1.5 Years of Being Unemployed and I am Starting to Spiral
Don't even know where to start.. I quit my job in investment banking in July 2023 because I was burnout and feeling overwhelmed and overworked. At a small shop I was working 100+ hour weeks constantly and I felt like I had to leave. Went traveling for 8-9 months and did not think the job market would be this bad on return. For the past 9 months now I have been applying for jobs all across Corporate Development, VC and even M&A again for the sake of getting a job. I've gotten very close to one-two roles but they ended up giving the offer to another candidate. I feel hopeless and genuinely wonder if life is worth living anymore. I have burned through my savings and am almost 28 years old. I graduated from a great bachelor's program but I just need one company to give me a chance and hire me and I will work day and night. I have the grit, I will do the 100 hour weeks again but I don't know why I am still stuck. Please help.
I wouldn't get another job that is 100 hours a week as you will end up wanting to quit again. I would broaden your search to corporate finance, strategy and IR as well, as those fields have way less hours. If you genuinely feel like life isn't worth living, I'm not sure finding a job will resolve that and I would recommend talking to a professional. Best of luck :)
Yeah you should def apply for corporate finance jobs. Unfortunately in this market you're gonna need to take a downgrade
Expand your search even for roles you're not too excited to take. I did this recently and I plan to eventually lateral to the jobs I want when the market heats up in the next ~6 months - 2 years. Already have 1 offer since pivoting this New Year (surprisingly many of these boring corporate jobs do pay pretty well given the lower salaries in the market across all corporate jobs).
Congrats to you! And yes I am definitely trying, applied to about 40 jobs this month and over 200 last year
The gap in employment is spooking future employers.
Yep. I have a gap of 7 months or so from 5 years ago when I went travelling and I still get asked about it in interviews like I committed a crime or something.
Being an employee absolutely sucks. People have normalized it but the amount of time and life they expect you to dedicate to your career, which is just being at service for someone else, is absurd. The earlier I get off this hellish conveyor belt, the better.
That’s absolutely wild, I would think the corporate world and culture would change by now but it hasn’t. I do think it’s my reason for not being able to land interviews but looking for any sort of hope here
"Like I committed a crime or something" - so accurate, wishing you all the best
This is so true, it's definitely what I'm suffering from and it absolutely sucks.
Could be wrong but I am not entirely sure the 8-9 month gap is such an issue. I think if you are tactical about your messaging you can come across looking brave and committed to a plan vs. reactive and frustrated. The messaging here is critical, and I think I would take the following approach, "My entire life I was working toward a goal of seeing the world, but I also was a realist and wanted to prepare myself for success. I worked tirelessly in high school to get into a top uni, while there I performed well and continued to work very hard, I then went on to do 4-5 years in banking. At this point I had sacrificed and worked hard for over a decade, and I knew if I did not break now to pursue my lifelong goal of seeing the world it would never happen."
Look, you and a friend of mine are from different worlds (he is a SWE) but he did something similar. Ultimately, it did impact his time to reenter the market, but it didnt remove him from all processes. Yes it can make you a #2 pick vs the #1 pick, but I think if you craft the right message you can turn this into a differentiator. Many folks in finance want to do the same and some may even applaud you for taking the risk. I mean shit, I am kicking myself for having never taken that same approach.
I know the market is brutal right now and at 28 with a drained bank account you are probably questioning every decision you ever made. Don't. You are clearly a smart guy / gal with a pretty high risk aversion (top uni, many years in IB, etc.), you did not do anything foolish. Own your path and ask yourself this, if this is the hardest situation I face in my life, is it really that hard? Could just be me, but putting things into perspective like this often helps.
Believe it or not, you will get through this, and you will land a job. Hang in there, leverage your network, reach out directly to the teams of anyone thats hiring, and keep grinding. Wish you the best dude / dudette
Bump - any luck OP?
Still on the hunt but trying my best. Thank you for checking in! The comments here have been helpful
I feel your pain man. As others said you are not alone. I quit my last role after making a bad lateral move (in hindsight probably shouldn't have quit but w/e) and still have yet to land something. As someone who is competitive and has a high motor, this has been the worst experience of my life and wouldn't wish it upon my worst enemy.
OP - DM me
I feel for you, must be a tough situation. Certainly know that you aren’t alone and you are young still…plenty of time. A career is long. With that said, be proud of yourself for having the courage to quit a job you didn’t like and to take the leap to travel. Not many people get to do that nor would have the courage. In terms of job searches, don’t confine yourself only to bona fide “high finance” jobs. So many different types of jobs out there. Sales..wealth management, sales for anything….fintech, selling secondaries/alt investments. I mean I’ve seen people pivot from a senior role in finance to an AE in enterprise software sales at age 38. My buddy quit his job and traveled a year as well, and landed a job paying more than before…although he works in project management for construction but still, point stands. Broaden your horizons, talk to as many people as you can and figure out if there’s another type of job that would interest you. Regardless, the IB experience is valuable.
