Graveyard of Former S&T Analysts

So here I am, not having been able to move internally, a 2nd year analyst working in foreign exchange strategy, part of one of those famed bb analyst programs and i just had my review. No it was not stellar, but it was not bad. It was confirmed that I'd not be fired, but also not be promoted to associate. My manager recommended that I be classified as a 3rd year. The decision is not final as I believe even more higher ups decide this in the spring. I could be fired. I could turn it around. Every day is a struggle bc well, im just not that interested in this fx strategy. I cant move internally bc anything less than stellar reviews precludes you from doing so it seems.

What the hell do kids who couldnt make associate do(besides furthering education)?? Do they regret not having faked it and tried harder at a job they dont like that much? Are they forever banned from the BB's bc it just showed they couldnt hack it? Are they blackmarked like lepers when interviewing?

I went to a target school, my grades were good, i shook all the right hands to get this job. I am grateful, yes but I have no desire to leave wall street to work in graphic design consulting message branding...

 

dude, just get a headhunter and move. You get another year to dope around meanwhile you can search for a new jobs. Honesty is the best policy - FX strategy sounds frigging boring. Get out and move banks. Internal lateral is unlikely b/c you suck now, but that's life - plenty of good banks out there.

 
Best Response

well, it's like this, getting promoted ensures i still have a paycheck, it ensures I get that June bonus again, I've saved all of last years bonus and that adds up to an ok chunk for now, getting promoted does the most valuable thing of all which is buys me time to look outside the firm and allows me more choice,(think of it as an optionality with a long expiry way into the future, maybe a rolling one), whereas getting let go means i have to take one of the earlier jobs that come along, be it having met with a Head hunter, etc. Looking for another job is a highly ardous procedure and encompasses many elements from timing, market conditions, luck, etc. Being promoted would allow me the luxury of getting that check every 2 weeks. That option would not suffer as much time decay.

Also, not everyone becomes a stud ace on the street, there are plenty of average run of the mills who just understand that working hard and using some analytical thinkning can provide a decent life. Will I one day run the Energy division of my bank and buy multiple boats while wearing Brioni suits? Odds look slim on that one, but if I stay the course for a good duration of my life on the Street, will I consistently be able to pull in 6 figures be it on the lower end of that spectrum, yes. I hear a lot of talk about following your passions and the money comes, yes im sure thats true a lot of the time, but theres also a lot of waiters supporting thier dreams to be Tom Cruise or bide time while writing their next Shakespearean epic. Lets not kid ourselves here, a large factor if not the largest factor for all of us choosing this business is the $...

 

I'd hire you seekingcarry, but I am just starting next year so sorry; still, I love your cynical little piece on life you just wrote. On another note, I hear headhunters are after people like you if you want to go in a fortune 500 company. If you want to go in another back, I have absolutely no clue on that one; and since that was your original question, my whole comment is pointless.


I want to work now! No, really. I want those 100+ hours/week.

 

"Do fortune five hundred companies hire traders?? I can understand bankers can make that exit easily because of their skills but can traders do it with an equal amount of ease?"

maybe, and no.

 

Surely it depends what you trade? For example energy traders can probably shift into oil companies or utilities trading desks.

If you are concerned about exit options it's probably best to consider that when you are applying and choosing a desk.

 

I have quite a few friends that are in Sales and Trading right now at BB's - they are finishing up their 2nd years, and many of them are looking for jobs right now because they aren't being brought on as associates or senior analysts. Having talked to them about it, they've told me that starting in sales & trading makes it very difficult to transition into other fields. maybe it is just the current shitty job market, but a lot of them can't find work and have no clue what they're gonna do in the coming weeks when their 2 year stints wrap up.

 

Ross, typically in S&T people arent hired for 2 year stints to be let go. Unlike banking in S&T analysts are actually a cost center for the bank as their seat on the desk could be used by a salesman/trader to generate revenue. Analysts that arent doing sales or trading are not generating revenue making them a cost center.

With that being said im not sure what to think of your post because i have never heard of trading analysts just being let go after 2 years.

"Oh - the ladies ever tell you that you look like a fucking optical illusion?"

"Oh the ladies ever tell you that you look like a fucking optical illusion" - Frank Slaughtery 25th Hour.
 

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