Senior Associate Purgatory
Curious if anyone has been in this position. I'm getting into the start of my 3rd year as a sr associate. I did 1 year as a Sr Associate at my past firm, but wasn't promoted. Moved somewhere new where I was told it would be a 1 year path to VP. Got my review and was told Sr. leadership believes Sr. Associate should be a minimum 2 year role now. Have been hearing whispers as well of making the role at least 3 years.
Cash comp is fine, but would like VP to make carry. That said have been contemplating leaving and doing big tech / series d+ corp dev given the equity grants can be lucrative and more than make up for a lack of carry (especially on a likelihood to realize basis).
Not sure if anyone else has been in this position or has any advice?
Based on the most helpful WSO content, your situation is not uncommon, and many professionals in corporate development or private equity have faced similar "Senior Associate purgatory." Here are some insights and advice:
Promotion Delays Are Common:
Consider Lateral Moves:
Evaluate Big Tech/Series D+ Corp Dev:
Weigh the Pros and Cons:
Networking and Storytelling:
Ultimately, the decision depends on your priorities—whether it's financial upside, career progression, or work-life balance. If you're leaning toward a move, now might be a good time, as the job market remains strong.
Sources: No VP Promote from Sr. Associate - Seeking Advice, Life at Mega Developers, Roadmap for IBD Coverage Associate to Career Banker, Corporate Development Manager - Q&A, Q&A - Top Tech / Media Corporate Development Associate
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You've got a long career. Make sure you understand the reason they are dragging their feet on promotion and if there are any performance or growth gaps work on fixing or improving on those. An extra year isn't going to hurt you long term but getting promoted past your skillset and smoking out will. The biggest factor is to choose the right firm and it's much easier to recruit as an experienced junior than if you get more senior.
Previously was in a very similar situation and made a move after getting a VP offer at another firm. Significant downgrade in firm size, significant upgrade in people, culture, and long-term opportunity.
I’d emphasize the other individual’s comment who suggested to reflect on if the promotion holdout is truly caused by you or the firm’s economic stability. In my case it was the firm which was severely struggling to raise their next fund.
Investing a bit of time and energy to get back into networking pretty quickly showed me that there are groups across the PE world of different shapes, sizes and niche specialties that continue to find success and grow despite all the noise saying the sky is falling.
If your current firm doesn’t value you and has been dishonest with promotion timelines, I’d begin exploring alternatives. I’m confident there are places that would highly value your mentioned years of
experience elsewhere.
I'm in it as well. 3rd year as a Sr. ASO, however I've been asked to step up and take on leadership roles at existing PortCos as well as leading deals. It is awesome experience, but I feel undercompensated given the increased responsibility.
If you want to leave PE because you're burnt out and don't like the work, then I think it's fair to look at tech/Corp Dev.
If you're looking to leave because you want to get paid more, particularly in the form of equity upside, then I'd tell you to stick with PE. Grind it out one more year or look to lateral.
On a risk adjusted basis for overall comp, PE is a much better bet than a late stage startup. Hell, just look at what happened with Brex yesterday/today. Sold for $5.5M, but the latest two Series D rounds were raised at like $7 and $12B.
On top of that, finance hires aren't the ones that get big equity packages and definitely not in the later stages.
So you join as a Corp Dev Senior Manager or something like that at a Brex, get $250k of equity at a $10B valuation which you think is going to 10x, but the reality is it 0.5x's and then you're just hopping around between mid-tier corp dev roles.
Either that or you need to go much earlier stage, but obviously it's tough to spot which Series A businesses are going to be great and if you can do that, you'd be better off doing VC than betting on a single business.
I'm all for leaving PE, but if you think you're going to get a better/easier path to riches, I'd tell you that PE is pretty close to as good as it gets.
In an extremely similar situation (ignore title). It definitely feels like employers are trying (and for the most part succeeding) to get away with lengthy promo timelines because of the current state of the job market, which includes limited turnover and therefore limited jobs. I’m going to dust off the networking skills and give it a go, but am trying not to leave for a role fully out of spite. I’ve realized my comp (culture is good as well excluding the lies on this promo) is not the issue but rather the lack of reward for hard work.
Going to a startup for equity as a finance professional to outdo PE comp is a poor choice. In almost all cases, you will make more in PE.
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