guy from industry with no experience.
I’ll switch with you. Would love to be a regional vs NYC
Why tho? Isn't NYC the best
Is this HLHZ?
I would not recommend joining a weaker team to be in NYC, and this is coming from a guy who places a very high value on being in NYC.
You know what sucks worse than wanting to be in NYC and not being there? Being there and being afraid you won't be able to stay there. That blows. You're in NYC and loving it (even with the long hours and shitty apt, it's a cool place) but you're not sure you'll be able to stay because maybe the next promotion won't hit or whatever long-term career goal you have is too competitive to land one in NYC. And you worry because some weakness on your resume raises the possibility that you won't land your next gig there. You don't want to be in that situation, and you get there by compromising your quality of work experience for superficial things (location, company brand etc).
I know some people who are able to move to NYC and be very comfortable that it'll only be a brief chapter in their life. They make an NYC bucket list and are happy knowing they made the most of the time there. If you're one of those, then great.
But if you want to get to NYC and possibly make it your long term home, you want to be in the best career situation possible. Joining a strong team is important because deal flow is what will make you a better candidate over time, which will give you the ability to push your employer for a transfer or lateral to NYC for someone else. It's also what will keep you employed when times get lean.
Thank you and this is very insightful! It's true that career quality comes first, over other things like location, brand name, etc.
Addition question here. Should I start networking with NY bankers now so I have people to reach out to by the time I want to lateral over? Thanks!
Which regional location, if I may inquire? If it is West Coast, I would stay as exit opps on WC are also top tier.
Unfortunately, it's not West Coast...
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