First year PE analyst on medical leave after insane hours
I joined a UMM/MF PE shop on the east coast straight out of uni a few months ago. I knew what I was signing up for in terms of hours and expectations, but the working environment has been significantly worse than anything I anticipated.
The team is extremely lean, and most of my day-to-day work is managed by a junior associate who has been incredibly difficult to work with. I'm talking about constant micromanagement, aggressive communication, unrealistic deadlines, and an expectation that I'm available pretty much 24/7. I've been pulling frequent all-nighters (sometimes back-to-back), regularly working until 4-5 AM on other weekdays, and putting in significant hours over the weekends (also been pressured to underreport my working hours on my timesheet the week I joined lol). Since this seemed to be the norm within my group, I initially assumed it was normal, but people I've spoken to at other firms have told me these hours are ridiculous.
Eventually, my health deteriorated pretty badly, and I ended up seeing multiple doctors who strongly recommended that I take time off. I just started medical leave, and although I'm focusing on recovering, I'm still dealing with considerable anxiety about what this might mean for my career. I'm confident in my ability to handle long hours and demanding workloads, but I genuinely don't think the hours and working environment I've experienced are sustainable, even by industry standards.
I've started exploring lateral opportunities and reaching out to people in my network. However, having very limited full-time experience obviously makes things difficult, and I feel like my best chance of landing another job is through personal introductions rather than applying directly. I'm also worried about how prospective employers would view someone trying to leave their first job so quickly, especially since I've heard that speaking negatively about your current employer or working conditions is generally frowned upon in interviews.
At this point, I'm genuinely torn. Part of me thinks I should return, stick it out, and recruit quietly until I find something else. Another part of me thinks going back to an environment that already caused serious health problems would be a terrible decision.
For those who've been in similar situations, what would you do? Would you extend the leave and focus on recovering while exploring other opportunities, or return to work and try to lateral as soon as possible? How damaging is it to leave a reputable firm after such a short period, particularly if the reason is an unsustainable working environment? Also, how would you frame the reason for leaving in interviews, and how would you approach recruiters and people in your network without coming across as desperate or speaking negatively about your current employer? Would you be upfront about the working conditions, or keep the explanation focused on career fit?
