Hi all, going to a well respect Software PE shop next year and looking to lateral to somewhere closer to NYC at some point. Is the best way to do this after 1 year or after your 3 year period as a senior associate?
Any experiences about lateraling would be welcome!
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After 3 years is much better but it’s most common to get burned out due to unhappiness in current city -> take big trade down in brand name and lateral to nyc sometime during your second year.
Just get a new job and renege now to do everyone a favor. You’ll burn bridges / not make strong connections if you leave after a year any way.
Worried about reneging / re-recruiting given HHs and really wouldn't want this to get back to me
When you say after 3 years is much better are you still taking a big trade down in brand?
I don't think the above comment is accurate. While you may burn out if you're severely unhappy with your city, reneging on a major PE fund which likely used one of the big headhunters would be pretty shortsighted. It's one thing if its a small fund that does not use a HH and lacks name recognition, but this is a different situation. Give the new city a chance, you may be surprised by its positives. And you would not necessarily trade down if you left after 2 years - yes, talent flows downmarket, but I question the idea that you'd go from a top shop to a no-name LMM as a result of wanting to change geographies. Family, friends, and environment are all very valid reasons to make a transition to another city if it's what you want, and while a year might be short, people have left in worse ways for less valid reasons and ended up just fine in their careers.
I’ve seen this happen many times and note I did not say ”no name LMM” but that does happen too. Giving the new city a chance and staying two years wasn’t an option as presented by OP so unclear why that is your answer.
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