How soon can one switch jobs?

Good advice.

Visualize. Trust. Don't be afraid

Not in the OP's situation, but does the one year guidance also apply when you're going back to school? Considering starting graduate studies a month or two before meeting the one year mark in my role (though might stay on part time at my firm), and it seems like a bit of a waste to put off the degree by another year just to make some threshold.

I'm in this situation. I have been at my boutique for about 10 months now and am getting ready to lateral. It sucks but it can be worth it. If you can get another job before a year, then by all means do it. The year rule goes both ways, its expected from your current employer and from the hiring company. Why would they hire someone who just started another job and is already trying to leave after 5 weeks? From their view, you could do the same thing to them. Its a risk on their end and they probably won't give you an offer unless you have a really good story to back it up. So by all means you should try and change jobs starting now, but just be prepared if you get rejected/questioned a lot about why you are leaving so soon.

What if an offer letter to join Goldman TMT as an analyst magically appears in his inbox? Still 18 months?

All things being equal, switching jobs isn't good. But even 6 months is too long if you have a better opportunity available. it's a cost benefit analysis.

In general I think bright line rule here would be stupid and you should view things on a case by case basis

Anything less than a year looks bad. Two years is probably ideal unless you just really hate what you are doing. It's more common for people to move around nowadays than in the past. Advice from my old man, seasoned banking professional - risk mgmt, is two years minimum looks better than one.

1 year is generally a good target minimum but 2 years is definitely preferable. Really depends on your boss specifically and what kind of expectations he has.

At my old firm which supposedly encouraged mobility suggested that someone stay on 2 years (or at least 1 year) before the move. Having said that, it takes time for positions to open up, so starting to network internally soon and allowing different people to know you: 1) exist, 2) have a relevant background and skillsets from prior internships and 3) interested in open positions with them, would be a good start.

I would wait a bit since 6 months is not that long, but if its fairly obvious the future looks bleak for your current group, I think people will understand why you're looking. Just make sure you have a good story to support your long-term interests or fit for IB, otherwise it comes off as you seeking 'any port in a storm'.

I'd be hard pressed to hire someone with less than a year at their last stop, but maybe that's just me.

Two things: first, when layoff time comes, the guys that joined most recently tend to get picked off first, they just don't have the relationships/loyalty/history to protect them.

Secondly, bonuses tend to get announced in December and paid in January. I'd start chatting guys up and letteing them know that you're potentially a guy on the move in November/December, and tracking where bodies are dropping in January.

alright, thanks...one issue is that my only experience on my resume that is somewhat like IBD is my internship in distressed debt, but this was way back in fall 2010 before my main junior summer internship....after that all my work experience has been in markets/trading....I do have a story and all for why I want to move to IBD, but if someone judges me purely based on my resume, they will not see any IBD experience for the past year and a half atleast....I am more than willing to restart as a 1st year in IBD and go through the training program etc, but would the very markets focused resume be an auto-ding? feeling pretty pigeonholed right now.

I would try a little harder to get exposed to the things you think you're missing. 6 months isn't even long enough to conclude that an attempt to fix the problem has failed, let alone decide that it's time to bounce. If you wanted to be a trader, and you have a trader title, keep pushing to get a definitive idea of how / when / if you'll actually be trading, i.e. when will you have an account in your name, a specified capital limit, p&l targets, defined comp structure based on trading results, etc.

How could you like what you do when you're working at SMB capital?

If your grades are as good as you say they are, get into a top tier masters program and then use their ocr. If you don't have the money, then network hard. Your manager shouldn't take it personally since it's the job, not him / company. But be respectful.

Hard to say.

Its going to come down to how well you can network and how good of a story you can spin. Whatever you do, don't leave the job you have before accepting the job you want.

It's not job jumping if you have the credentials to show that you could do better than the job you have now, people like other people with a drive as long as it's not backed by just plain unfulfilled content. Just make sure to subtly slide that into any interviews.

4 months seems to short and any interviewer will be wary that you will be equally likely to work a short stint for them and leave.

If you are unsatisfied with your job after 4 months, you should work with your boss to improve the role. It sounds like they didn't have a firm view of your responsibilities when they created the role. Talk to them about what you would like to do more of / less of, and how to improve the role. I would suggest you do this at the 1 year mark.

I get the sense that you don't have a great answer to what you'd like to do differently, but instead just want an FA job at a different company- you mention financial firms, internet firms, campbell soup - so you want to be an FA at another firm in the same geography?

I think you'd have difficulty getting interviews, as you aren't straight out of school but you don't have meaningful experience. If you did land interviews, "Why are you leaving your current role?" would be a top question and I think it is all but impossible to give a solid answer. You haven't worked there long enough to have a solid list of fair dislikes, and you haven't been there long enough to try and make changes.

1 year is an appropriate time frame. You learned some stuff, you had a review, you suggested changes to make the role more appealing, you came to realize the specific type of work wasn't for you -- you can't do that in four months.

i don't think it's THAT big of a deal to jump out of a job 4 months into it, as long as you stay a few years at your next job, and you have a decent explanation for an interviewer as to why you made the jump so quickly. however if this happened multiple times, it would definitely raise some red flags to hiring managers.

It's not a big deal at all -- as long as the job is a better one. When reading over a CV one usually looks for ambition, so job hopping once or twice to get to where you want, which is where you'll be interviewing, shows a certain zeal or enthusiasm than staying low and settling for a while.

