Laid Off - Need Guidance / Reality Check

I was recently laid off as a corporate banking analyst III at a large international bank in NY covering the REGAL sector after a year and some change there. I had left a top Valuation/Advisory analyst position at another bank (also after a year) for this role (deal experience and personal interest in the coverage area versus a very generalist workload at the Valuation gig). Responsibilities were Underwriting, supporting the RM's with marketing materials, and Portfolio Management. Both roles provided a lot of modeling experience and client material prep.

They stressed the layoffs were not performance-based and I have co-workers to provide references if needed but regardless it has left me in a tough spot in this market and with a bad taste in my mouth considering I was recruited to the role. I'm concerned about the optics of having two 1-year stints on my resume.

I have been struggling to get a decent picture of what my realistic options are given my experience. My initial plan was to stay in the corp bank role to gain further proficiency in the REGAL sector and then trying to lateral into IB, or move into a more CRE-focused role with the end goal of ending up in an acquisitions, development or AM role at a REIT, REPE fund or RE focused AM. Is this end goal feasible for me at this point? If it is remotely feasible, what roles should I be targeting to position myself optimally? If it's not, where do I go from here?

4 Comments
 

Excuse the job title but was in CRE prior. I think you are actually in a pretty solid position to recruit for RE. It may not be the IB -> REPE type funds but regardless, I think anything position on your list is feasible. You could probably get into debt brokerage or capital markets the easiest. Would that interest you

 

Absolutely, I've been applying to those types of roles and trying to cold network as much as possible but haven't gotten many bites so far aside from a couple ghost recruiters. It's still early into the process I suppose (laid off in Dec), but eventually gonna run through the savings and I wanted to make sure I wasn't being delusional w/ those targets lol. If you have any insight on some good firms to target or good recruiters to get in contact with, feel free to PM, would be much appreciated

 

Qui ipsa veniam sed aliquid voluptate. Veritatis recusandae voluptates vel eveniet.

Sit reiciendis similique illo omnis. Nihil harum voluptatibus beatae quis illo possimus. Quia provident saepe quaerat amet consequatur suscipit consectetur. Laborum cupiditate quam et.

Ducimus officiis quibusdam ut corrupti nulla sint omnis et. Aliquid corrupti eum id repellat et. Incidunt esse quasi et. Sunt ut rerum voluptatem voluptatem culpa impedit. Vel ea qui quae sit.

Career Advancement Opportunities

September 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.5%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.4%
  • Goldman Sachs 01 97.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.3%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

September 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.5%
  • Morgan Stanley 03 98.9%
  • Evercore 01 98.4%
  • Banco Santander 02 97.9%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.3%

Professional Growth Opportunities

September 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.5%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 98.4%
  • Goldman Sachs 01 97.9%
  • JPMorgan No 97.3%

Total Avg Compensation

September 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (16) $429
  • Associates (53) $259
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (27) $183
  • Intern/Summer Associate (15) $159
  • 1st Year Analyst (84) $151
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (76) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”