LMM PE’s in NYC - non traditional candidate

Hi everyone,

Would love your advice here as I’m feeling stuck in my career and trying to work through my next move.

I worked hard to lateral into banking a couple years ago from a back office role. Landed an analyst role at an EB and had to start from scratch as a first year but was happy to do so for the opportunity.

Fast forward to December and I was laid off with no warning. My bank let go a bunch of juniors but it still hurts. At this point I feel I’ve had enough exposure to banking to know I’d like a switch to the buyside.

Given the job market and that it’s off cycle, should I focus my efforts on LMM instead of MM, and if so, what should my strategy be? Should I try to land another IB role and stick it out another year? My network is mostly bankers and I’ve been leveraging LinkedIn mostly and cold emailing.

Any advice would be so appreciated! Really want to go back to work soon to not have a large gap and I know interviewing with any one firm can take 1-2 months at least

2 Comments
 
Most Helpful

The fact that you were able to lateral from a back office role to an EB says a lot, so don’t get down. You’ve shown you have skill and grit.

You’ve provided no real color on why you were let go. How long were you there for? What percentage of your class got cut? What reasons did they give you? Did they offer severance or allow you to stay employed on paper for several more months to help you get a job? Did they offer to write letters of recommendation?

I think at this point you need to start applying to anything and everything to get your feet back under you. Once you’ve a steady paycheck coming in, you can focus on interviewing for your dream job.

I have seen so many resumes where people stay a year or less at a new job before moving on, so people do that a lot and don’t feel bad for leaving quickly when at a new firm.

Finally, you mention radio silence from people when you mention you were fired. That to me signals you’re story of why you were let go is not convincing or you left on bad terms. Because people should be cognizant that last year was tough for banks and juniors were collateral damage. What have you been telling people in your initial calls?

 

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