That is also true, honestly if you look across the field I would like to know the % of people that stay longer then 1 year at their first job, by their choice

I look at a fair amount of resumes at any given time and

We had a recent candidate say he/she "felt like the smartest person in the current group." Needless to say, he/she did not make it the next round. You can be smart and proud of your accomplishments but always be humble. If you're going to drop something like that when you're supposed to be at your best, you're probably going to be a treat to work with later.

If you "outgrow" your responsibilities, that means you're perfectly OK waiting for me to give you direction and don't want to bring ideas to the table. In lean groups, you don't want someone who's not asking for more work at all times. It's the sad truth but you're better off riding out the remainder of your first year.

Also, if you have

It will be too early to leave before you complete 1 year in that company. However, I would appreciate your plans for your future career prospect. It is something that will really help you out.

Gone.

See ya.

Don't let the door hit ya where the good Lord split ya.

are you an analyst? how big is this 30k jump? bonus compensation all in included or what

@shorttheworld - its a 30k jump on my base. going from 70k ---> 100k base. Bonus will be a bit smaller but not by much. I was expecting about 20% at my current firm, and I've been told I can expect around 10% at the new place, but an extra week of vacation.

I should also add that growth at this new place will be considerably faster. I really want to take the offer. I also know that a similar opportunity will open up in a few years, and I'm wondering if its better to wait and not piss people off, as it is a small industry.

Take the new offer, no one will ask. People will move for just a 10K bump, let alone a huge 30K on base. Plus you don't even need to mention that you worked at the original firm on your resume. You can just start it out on this new firm. People understand if you are moving for better pay and opportunity in growth. Your boss will only think that you are an idiot for not taking a better opportunity. After all - it's human instincts.

Business is business.

Not to mention if its the same job in the same industry and there is that big of a pay gap they are probably low balling you in the first place.

Thanks for the advice guys!

I'm sure you've considered it... but what are the longer term (read: 1-3 years) prospects? Do you feel like you will advance faster at your current gig? If so, does the comp even out or surpass the other firm in the timeframe you're considering to be a consultant?

For example, I have been headhunted for industry positions that pay 30+% above my base currently, but I know I can make it to the next level in 1 to 1.5 years, outearn, and surpass that 5% annual salary increase in a very short time.

Scratch that, you just said growth is faster at the new firm. In that case, do as Eddie suggested: "cya, don't wanna be ya"

Are these firms similar in reputation and placement into top B-schools?

@consultant09. The new firm is much more well know (PwC/EY), whereas my current firm is highly acclaimed for what it does (probably best in the world), but not well known in general (most people I know have never heard of it).

I think specifically for my field, my current firm has a better reputation, but growth prospects within the company are not great.

On top of that, I'm not too sure I want to go to B-School. I already have a masters in financial engineering.

Have you considered talking to your current boss about the situation and letting her know that, while you love the work and people at [current firm], the salary increase from your new offer will put you in a much more financial stable situation for your current stage in life and is really making you consider [new firm].

Put the ball in your current firm's court to raise your salary and if they can't match it/promote you/give more growth opportunities to your liking, then take the new job. Now you would have included the current firm in the process and let them know that you wanted to find a way for it to work out at your current firm.

^ I would be cautious with the above recommendation of asking for higher salary first year in the current firm...more of a dangerous move. Statistically, most people who accept the raise at current firm and stayed after showing the current firm they had another offer will most likely end up unhappy because you now just un-stabilized the relationship in your group. Your group will feel like you are a threat that will move anywhere for money and have no loyalty...aside from that even if you stayed and got a higher salary...you will most likely be the first one to let go in a downturn, because they can offer someone else to do your job for your current salary.

Thanks for the comments pitchbook and kbluearmor.

I have to say that I agree with kbluearmor on this one. I know for a fact that my current firm won't match the salary or even come close to it. If they did, they would be paying me more than people who have been here 5 years. They also know that I know this and I think they might feel like I'm just playing games with them.

Another problem that I didn't really mention earlier is that the new firm wants me to start as soon as possible if I accept (which I definitely will), and want me to give my current firm 2 weeks notice. I am heavily involved with a huge project right now and I want to give them a month's notice so that I can get another person fully up to speed before I leave. I really don't want to screw over my current team because I really like them, but I also don't want to piss off my new boss. How do you think I should go about this problem?

If your new firm wants to start ASAP, there isn't much negotiations you can do...and I would not advise notifying your current firm of your leave first then accepting the offer at the new firm. Also, do not feel obligated that you owe anything to your current firm. No need to feel bad walking out in middle of a project. If they value you enough they will beg and pay you to stay, if they don't they will just let you go. From the legal perspective, once they get the 2 week notice, they can't force you to stay so don't worry about it. And if you are a highly valued worker, they will always say they will happy to have you back sometime in the future.

I've seen people from big 4 audit take a pay cut and a downgrade in rank to get into financial advisory/IB. At the same time, 1 month is a bit short to decide. I would start looking but keep it on the DL

1 month? That's too quick imo.

Do you have prior IB or valuation internships?

Good question, I do have an internship at a small VC firm.

Keep looking on the DL.

The only issue is scheduling interviews and taking hours/days to go interview. This may look bad to your current manager.

And no, it's not too soon, considering how irrelevant audit is to IBD.