I'm in the same boat man. I sleep in my car now in a major city and work 3 minimum wage jobs now since my roommate who makes 250k wasn't ok with paying more of the rent for a few months. No one including my family (some of them work in my industry) give a flying fuck about my situation. I tried working with my dad and lost thousands. I have 4 years of experience at different firms.
I also have 40k in credit card debt and growing. I get interviews all the time and it always leads nowhere. So theres other people in your situation.
Hang on. What are your job search parameters here such that there aren’t roles anywhere in your country to get out of sleeping in your car? Surely you’re constraining yourself by “needing” to stay in some market, vertical, function, etc?
I'm willing to move anywhere and do anything. I live in LA. I work 3 minimum wage jobs but thats still not enough to cover rent and the hours for each of them suck. I'm overqualified for analyst roles and jumped around too much (really just being let go and laid off) to get associate roles. I crush every excel test I've been given and have had a few final rounds but I'll get passed on because of short stints and them thinking I'll leave. Or I just don't gel with interviewers. Or according to a recruiter my background is suspicious due to short stinits. I don't think people who have a job understand how bad the job market is right now.
The reality is I sleep in my car becasue I barely have any cash to my name and the reality is I can not afford rent anymore. I've been unemployed 16/24 months across two roles I occasionally crash at friends places but most of them are unreliable and not true friends.
Sorry you are in a tough situation. But, hold on, what does your roommate making $250k have anything to do with paying your share of the rent? Would be great if he agrees to spot for a limited amount of time, but I don't see how his employment and income level would entitle you to a rent comp
He was complaining that he had to move out and was throwing a hissy fit that he had to move all of his stuff. I told him if he wanted to cover the rent at the beginning of the month I would pay him at the end of the month for each month going forward. He's so stingy about everything he said no and then complained he had to move out. If the roles were reversed I wouldnt have given a shit.
The only reason why I stayed in our apartment while I was unemployed and not found a cheaper place was to not screw him over and force him to find someone new or move out earlier.
When did I ever say I was entitled to a rent comp.
I'm in the same spot as you, feel free to pm me. Albeit I was in trade support and I've been unemployed for about 10 months now
10 months for me as well. Found out my ultra high achieving sibling just got laid off today. Albeit they're in a way better position financially than me.
This economy is a complete joke.
What do you say when they ask what you've been doing this whole time? I've been trying to take online courses like Wallstreet prep for DCF's (lol), youtube for python practice, options trading book to read and take notes on,etc.
What industry is your sibling in?
I've been unemployed since graduating from college last year and its been getting harder and harder to stay motivated. I've gone through so many rounds of interviews (they all usually last months+ for all the stupid rounds to be done). Feeling so lost :/
This job market is a complete joke. Its so dumb that college grads cant get jobs and companies are taking their time on purpose.
I finally landed an entry bizdev role after 3 months of interviews for the company, absolutely cooked job market. don't give up y'all
Take a downgrade, work somewhere and do something.
Not being employed is not good for your health.
The article below describes the current job market perfectly (IMO) if anyone is interested. I think a lot of people feel hopeless rn, including myself, I think companies are purposely doing this to college grads to create a bigger wealth gap in generations (but that might be a little far-fetched, idk just a random thought). https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2025/02/jobs-unemployment-big-freeze/681831/
Why would companies want to create wealth gaps in generations?
If anything - they are just trying to save costs for their bottom line, are shocked from rate increases, and off-shoring jobs. This is coming from someone struggling.
People are naturally driven by power and greed. Most want to be the best, and the world can be ruthless. Many will do anything for money, prestige, and control. This forum reflects that—OP could take a lower-paying, less prestigious job, but human nature pushes us to always want more. When it comes to generational gaps, those at the top prioritize their own—family and friends—to maintain power and status over others thus creating the gap of power, money, prestige, etc... over people like OP who just need a chance to prove themselves, but arent able to rn.
This is the boomers last hurrah to permanently screw over the youngest millennials and gen z for good.
Same boat here
I'm 28 too, I've been applying for a ton of jobs over the last 9+ months too and failed to land anything. While I was initially a bit more selective focused on traditional IB exits like PE/ER/HF/AM/VC/Corp Dev/Fin/Strategy/endowments etc as I really aimed to stay longer in my next role, I failed to land anything. After my layoff in Nov I broadened my search to applying for PB/WM and other corporate/middle office/government/startup/BD/sales/alts/crypto jobs. I am ok with a downgrade with brand or even resetting as a entry level junior because I am moving between different countries, but even with that I have not had success with an offer so far. I've gone for some interviews and they were amazed at my passion and how much prior research I did for a random government job, though I still got rejected. I think they were just uncomfortable that my previous stints were abit short (1 year FOF then 2 year IB before layoff even though I already explained how that was a decision previously and I was committed to staying on). Ironically I think I got the furthest in the process with final rounds for the most competitive roles, so I don't think it is due to lack of ability.
