Hello WSO,
I've relied on WSO for advice on career choices right when I graduated from college. WSO has been a useful source and I would like to thank everyone in advance. Unfortunately, as my title shows I'm in a bit of a bad situation. The circumstances that led me to this situation is nothing but my fault. But after my 4th job after college, which is now in corporate banking I will be fired after only 6 months with my employer. My previous background was in corporate finance and 2 product control roles, after leaving my 3rd job I wanted to try corporate banking which was a career interest of mine. I received an offer but after 6 months of poor performance I was informed that I will eventually be let go after a month most likely. So I was wondering if WSO could provide some answers for me.
1) For a corporate banking role that only lasted 6 months should I mention it on my resume when I apply for another job? Perhaps I should just say that during my 6 months I went on a vacation in the US (this is a stupid answer but may work perhaps)
2) If I should still include it on my resume how should I explain to employers why I am looking for a new job?
3) Are the historical job switches below also going to hurt me?
4) Any other advice would be appreciated
I graduated in 2013 from college had 1.5 years in corp finance, 1 year at product control at an i-bank, 2 years in PC at a hedge fund, and now 6 months in corp/commercial banking at a company that I will be fired from in about 1 month.
What constituted “poor performance”?
According to my manager I struggled to understand the concepts of corporate banking and making mistakes (which I didnt realize pissed my manager off) but for example ACR vs AQR in terms of a title.
Basiclly they said they should have gotten someone with commercial banking or corporate banking exp, instead of someone who doesnt have that background.
Don’t lie on your resume. Mutually agreed not good fit is your answer as you effectively mentioned in your last post.
Now you’ve had too many job changes and you need to work on what has caused this.
Go into business valuation. Almost impossible to get fired there. Look at tier 2/3 firms like CBIZ, Withum, BDO, etc.
Valuations does provide nice job security.
Why? It is compliance - first to be cut, offshored, and selected based on cost. Not a good field to be in.
Gotcha thanks. Doesnt our generation have a lot of job changes? Would it be that big of a deal?
Yes, it’s a big deal to be fired for poor performance – especially at the analyst level. It sounds like your approach to work has been rather, for lack of a better word, whimsical. You didn’t realize that making mistakes would piss off your manager? Come on, man.
The best thing you can do for yourself right now is to ask your manager for additional feedback on how you fucked up. Then do some self-reflection and contemplate how you could have performed better. You need to focus on the long term – make sure you fix your problems now so you won’t get fired again from your next job.
This is only a mistake if you don't learn from it.
Not only what did I do to get fired, but also self-reflect, do you really want to do banking or are you just doing it bc you heard it's an esteemed/highly paid position? Did you have to deal with a difficult boss, did you say something you shouldn't have? How many times did your boss have to tell you to fix the same issue?
Your work history isn't that bad, the six months in this roles soils it a little, so now you have to have a story down pat on why you made each move and be able to explain it in 1-2 mins. In this "new" job environment people switch roles more often (new meaning people are less inclined to be company loyal).
6 months might be too long to hide it and put a gap on your resume.
If you can you might say that it was just a temporary contract / internship you took to get your foot in the door / see how it looked like. But you did not like the firm / the job and would like to try something new.
If it is a professional firm they should not say that you were fired / or give bad references (unless it was for cause) and you can say, it was new, I wanted to try, I did not like it and I resigned.
I second pursuing this route. If you’re on good enough terms with your boss, see if he’ll back you up on saying this was an internship or temporary assignment.
the best/easiest time to get a job is when you already have a job...so consider your full time job right now to get a new job. Bouncing around is generally not looked down upon in the finance industry. It is expected that people will almost always leave for better opportunities when they become available (the people interviewing you would likely leave their current job for a better gig themselves...i've even seen people doing the interviewing when they themselves had already accepted a job to leave the company for greener pastures). Just spin it positive and look for your next thing.
Also just an FYI, unless you royally fucked up and created enough wrath in your boss to black ball you from the industry, companies are very hesitant to give a reason for the end of employment. Discussing this openly with outside parties is a huge potential HR headache because if even one person at the company disputes the claims the company can be on the hook for a lawsuit. Generally they will just confirm the employment dates.
Remember that your employment history is easily visible on FINRA's brokercheck website. So it doesn't even require a deep dive background check to see if your resume jives with FINRA....in fact it takes like 30 seconds to figure that out......just something to keep in mind if you're not planning on mentioning it.
That assumes he was licensed he may not have been.
OP -
I would consider reaching out to your network and see how the market that are targeting is like.
It may be a beneficial tool for you to utilize a headhunter/recruiter, or reach out to seniors in the industry on realistic prospects in terms of job opportunities at this point.
Good luck OP. Stuff happens, just learn from this and move on.
Sorry to hear about your situation, being on the chopping block isn't any fun. I am surprised that they'll be cutting you loose so soon into the role; I feel that even with poor performance / work product, most group's will give you until a year in to try to get it together. Can you think of anything else going on / impacting your work performance (e.g. arriving late, not responsive to inbound requests from managers, not asking questions, general professionalism)? Seems like there's maybe something else going on behind the scenes...
Regardless, you are in a bit of a pickle, but, if you can do an effective self review of what you did to get let go and how you could have avoided those errors and mistakes, not all is lost. Get your resume updated immediately; although it's not the most ethical strategy, per se, you can keep your current role listed as "current" for a month or two and buy you a bit of time during your search. Generally your firm will keep you on payroll during your severance period and will still register you as an employee, although you're not active. If you're persistent, you can find another seat despite your circumstance, it just might take a while. Good luck.
Isn't it risky to keep a "current status" on a CV for a month or two...?
You job switches will hurt you. I am the king of job switches, but I am also a salesman, so I am essentially a mercenary for hire. Luckily, I have a story.
I have recruiters reach out to me and then question the job switch and ask me if i am dedicated, when they are the ones trying to steal me away!
Thanks everyone. For the help. Ill see how I can recover from this. But truly thank you.
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