Is it really that bad to quit a company after about 1 year

If you are switching industries i don't think this matters at all.

There's differing opinions on this, but personally if the job is giving you severe mental health issues, then I'd recommend quitting. At the end of the day, I think people should like what they do.

However, quitting in a short amount of time is still perceived negatively, so really you need to balance both options. It sounds like you don't absolutely hate your current job, and you're still getting paid which is always good. It does appear that your biggest gripe is with time, which is always hard to manage. If you can wait it out, it might be worth it, especially if you're still younger. This will be increasingly harder to do in the future.

I personally wouldn't hold it against you, but I'm not everyone.

It’s perfectly fine to move at the 1 year mark, and I would recommend it given what little I know of your situation. It’s obviously not a great look on a resume if you’ve been at like 4 companies in 3 years or something, but first job out of college people will understand that you’re still trying to figure out what you want to do. Like how people frequently jump around majors at the beginning on college, it takes awhile to settle on what you want to do, and everyone will understand that.

You only get 1 mulligan, do you really want to use it here in your career?

You just have to have a valid reason and not appear like a flake. No one is sitting there splitting hairs between 2 years and 18 months for example. A year especially if you change industries is pretty valid—it is a tougher sell if you try to do it a second time. “You only have one mulligan” isn’t really true. It’s all situational and based on your reasons and ability to sell to a future employer what occurred for you taking a job and leaving after a year. I’ve seen numerous people in IB and PE have numerous 1 year roles.

I say this to my parents and I say this to myself:

When you get "employed", you are bind by a "labor contract", complete or incomplete as it may be, that stipulates a "work-pay" relationship between you and your employer. 

That's it. I'm begging you, don't stay. 

I don't really mind if people quit quickly, but I think it needs to be done properly. Providing adequate notice is huge and helping the company train/source your replacement is a good thing to do too if it's within scope. Provide your employer with ~4 weeks notice and that should be plenty. 

The reason people say 2-3 years is just because if you are going to lateral ,the next level (whether that be analyst, associate, etc.) will require 2-3 years of work experience. If you move after 1 year you're probably coming in as a first year in your new group. None of this is relevant though if you really hate the group you're in and in that case you should just move. 

I perfectly like the company I am in i just feel like I'm meant for more. I just have no desire anymore to climb the corporate ladder.

Are you trying to move to a non-profit or something? If that's the case, I urge you to stay in finance. Yes, I'm biased but the truth is you can do far more to help people by giving a portion of your large salary to local charities (and that salary will continue to grow over time), rather than sit as a cog in a charity bureaucracy making a very low salary. 

If you can get an offer at a company that you're more interested in, in a different industry, just go for it. I think 1 full year is the minimum you should stay at a company where it wouldn't raise red flags if you leave. Don't turn down a better offer just because someone told you about some non existent rule about staying at a place for 2 years.

Leaving after 1 year is totally fine. It'd be a red flag if you left at 3 months, but don't stay in a job you hate just to make it to 2 years. It's fully understandable to want to switch jobs, especially in COVID times when you likely didn't have a real internship to test the waters. Just don't make a pattern of it at multiple companies.

If you already know that you want to switch industries, then leaving after 1 year is fine. You'd be doing your current team a disservice if you stay longer than necessary and you start feeling frustrated and unmotivated because of it. You only get a handful of these early jump opportunities in your career, though, so be cognizant of when you make those jumps. That being said, there's a huge advantage to just quitting so you can focus full time on networking/pivoting. If you can afford it, do it. 

In short, leaving around the one year mark is fine, but you need to be confident that you are going to a place where you will be content for a significant period of time (at least 2 years). 

If you have figured out that you want to join a different industry, you need to answer the following questions:

1. How confident are you in knowing that this new industry will increase your happiness / comp / whatever driver you are using to justify the switch?

2.  Based on your post, you want to leave to work in a different industry long-term. How do you know this is what you want? How do you know you will like this new industry more? Is it possible you just hate your current job and or are miserable due to your employer?

Not all that long ago, I was in a very similar position to you. I had actually left consulting firm A (I had been there 2 years) to go to Consulting Firm B, and intended to stay at B for a minimum of 2 years. I left for more interesting work. Turns out despite all my DD I hated the work at firm B and the comp while a major increase, wasnt really enough to justify the work (despite being more prestigious, it was much more tedious / meaningless / etc.). However, I told myself "you made your bed, now sleep in it for the next two years, minimum." So I dug in preparing to stay for a while.

But then, a recruiter reached out about a Corp Dev role. Similar to you, I realized I wanted a change and this was the exact type of role I was interested in. In the end, I took the role even though I had only been at consulting firm 2 for about a year. 

In short, I couldn't be more grateful that I gambled and found a place I am much happier at.

I would have beat myself up for not taking this opportunity. However, before I recommend you go in a similar route, let me acknowledge where I got lucky: 

1. It is hard to know what it is like to work for someone before you are actually doing it. While I love my boss and couldn't have gotten luckier, he could've been kind during the interview process and ruthless once I hit the desk. This matters A LOT when you are only working for 1-2 people for the next year or two. If you take a new role after 1 year of experience, you need to stay at the next role for 2 years (my personal rule, no I dont have hard data to support this, but most senior folks will look for it). 

2. I had no idea if the role was as good as I thought it was. In other words, maybe there was way too much work for me to do, and they werent going to hire the necessary number of folks to get it all done. This couldve resulted in an even worse environment. It is important to look for signs of this as you interview (e.g., every person you talk to is exhausted and uninterested in you). 

3. Dont force it just because it is in the industry you love. I had been trying to force myself into Corp Dev since I graduated UG. I got dinged during the final round for one role and didnt make it to the second round for another. Both were jobs I wouldve taken in a heartbeat despite being far worse than my current role. Be patient. If you're already in IB you probably have a great resume and are a desirable candidate, so while you can start your job search at the one year mark, do not feel compelled to take the first offer you get. 

4. Somewhat unrelated - trust your gut. If you interview with a firm where something seems off (e.g., they arent good at what they do, the role isnt what it seems), you are probably right. 

Hope this is helpful, and feel free to PM me with other questions if you like.

TLDR; Go for it, but make sure it is the right role and that you are as certain as possible that you will be happier there than you are now.

1 year is fine...   your career is long....    will be many jobs

1 year is the new 10 year.

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