Is it ok to quit in current economic conditions?

Some of you may find this foolish, but I'm hoping to get some constructive feedback here. Long story short - I recently quit my stable career in IB in a developing country and migrated to a financial hub in a developed country. I was fortunate enough to land a decent job within a short span of time, and I jumped on this first opportunity (running out of unemployment savings quickly), ignoring my dislike/misfit for a mid-tier coverage role for a large bank. I took this role with an objective to quickly learn about the new market and polish some rust (been in last role for 5 yrs as Senior), however I have quickly found myself a misfit in the role, party because of low interest and slow-learning. I have progressively lost focus in the job (been about 6 months now) and the sinking feeling has severely affected my work life balance since I have to put long hours to meet short deadlines. In the last few years, I have been contemplating to move out of banking, and look for opportunities in corporates. However I am not able to have clarity of thought due to burnout and feel the need to reset before I look for alternatives.

Would it be irrational to quit and start looking full time for corpfin/corpdev/strategy roles for corporates? Appreciate your opinions on the approach.

2 Comments
 
Most Helpful

I know how you feel. I jumped into a role at a multi-manager hedge fund that was the complete opposite of what I thought it would be and burned out quickly.

The best advice I can give is to do all that you can to stay in your current role and recruit on the side. I know it may be hard, but you don't want to put yourself in a situation where you are forced to take a job because being unemployed for more than two months will drive you crazy and desperate for another job.

Take a week off work to recharge your batteries. You will feel a lot better once you can recharge your batteries. Then make a plan and dedicate time each day to recruiting on the side.

Talk about my own experiences in more detail below if interested:

* How to Properly Quit a Job You Hate

* Experiencing Signs of Job Burnout? Learn Why it Happens and How to Overcome it

Hope it's helpful.

 

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