Staying in IBD or… Advice needed

Currently a Senior Associate at one of the BB banks, and I’ve got an offer from a listed company for their internal investment/asset management gig. The role involves managing their existing portfolio rather than making new investments.

Even though the pay they’re offering is 10-15% higher than what I’m making now, I’m worried about missing out on future raises once reaching the VP level next year Spoke to a few friends who are senior investment bankers, and surprisingly most of them suggested me taking the offer - I personally think they just had enough the long hours.

I really enjoyed working in IB, because of the money, prestige and most importantly the intellectual working environment. I’m very detail orientated, and cannot stand inefficiencies and most corporation have this problem.

Any thoughts on whether I should go for it? And do you think it’s possible to hop back into banking if I don’t like the new job after 6 months to 2 years? I’ve been at my current job for 2 years, so I don’t want to look like a total job hopper if I switch again.

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I don't know that there's enough information in your post for us to give you the answers you desire. A few things to keep in mind:

  1. Hours, which I assume will be fewer in this new opportunity
  2. Which team you would prefer to have as co-workers
  3. Pay progression over time
  4. Locality
  5. Whether this new opportunity is a career for you, or whether you would need to think about exit options after this and what those would look like

Between all of those things, the picture becomes a bit clearer, and with that constellation of variables, the decision should be pretty clear.

 

Based on the factors you’ve mentioned, investment banking is the answer, but I’m just so confused why all my senior banking friends recommended the other option. IBD has a better pay and is a better career path, the only upside of the other job is slightly fewer hours. In terms of people, they’re pretty similar. IBD colleagues are intelligent and hardworking, I assume colleagues of the other job are more friendly.

 

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