2nd Year IBD analyst Laid Off Before Bonuses - how’s recruiting?
Hi guys, I was laid off a few weeks before my 2nd year bonus and have been recruiting for immediate start PE roles since. I come from a good school and group in NYC at a mid BB with decent deal experience, and past PE internship experience which helps. My team had a mass senior exodus concurrent with broader layoffs which was out of my control (non performance layoff).
I'm getting traction in LMM PE in non major cities but struggling to get things going for similar caliber roles I'd get HH inbounds for in the year leading up to my layoff. I've been recruiting for about 2 months and wanted to source some advice and support from the community. I was initially more picky (wanting to stay in NYC, quality brand, etc) but now I'm thinking I should secure something and then work upwards. I'm broadening my start date to summer 2024 as well.
My inbounds are all from headhunters or online postings. Does it make sense to recruit for PE only or should I start focusing on an IB role (then recruit while in the job) even if it's a worse bank / group, and how would i be judged if i took a serious drop in name / role? Is there cold outreach anyone would suggest (to funds that just fundraised for example). I’m comfortable in sales roles too, would anyone recommend bus dev or sourcing roles?
Personally I am OK and I have been staying active / traveling concurrently while recruiting. However my lease will be over soon in NYC and I'll have to move which will make recruiting harder I believe. Any advice and / or suggestions are helpful
bump
You can try for PE but I think LMM PE (in NY or elsewhere) is likely going to be the spot - also look into things like credit, secondaries etc. It's much harder to recruit for quality jobs with no job - people fully understand the mass layoffs right now, but it's just not likely you'll get the same opportunities with a layoff as when you were at a BB.
IB is going to be equally difficult and a downgrade in bank will likely also lead to LMM PE. I wouldn't move over to sales side yet as it will make the path to traditional PE much harder.
Go spend some time in LMM - think you should be able to stay in NY if you really want to. Would try not to take a whole year off as that will create questions down the road. Can use MBA to move upwards or just lateral up.
Thanks, I’ve been getting some traction with LMM roles in NYC as well but it’ll be a tossup what role I’m actually able to close in the end.
Agree with your thoughts on the IB role at least for now.
If you were only laid off a few weeks ago, I wouldn't feel pressured to accept something right away - if you're getting LMM NYC interest and want to stay, it's ok to turn down a midwest LMM role. It's only around 6ish months that the gap starts to become problematic, you have some time to recruit
Is this CS?
I moved to LMM PE in NYC following a layoff from my bank. I think LMM PE is actually the most receptive to this situation compared to larger funds and most investment banks. The banks are looking to shed employees not hire, and larger funds can be picky and still get great talent. The smaller shops I spoke to while recruiting this winter told me they were opportunistically hiring talent that normally would go to larger funds.
Makes sense, thank you. Still not getting any luck but staying committed. Appreciate the note
How did you go about finding LMM PE opps? I was just laid off as a 3rd yr analyst, was getting some traction in MM PE before, but obviously doubt recruiters will help me once I tell them.
Alright am same time, same bank, and in the same situation as well… so atleast you are not alone in this journey.
A bit more worse in my case as I don't even have the PE option anymore.
I don't really have any additional advice than what's already mentioned but only that we have to keep at it. Am looking at Corp Dev as an option as well.
Truth is market is extremely tough all across, deal flow is dead across most buckets except LMM since that doesn't require much debt to get over the finish line.
I have reached out to anyone and everyone, ppl are just asking me to be patient and wait. Post labor day is when ppl promise things will pick up with a few bake-offs set in sept and recruiting green shoots in Oct. Take this all with a pinch of salt.
While I do respect the 6 month deadline that folks have thrown around, am personally not perturbed by it…
why? In your situation you are far too inexperienced (to some extent for myself as well) for ppl to start judging you for it esp in this market.. in the larger scheme of things it's nothing more than a speed bump but here's the bottom line .. you are only as good as your last deal and last job…so think twice before jumping into anything new.
reasonable compromise is the operative word, what's reasonable is up to you .. but don't let other decide it for you.
I would apply to anything and everything, especially if you don’t have the safety net of rich and supportive parents.
You can search for your dream job once you have a steady paycheck again, but for now I would broaden your search wider than just PE centric roles.
I ended up taking a corp dev role and am currently re recruiting for PE roles - actually have a great opportunity lined up im looking to close
super random but thought i'd ask since you commented so recently - any suggestions or advice on how to get practice with cap table / returns waterfall modeling for a growth equity case study?
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