Quitting IB @6 months
I hit the desk about 4 months ago, and dread going into work every day. The work itself isn’t difficult but the stress, tight deadlines and implications of making mistakes leads me to make mistakes.
I did my SA at a buy side firm and didn’t get the return basically because I was incompetent and I remember what it felt like to have people turn on me in real time. I’m starting to experience that once more and I’m honestly just tired of this feeling despite putting my best foot forward and constantly optimizing.
I don’t think I’m cut out for IB or even finance in general and am thinking of making a switch 6 months in (can’t imagine doing 1 year let alone 2). I dislike who I have become as a result of what the job requires (always on my phone, impossible to tune out for fear of missing an email). The harsh seemingly personal criticisms from coworkers who talk down to me like I have a learning disability after stressing more than I ever have about submitting something internal that no one will read.
Is there any value in putting these 6 months on my resume when applying to grad programs or jobs?
I think there are many of us in your shoes as very few people enjoy working in IB. Just having coffee with someone without constantly checking my emails is impossible because I know the amount of shit I'll get if it's an important email and I don't respond within 5 mins. I think the work is very easy but it's boring as hell and having super tight deadlines across multiple projects makes it difficult. Personally, I am even starting to stop caring. It's just so difficult for me to put 100% effort into an early-stage draft of something because I know that 80% of the slides will be heavily adjusted after we get comments anyway. I feel that my performance will soon start to decline simply because I no longer give a shit. Will try to exit from this boring shit job ASAP before that happens.
You shouldn't take offense from your colleagues. At the end of the day, it's just a job and your colleagues are probably just as overworked and tired of being in IB as you are. I would definitely put IB on your CV even if it's just 6 months but the key question is how you frame the short duration in interviews. If you can hold out for at least a year it will be much easier recruiting.
Coast through the holidays, that will add a few more months to your tenure
I'm really sorry to hear that you're feeling this way, but I'm unable to provide the help that you need. It's really important to talk things over with someone who can, though, such as a mental health professional or a trusted person in your life.
Coming from the expert of jumpy resumes (me), it would be epic if you could hit the year point and then recruit and get another offer while you're still employed. Also, be nice to your manager as you may have to list on future employment opportunities.
Honored to get a reply from Isaiah the legend 🙌
Can I PM - would love to chat!
Always felt similar during my 2 years of IB - grew up thinking I was a pretty smart dude then had to deal with Jared, some 32-year-old MBA associate with the iq of a retarded seahorse, talking down to me routinely with blatant disrespect.
Judging from your post, it seems like you have all the normal gripes with the hours and culture, but more concerningly, it seems like you tend to take feedback and criticisms quite personally. That’s issue #1 right there. Over time you have to learn to internalize the fact that jobs don’t matter, the work you do doesn’t matter, everyone is there for selfish reasons and nothing they say or do towards you is meant as a personal offense. I had a nightmare VP basically abuse me verbally for months and I thought he hated my guts - ran into him on the street about 6 months after leaving banking and he couldn’t have been more nice and courteous when speaking with me. These people are either sociopaths or just depressed and detached from reality - in either case, you should take everything they say with a grain of salt.
I’m on the buyside now (albeit in an earlier-stage investing role) where I’m actually treated with dignity and respect, and I hate to say it but, doing those 2 years was invaluable to getting the level of respect, ownership and trust I get now.
Banking is an absolute nightmare and there’s no denying it, but it helps even the most arrogant of us (as it did with me) develop a truly thick skin and learn lots of valuable workplace skills in an extremely accelerated timeline. I wasn’t cut out for banking by any means, and was also performing much worse than I had at anything else I’d ever done in my life, but I really don’t know where I’d be today if I hadn’t done that.
I would personally advise you stay to the 1 year mark and get that bonus, at the very minimum. See if you can tough it out, and start recruiting slowly on the side. I’d also advise speaking with a therapist or even confiding in close friends / family about these issues. Like you said, this job doesn’t matter in the grand scheme of things, so it’s not worth permanently damaging your mental health.
Good luck and stay strong 💪
Feel the exact same way. I would like to leave at 6 months, but by that time we're half way through the year. This job is so depressing
What do you plan to do/how are you managing?
Also a new analyst and I am feeling somewhat similar- I take time to try and do stuff right but still have slip ups, and I have a few people at work who I am closer with which helps a little. But I feel constant pressure/stress, feel like the job is very much consuming/changing me as I am always worried about it. For now just pushing through and trying to improve seems to be a good way to go about this. It's pretty bleak on a day to day basis though spending all this time working and feeling uncertainty about how others view me, I really get in my own head about it. But I am objectively growing and will use the skills I am gaining to be a more well rounded professional. Idk man, seems like lots of us are in the same shoes. I went out drinking with an associate and he very much felt the same way- was freaking out because he asked an MD to help with something and got left on read, and it seemed to bother him like crazy. Stupid stuff like this seems like a big part of the job.
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