How to redo an1 year in a different product group?

Hi all,

TLDR my situation is, I did my analyst 1 year in SPAC land at a LMM boutique, things crashed and burnt in ‘22/‘23, the bank cancelled its SPAC strategy and laid off the team. I couldn’t lateral internally to M&A due to hiring freeze although the team tried pretty hard to bring me on board, it was blocked at highest levels of mgmt. 

I realize that although I know a shit ton about SPACs, it’s useless in this market. Even boutique ECM desks won’t hire me for openings because I don’t have IPO/follow-on experience.

The advice I’ve gotten is that it would benefit me to redo my analyst 1 year in M&A or DCM, but who the hell would take someone of my profile for analyst 1? 
 

if you think about it, I don’t see why banks wouldn’t prefer me over a campus hire. I should look better on paper because I have a year of developing soft skills, being in a high pressure role which makes me more dependable, etc. 

Any suggestions for how to approach redoing my first year? Looking for networking tips, how to position the situation, etc…