Feeling depressed working 4 years with no exit (Asia)
Hi all,
I have done an analyst stint at a BB in HK and then moved to a reputable fund in the region (regional name with sizable AUM and deal flow).
Over the years I started to hate IB/PE more and more. I got really sick of linking and looking at 20-30 tab models, getting grilled for some BS 2025-2029 assumptions which won't make any sense any way and spending majority of my time doing formatting, data mining, administrative work such as KYC/reputation risk check on our client / portfolio companies and getting on 30+ expert calls and take notes just to confirm what we already knew.
I have been looking for exits for a very long time but I have no luck at all despite applying dozens of jobs. I don't cover hot sectors in Asia such as internet/healthcare and I don't speak fluent mandarin / other Asian languages. I have tried applying all sorts of jobs such other PE/IBD jobs, corp dev/strategy/fp&a, private banking, risk management, ratings etc. but I have not even gotten a single interview from the dozens of jobs I applied despite coming from a BB IBD + MM PE background.
Spoke with some of my former VP/D, they told me exit is extremely tough unless I am a native Chinese (and better if covering those high growth sectors). Corporate positions are everywhere but few are open to bankers. Most of them recruit internally or from big 4 where the (senior) managers there have equivalent if not better skill set than a analyst/junior associate and their salary is within corporate's headcount budget.
My bosses don't recommend doing an MBA either. Campus recruiting for Asia is almost non-exist besides a very handful of MBB openings and some tech jobs in China (which are for native Chinese).
I am not sure what to do now. I feel depressed. I thought IB was a fast track to success but everything just feel so unreal now.
Sorry to hear that mate - but I think your qualifications should position you well in countries like Singapore where language focus is less of an issue. if you’re open to relocating drop me a message, happy to share some ideas
Good point. There's a thread on reddit r/MBA right now about CEIBS and smart MBAs having major language issues. Only thought is that it's weird OP was able to navigate junior high finance roles but is having more of a language/nationality issue with moving?
I have an interest in Asia & Middle East myself and would be very interested in learning more about OP and his situation / resolution
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