I've been unemployed for about 5 months now and it's been very mentally challenging, especially with interviews today being longer and more complicated than before even for non finance jobs. So many employers nowadays (even non-finance) expect you to do free case studies before you even get to speak to anyone. I've seen jobs openings that were posted at least 1 year ago still getting reposted all the time. I can imagine that it must be much more tiring for your case.
I understand employers are cautious about taking on new hires who may pursue better roles in the future, but right now things are completely cooked. Clearly there are jobs available and skilled people who really want to get back to work, and the whole thing is really frustrating.
Will be 2 years soon. Accepted that I will be attending an MBA program in the fall.
Thanks to OP and others who have chimed in with the difficulties they are going through. It's refreshing as this honesty isnt usually on this site.
I'm 32. I'm 20 months unemployed since working FT last, and will be 11 years out of undergrad as of July. It's absolutely frustrating, especially when I network with individuals to try and target roles that they'll claim are "too junior" for me despite me insisting I do not care. I've made it "far" in maybe 3 interview processes, and each time have lost it to people younger than me but they have more "direct" experience.
I'm in NYC, so best "market" to be in but I've been striking out. Despite going to a target, networking with alumni of my school has been an absolute waste of time. Like legitimately - none of those interview processes came about due to an alum helping, with two of those three me getting help from a random person I reached out to on LinkedIn.
Not at "sleeping in car" yet but this past week had my first "I just did not sleep one night because I had nowhere to stay."
Bumping for visibility and hoping the broader WSO community just keeps this on its radar.
For the guys and gals struggling out there, realize you’re a tough individual when it comes to perseverance just by virtue of having worked in this industry. I entered finance from b2b tech strategy and ops and my resilience is much higher now because of my time in banking and PE.
I don’t have a job for folks right now but if the firm I’m working with succeeds I’ll be coming back here to ask for resumes.
Same boat. Getting interviews and even superdays but still haven't converted anything. Not looking forward to the holidays when hiring will inevitably stop until January
Don't want to hijack topic but I had several gaps in experience due extended cancer treatment and career gaps are nearly insurmountable once they extend too long. I recommend any of you that are struggling to get some consulting work part-time as soon as you are able. I don't believe recruiting is managed in a sensible way and I don't think most recruiting targets align with the principles of successful management or investing.
I'd love some consulting work part time - how do we even get that?
I cannot say I have a strategy for it but I think if you have a few years of experience reaching out to start-ups or search funds is doable and doesn't look that different from the emails I recall sending when much younger and looking for internships. Look for entrepreneurs or investors announcing a company launch/funding round. Then try to align your value proposition to whatever you want to do. It isn't a high hit rate but I view it as an asymmetric bet.
Maybe try private credit or secondaries? M&A background should be transferable in a way
Ipsam magnam repudiandae quos necessitatibus. Expedita voluptas quo cum et eveniet maxime odio illum. Deserunt qui perferendis et quia nihil.
Sint non aut et sapiente. Dolore rerum commodi omnis sit ea assumenda. Amet laudantium reiciendis voluptatem repellendus officia illum. Quae est qui non mollitia laborum et dolor. Mollitia molestiae aut voluptas ipsam expedita.
See All Comments - 100% Free
WSO depends on everyone being able to pitch in when they know something. Unlock with your email and get bonus: 6 financial modeling lessons free ($199 value)
or Unlock with your social account...
Aut illo rerum aut quibusdam veniam. Qui voluptatibus magni possimus fugit quo cum ut. Consectetur minus rerum rem id voluptas. Voluptatem non culpa doloremque ab iusto.
Totam earum itaque recusandae ratione eum. Quis error minus porro esse quis et. Dolor ut modi nostrum a omnis impedit. Placeat quam nisi dolorum libero. Dolorum cumque est sit voluptatem. Distinctio animi culpa labore sed. Iusto aut praesentium illum.
Eius laudantium dolores dignissimos sed pariatur rerum. Excepturi in qui laudantium impedit nemo possimus. Ullam autem omnis iure.
Corrupti ut quae ullam distinctio eum. Sunt eos rem deleniti. Quaerat quo magni et numquam et consequatur consequatur. Omnis earum aliquam ut. Modi qui sit ipsum soluta quam mollitia voluptatem.
Voluptatem praesentium minus corrupti excepturi et. Rerum est quia amet aperiam sunt.
Cum ea eveniet provident est repellendus similique consequuntur. Aliquam et provident possimus error distinctio. Similique adipisci ea voluptas occaecati debitis.
Tenetur sapiente placeat esse id molestiae quo rerum. Sunt ratione nesciunt enim quas. Eaque dolores error dicta in eaque veniam. Totam necessitatibus eius impedit incidunt suscipit. Veritatis sit aut ut quo ratione.