I'm a 2nd year analyst at a BB. Started recruiting for 2025 roles in the fall. So far i've been saying "no" to any headhunter inbounds not based in NYC, but lately it feels like slim pickings as majority of opportunities I'm getting are in Boston/LA/SF (i'm focusing on tech PE / growth / late stage VC).
Don't want to fuck myself over and end up with nothing so I'm considering expanding my search to these cities as well - however I know 100% I want to be in NYC long term (at least until I have a family, but that's at least a decade away). Say I take an MM/LMM offer in one of those cities - would it be an uphill battle to lateral back to NYC after a year or two? Would I likely have to go downstream to an even smaller fund?
At this point I'm thinking of joining a growth-stage startup or unicorn in Strategic Finance / Corp Dev / BizOps here in NYC then hopping to a venture fund from there. Is it even worth it to interview with small funds in other cities? Obviously if I got Sequoia in SF I'd take it but realistically those seats are filled by now.
Would love to hear from anyone who's been in a similar spot. Thanks!
hate to say it but it's harder to get back to nyc than you think once you leave
I personally took a MF / UMM PE role in BOS following banking stint and even then found it hard to get back to the city
That's not true at all - your experience matters more than the city you work in. If you worked at Bain in Boston and found a NYC role, they do not care that you are in Boston vs NYC
Second this. Don't put location ahead of career development. You'll just end up living in your favorite city in constant fear of not being able to stay because you're falling behind the pack. Build the best resume/experience and soon enough you'll be able to dictate where you want to live.
Interesting because it says you are a certified investment banking associate.......
Did you end up making it back to NYC eventually? Did you have to go to a much smaller fund?
I was able to come back after I moved away for a year, but that was during '20-'21 when the recruiting market was hot. Generally a lateral move, especially in another city, is going to be completely opportunistic and more dependent on where the market is. Market at the moment seems a bit quiet so likely fewer opportunities in NY or otherwise.
I've faced the decision many times . . do I stay in NYC (my favorite city) or leave for the otherwise better role. I left every time. Obviously I made it back, since I've done this many times now.
In general, its a terrible idea to put location ahead of experience.
On the extremes (NYC vs. Detroit or something) maybe that's a tougher call. But OP you're choosing between NYC and other top cities. Easy call.
I was in a similar position and took a role and SF and deeply regret it. I would go as far to say you should tell HH you only want NYC so they get the message and give you more nyc roles they are likely holding out on.
Also you should probably get smarter on late stage vc / growth. Sequoia doesnt recruit through traditional channels and only hires from their network / the best of the best in the vc ecosystem - rarely bankers.
Yeah I Know sequoia doesn’t use headhunters lol just meant to be an example of a name brand fund. The opps I’m getting are mostly no name LMM PE shops and some tiny VCs
How long have you been recruiting for NYC?is SF really that dead?
Sequoia does use headhunters, I am a traditional profile and have had inbound from them
Could someone explain to me why exactly it’s harder to move back to NYC after working in another city?
Assuming you’re in a relatively comparable role within the same market as the shop you’re recruiting for in NYC, why does it matter? Are you seen as a flight risk or something? It seems like yet again another instance of ridiculous gatekeeping in this industry.
I did my undergrad in banking in NYC and then went to a top growth shop in Boston - I’ve always figured it would be easy to move back to NYC if needed. Not that I would honestly want to haha
I’m at a LMM firm in a tier 3 city. Ive been pushing hard to get back to NY. It has been tough but it’s been tough to find anything with the market. That seems to be changing lately. The biggest hurdle is just the extra logistics for visiting firms in person. Instead of just taking an uber, you’re now talking about flights, hotels, reimbursement, etc
One of the easiest cities to move back to. Most employers / contacts will understand why you want to come back. IMO, career opportunities in NYC (in all industries) are unmatched vs. the rest of the US.
Assuming you're talking about direct investing in buyout/growth/private capital roles, moving back to NYC at the VP+ level is not that easy. There's generally few open roles in the industry at VP. NYC-focused HHs also tend to view non-NYC, non-Tier1 shops as being not worth their while to push to clients. So if you're at a great fund with generally blue-chip pedigree and deal experience, but you happen to be at a rung below TPG Healthcare or Permira Tech, you're probably going to have fewer NYC looks compared to the person already in the NYC PE VP seat. Just my 2c from talking to recruiters, seeing my friends/MBA buddies go through it, etc.
To be clear i think this is dumb, but headhunters and some NYC investment professionals are snobby af.
Did banking in NY then did my associate years in SF (Silver Lake/ Francisco/TPG) then easily moved to UMM PE, even got a couple looks at other MF at the time (eg KKR) when lateraling.
So I’d echo what others are saying its more about the experience than the city. Not sure if I’d want to even work with group of people that cared about it so much
Not hard if you have a solid background that fits the profile needed
very hard if you took some LMM PE gig in Cleveland and are trying to move back.
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