Laid off - Advice?
Hey monkeys,
I got laid off about 6 months ago, and have been looking for jobs but not too successful (mostly just buyside seats). My bio is: ~1 yr of investing experience in a large AM/SWF in public equities in North America as an analyst (covered consumers). The layoff was due to a reduction in headcount.
Any advice on how to get back in the buyside (hopefully public equities, if not private equity) game? Unlike other IB people, its quite hard for me to land any IB interviews as I have no IB experience, and buyside seats are often hard to get as they require more YoE (around 2 years of IB seems like). I feel kinda stuck right now. Ultimately, I want to get to a hedge fund role in public equities but this seems impossible given my current situation (people seem to avoid laid off candidates; HHs seemed to avoid me after I mentioned the layoff)
I have had about ~10 interviews (mostly buyside seats in private credit, PE, and public equities) in the last 6 months, but I was dinged in the first rounds for about ~8 of the 10. For most of the first rounds, I know I did well (some were just purely behaviorals which I know I did definitely fine), but I just can't shake off the feeling that I was dinged probably due to telling them that I was laid off. This thinking makes me feel worse.
I would appreciate any feedback and advice.
Hey there, fellow primate!
First off, keep your chin up! The finance jungle can be tough, but remember, every setback is a setup for a comeback. Here are a few bananas of wisdom to help you swing back into the game:
Networking is Key: You've got to leverage your network. Connect with former colleagues, alumni, and industry professionals. Don't just ask for a job; seek advice, insights, and introductions. The more people you have rooting for you, the better your chances of finding that next opportunity.
Polish Your Story: When it comes to your layoff, spin it positively. Focus on what you learned and how you've grown from the experience. Be honest but strategic – you were part of a headcount reduction, which is a common industry occurrence and not a reflection of your abilities.
Broaden Your Horizon: While buyside roles are attractive, don't put all your bananas in one basket. Consider other roles that can act as stepping stones to your ultimate goal. This could include positions in equity research, corporate finance, or even a stint in IB to gain the experience you mentioned is often required.
Skill Up: Use this time to beef up your skills. Whether it's financial modeling, industry analysis, or even coding, showing that you're proactive about learning can be a big plus.
Interview Prep: Since you're getting interviews, you're doing something right. But there's always room for improvement. Practice makes perfect, so keep honing your interview skills, especially for those tricky behavioral questions.
Remember, the finance world is small, and a good impression can go a long way. Keep swinging through the networking vines, and you'll find your place in the finance canopy again. Good luck! 🍌🐒
Sources: Seeking advice - Decade of experience in niche sector and laid off, The First 3 Things You Should Do if You’re Part of The Layoffs, I was fired today, don't know what to do...., Laid off, Depressed and Giving up..., graduated may 2019 and recently laid off first job
What was your role exactly because the AM umbrella covers a lot of different things.
One thing I notice about your post is that you speak in broad terms about the industry . . 'buyside' alone is very broad, and at times you go even broader and say 'finance'.
The fit needs to be a lot tighter than that. IB for example wants you to answer a pretty strictly defined set of valuation technicals. HFs want to see skills appropriate for the strategy, i.e. a fundamentally oriented HF wants to see that you can analyze a business while a quant fund may want some level of quant skills.
So I'd suggest going a level deeper on what your role was, what skills your target firms need, and how strong is the fit between your background and the role. Your post implies that two firms moved you past the first round; those would be an indication of which kind of firms really value your background.
Hey, sorry about not being too specific; will edit my post.
I worked in a SWF type in a public equities investing arm as an analyst. The "buyside" that I was referring to was basically any buyside seats literally such as private credit, secondaries, public equities, PE, and etc (got desperate in the last 4 months and started applying to jobs in more niche sectors like secondaries).
I find it extra challenging in my situation as I have a unique background compared to the IB folks, making my situation more challenging
I think you want to narrow your search to subsets of the buy side where you have the specific skill set they are after. What were the kinds of firms that moved you past the first round?
in a similar spot. DM me
While it is possible you were dinged because you were laid off, I think generally industry people understand that reduction in headcount is a fact of life.
I think the other reason is that you are coming from another buyside role rather than investment banking (which you alluded to in your post). The benefit coming from banking / sell-side is that the hiring manager is more confident about the skillset a banking analyst brings. Said another way, banking analysts will have 2 months of standardized training before joining their respective groups and executing transactions (if they're lucky). Therefore, a hiring manager is reasonably confident on the candidates' quality based on, say, a 2-month program in Training The Street and the sell-side's entity's reputation.
You might be a little more of a wild card for a hiring manager compared to a candidate coming from the sell-side since the quality of a candidate coming from the buyside is more varied; most people would know what a sell-side analyst did in their 2-year program, but no one could guess what a buy-side analyst did without asking you questions.
I don't have any surefire ways to overcome this potential issue. One suggestion would be to lean into the fact that you are coming from the buyside, so there are some buyside-specific experience that someone from the sell-side could not internalize. For example, you might understand why a buyside firm would accelerate/decelerate their investment pacing, or manage risk based on the concentration of any specific investment product, geography exposure, etc. This way, you can show not only can you do the basics of the jobs you are applying for (I suspect it's modeling, analyzing, etc.), but that you intuitively know what investors have to consider and weigh, beyond just the investment side of the business.
Thanks for the comment. This really helps.
Do you think I should mention my layoff right away to the headhunters? Most buyside people I talk to usually tell me HH is the gateway but HHs tend to ignore me as soon as I mention the layoff story (at least this is what I feel).
I think being transparent with HHs is a good idea. If HHs suggest a candidate to their clients and was not aware of certain details, it would look very bad for them (and ultimately, won't help you).
On the other hand, I would try to put it in context. For example, if you know what percent of the firm was laid off, you could say "10% of the firm was laid off as a directive from management, and I was one of those affected."
You could also add some clarifiers as well. Perhaps this was a pre-MBA analyst position (or if not explicitly marketed that way, implicitly pre-MBA), and this is more like a 2-year program rather than a career track, which made it easier for the firm to let people in these positions go.
Lastly, I would also say what you have been doing during your time off. Perhaps you know folks in the HF space that have been trying to do something on the side, and you offered to be a resource as you looked for your next full-time opportunity. Everyone has ideas on the buy-side, but they don't have time or capacity to work on something even part-time, so if you show that you are taking advantage of this time off to try something out of left field, that could also be a great conversation starter.
The macroenvironment is tough, so everyone is being conservative with their hiring practices. Just try to remember that people who are evaluating you as a candidate are just as worried about keeping their jobs.
HH are among the most useless people of the industry, second only to internal recruitment within HR divisions. The amount of horror stories I could share wouldn't fit in a book, I would have to go Harry Potter on those f**kfaces.
Stay strong and rooting for you !
agreed that HHs are the worst people. Thanks for the comment
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