Buy Side Analyst Switching Firms

I'm an equity analyst for a global long only firm with about $10 billion AUM. I was hired directly after college after moving up the chain as an operations intern (sophomore year summer), to the investment team (junior year summer). I was one of the first juniors hired by my firm, so I was essentially thrown into the pit to fend for myself and they had no idea what to do with me. This was an incredibly stressful but absolutely rewarding process because it forced me to work my ass off with little to no initial guidance, and in the end, I feel it was some of the best job training I could have asked for. Fast forward three years and I'm a generalist equity analyst for a global long-only fund group.

Anyway, while I still enjoy working at my firm, I think its time to move on to another buy side shop. So, for those of you out there who have switched buy side firms (with 2-3 years of experience), I ask you to please give me (us) some advice on how to go through this process successfully. I've scoured WSO for a while now, and it seems that the vast majority of job advice is geared towards either recruitment out of college (to an i-bank), or exit ops for a 2-3 yr analyst from a sell-side shop. Most of my friends working in finance were recruited by i-banks out of college, and while the soul crushing hours they worked looked awful, I gotta admit I'm jealous of the clear structure of the i-bank exit op (2 yr analyst...then P/E, consulting, HF, or associate...MBA...etc).

Almost every analyst at my firm, and many of the ones I've met over the past couple of years have worked at multiple funds, so I know that it is common practice. But, I have to admit, I don't know the game well enough to go about it without some protips before hand. Appreciate the help, and I'd be happy to answer any questions you guys have as well. Thanks

 
NewGuy:
Simple. Talk to a few reputable headhunters, brother. Just make sure you're clear on why you want to leave and what exactly it is you're looking for.
Agreed. This isn't discussed much, because it's pretty straight forward.
 
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