Anyone have any info/stories for being let go due to performance or similar? I'm a first-year analyst coming up on ~10 months and lately have been messing up a bit. I don't think I will get fired but I'm definitely not looking very good right now and starting to get a bit anxious. Just wondering what the scenario would look like if I were to be fired or let go.
Thanks in advance.
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So, first a general observation... You are probably not doing as bad as you think. The bar for 1st year analysts is low, it is expected you will fuck up, it really takes years to get good at this business (i.e. the 10,000 hours thing Gladwell talks about). Biggest tip is to be humble and learn, if you have a good attitude and make forward progress you should do fine. I think everyone has some experience like this in first few years out, really we all suck for first few years in some ways.
That said, to your question. I know of people who literally took down billion dollar companies and managed to restart anew. Thus, I think something that you do/no do in your early career (I'm guessing earlier twenties??) isn't going to matter much at all in your career story. People get fired, for legit and illegit reasons all the time. So long as you don't make a habit of it, it shouldn't change the final trajectory of your career.
Seriously, people don't take linear paths near as much as it seems. Markets take dives, companies fail, positions disappear, and people even get fired. I worked for a small REIB type firm when I was out of grad school in 2007/08, they got nuked (okay, so almost everyone did then...). In all seriousness, it was maybe the best turning point for my career (too personal to explain why), shit happens, and I've found that things you get to that are good worthwhile may not have been findable without the shitty stuff.
Go read Taleb's book Antifragile, should be mandatory reading (and The Black Swan) for the CRE industry.
Just getting around to responding to this but just wanted to let you know how much this grounded me in a time of stress. Really appreciate it and really solid advice. I will look into your book recommendation for sure.
Glad it helped. As to book recos, Taleb takes a while to read (very worthwhile however). Let me give you a super fast one that may actually be more important to your current mental state..
The Dip by Seth Godin
Been awhile since I read, but I think it describes the situation you are facing and how normal it is (like based on the amount of time in a new job/venture/etc.). His books are short, can prob finish in a few nights or less.
Describe this.
And no, getting fired is not a career death sentence.
It's too hard to without giving away too much specific info. But looking back I wouldn't say I've been "messing up", more "could have done my job better".
I am aware this is reductionist, but just do it better next time.
Identify what you were lackluster on and make sure you aren't lackluster on those things again.
I'm at a small developer, an analyst got fired and was hired as a credit analyst at a respected bank within a month
Happens all the time; when I started, another analyst in my class was let go, and he ended up at a hedge fund in three months.
If I were you, I'd focus on fixing yourself, AND looking for a new job STAT! You want to hedge your bets here, but I would trust your gut.
If it makes you feel better a first year analyst I worked with at CBRE/JLL/C&W got fired after a year for performance and was hired two months later for the same position at another CBRE/JLL/C&W at a higher base lol. He’s been there for over two years now. The fact you are acknowledging you’re messing up and I assume trying to fix it speaks a lot about your integrity and I’m sure your superiors see it too. Advice for you is being proactive vs reactive. Maybe reach out on Monday’s and ask if there’s any expected for the week you can get a jump on and work on it after normal business hours
I'll be more candid as anonymous: I was actually recently almost put on a PIP and got out of it, but that's because I did not want to get fired (especially given current climate). If you've been sleeping recently and not before, it sounds like you've just lost interest in your current position. That's what happened to me, but also because my firm's investment thesis doesn't really align with my views (long story with a short answer). I don't suggest looking for other roles yet but definitely think through the following at a minimum:
This is good advice, I appreciate it. To answer your question about the firm/role, I'm really not sure. I like my company and I like more role enough for now. I'm not sure I am in love with it. I think I will like it much more when I'm no longer an analyst and don't have to do so much processor/admin work. Also the hours can be long, but I think that's just because our pipeline went crazy went covid started to chill.
Anyway - can you explain more about how you "almost" got put on a PIP? How did you know you were about to get put on a PIP? That's good that you avoided it because I have heard they are pretty much a death sentence. Plus, once you go on, you and the employer both know you'll be searching for a new job asap. And agreed, I am definitely wanting to keep my job during this shitty climate.
Sure. My manager (who really sucks) did a bit of a bait and switch on me where s/he asked how I thought I was doing halfway through the year. I thought I was doing ok, but s/he pulled up some examples of minor slips and blew them out of proportion imo (recency bias compared to prior good work). I was undergoing some serious personal stress at the time which didn't help. S/he put together of some interim goals to work on, which I did. We had two check-ins about it and I haven't scheduled the follow-ups after that and in regular weekly check-ins it wasn't brought up anymore (hence the "almost" imo). Because it wasn't given with a more formal underlying assumption/explicit goal of improving, the kiss of death that I would be terminated, I seemed to have potentially got out of it. I am looking for other opportunities, but hopefully that's besides the point.
The thing I was particularly worried about was if I was going to be let go, to make sure that I could file for unemployment since back then it was a little more hectic, so I wanted some assurance.
A senior analyst and friend I used to work with at CBRE/JLL was put on a PIP and subsequently let go after 2 or so months on the plan.
He had been there close to 3 years and the work could get repetitive, so I understood his lack of enthusiasm. But he let his work slide by missing internal deadlines, being vocal about how the work was lame, and overall presenting sloppy work after awhile. So I also understood why he was let go. But the point of PIP’s aren’t to get you fired, it’s to get your ass in gear if you really wanna be there. And even if you don’t, at least act like it for the paycheck until you get something better.
As for my friend now, he’s completely out of industry, working as a sales rep at a logistics company, with a useless finance degree. Don’t end up like him.
Thanks for sharing. Sucks to hear that your friend did not work himself out of the PIP. I would honestly be thankful to get put on one instead of randomly fired and work my ass off to get out of it. Also just wondering, what work did yall do at cbre/jll that was so repetitive?
Yeah, I thought it would be a good example of a PIP gone wrong. And we were debt analysts, so I think the processor/admin work that is like 30% of the job, he got sick of and thought he was above all that.
lol why you gotta hate bro
Hating on who/what?
I was an analyst for a brokerage and I must say it was the most monotonous work ever. I had way larger aspirations and constantly doing work that I was TOTALLY not engaged with made me slip up but I couldn't care less.
it really sucks to be at a position where you hate your job
It happens both ways. companies fire people but look how many people fire companies by leaving. Most employers are fucked up in some way of their own. no big deal in this day and age IMO.
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