Moved to new team, bad setup
Hoping to get someone's advice on this one.
I'm a post-MBA senior associate at a MM fund where I worked as an associate. While I was in business school the fund had some challenges with a few of its portcos (like many peer shops) and ended up internally restructuring a bit. A few seniors I knew also left and some opportunistically retired. They still honored my return offer but ended up placing me in a new group with almost entirely new people, covering a space I am not really familiar with.
The challenge is it has honestly felt like a different job coming back. I had a good time as an associate with solid reviews but I am now learning a new space, managing people for the first time, trying to start a family, and very importantly working with new supervisors. It's a small team, and one partner I've been working with most closely has been challenging to work with. He is very capable and I'm learning a lot being around him but he comes across more like a demanding, sometimes abrasive boss rather than a mentor like my prior seniors. He will get frustrated if I'm doing something for the first time and don't think through all the right considerations, or make condescending comments about my work in front of others if he doesn't agree with the way something is being presented. Frankly it's very demotivating.
We've been working together closely for months now and it's very different from the experience I had as an associate. Honestly, it's stressful and many mornings I no longer look forward to work. I find myself dreading meetings with him. One meeting with him and a director turned into a one sided lecture about how my materials fell short of his expectations. I swallowed my pride and made the changes he asked for (which were actually quite small and he ended up liking the new pack) but it's the sort of interaction that makes it hard to feel fully comfortable. I feel like I'm still generally delivering, but it feels like I'm doing a much worse job than when I was an associate.
Some of my peers have confided they had similar experiences with him when they were junior but that things got better. They now seem to be fine working with him. I'm not sure I've made much progress with him over the last year though and am being compared to them. The senior partners don't seem to mind that much.
The issue is I feel a bit trapped. It's a small shop so I can't avoid working with him, and I can't easily solicit advice from others without creating drama. I'm doing my best to adapt around his working style but the improvement in our dynamic has been very slow (if at all). The job market sucks and I need to pay off my student loans so I can't really make moves.
Has anyone else been in a similar situation? How did you handle it? I worry it's seeping into the way I show up at home and life is too short to dread most days.
Happened to me - very similar setup. Had a rough go of things and never really recovered there. Had previously done well at good shops prior, and went to a different shop and have done well here. But, underperforming at one fund does stay with you for a bit - you need to explain why you left, references can be tricky etc. Stuff like this was easier to navigate during during the bull market.
Would suggest leaving sooner rather than later if you think you need a fresh start, but will need to message it well to recruiters. May take you upwards of a year to get a new role based on how picky you are. Better to move sooner than later, harder to move the more senior you are.
On flip side if you think you can recover and become an A level performer then who knows.
Thank you for the quick reply. How long did you deal with it before you jumped ship? At what point did you realize it wasn't salvageable? I'm trying to hold hope especially because I'm still learning but the ups and downs are challenging to manage.
Looking back - knew in 6 months. Ofc dragged it out until I got softly pushed out because why not, good learning despite the setup and leaving your post MBA VP gig early isn't always the best look.
My 2c - when you create a reputation for excellent work (always right, safe hands, killer work ethic) from day 1, you can start doing a lot "wrong" from there and still be regarded well and progress. The opposite is also true, if you are seen as weak from day 1 it'll be nearly impossible to fix it. Only time I've ever seen someone fix it has been a combo of 1) fund with generally spotty calibre of individuals so more incentivized to give people a second chance and 2) new senior people came in and they were able to build a new impression. That's a pretty rare situation though and only saved someone from getting cut, not making it to principal.
It's not always in your control but you can always take it as a learning for next time. You usually get a few shots on goal in this industry if you keep getting promoted and learning. And maybe you'll solve your rep at your current shop. Good luck!
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