Is it worth it to lateral?

Long story short, I've been at a MM IB for a little over a year now. Haven't really learned much since the work has not been technical at all. Is it worth it to lateral if you have to take a year back and start as a first year again?

 

People in finance know of this MM bank and it is growing every year. Some of its verticals are very strong but then again most of the work in them is equity related. 0 exposure to anything debt related.

Hours are pretty relaxed on average it's like 9am-10pm and most weekends I'm usually off at least 1 day.

The hours and culture at my current spot are making it really hard to leave. I really do not want to do finance anymore after this but my exits from here are slim to none.

I'd like to get into sports business development or operations after banking. Also very interested in working at a real estate related fund.

 
YMCM-IB:

People in finance know of this MM bank and it is growing every year. Some of its verticals are very strong but then again most of the work in them is equity related. 0 exposure to anything debt related.

Hours are pretty relaxed on average it's like 9am-10pm and most weekends I'm usually off at least 1 day.

The hours and culture at my current spot are making it really hard to leave. I really do not want to do finance anymore after this but my exits from here are slim to none.

I'd like to get into sports business development or operations after banking. Also very interested in working at a real estate related fund.

Why not try to move into a role more closely related to sports/RE now? Spending another two years in banking wouldn't be as useful as two years of related experience in your new field.

 
Best Response

By finance do you mean primarily the IB/PE/HF world or are you talking about business related? If you don't want to do finance then what is the point of lateraling to a BB, you will just get slammed working late every night and will be miserable especially if you are not interested in any of the typical exits that IBD offers.

Does your bank pay street? How competitive is pay and did you guys get the bump to 85k for first years? Considering how good your hours are and if the pay is good I would just stay in this role until you figure out what it is that you actually want to do. It will not be too late to lateral to a BB next year if thats what you end up wanting.

 

Most people know of my bank or at least the boutique bank they acquired couple of years ago.

My bank does pay street (no $85k bump) and bonuses were in line with street as well. Hours are decent and I'm really comfortable here. Positive is I can finish out my final 9 months here and interview for a new job without anyone really bothering me. If I move to the BB I'd have to commit for at least another year with no interviewing.

Taking a full year back is tough and I won't be able to deal with all the BS.

If it comes down to it, I'm sure I can practice modeling over the weekends and in my free time.

Might just stay put, interview for jobs outside of banking and try to build up from there.

Senior bankers here love me and are willing to reach out to their contacts for me. Issue is I'm not sure I match up with other candidates in terms of skillset.

I'm not even sure if their connections can yield to interviews / job offers.

 

I say lateral, it's not really 'starting over' if you don't plan on continuing on in banking anyways. When you go to apply other places or for b school or whatever people will still see that you have 1 year of banking at your current shop + whatever you accumulate at the BB. They won't say 'what year analyst does the BB currently consider you as?' To them you will have 2+ years out of school IB analyst experience, and a year at a more reputable shop will only help your story.

This to all my hatin' folks seeing me getting guac right now..
 

I quickly glanced through this chain, but it seems like you're very open about exit opportunities. If that is the case, stay where you are. The only scenario where I would recommend moving to BB would be if you wanted to go into BB PE. Having the connections is more important in the world of finance, and like you said, you can practice modeling. When you interview, however, be sure to talk about your modeling in the projects / transactions. If you have the skills to back up the talk, that's all that matters.

--Death, lighter than a feather; duty, heavier than a mountain
 

if you are in RBC/WF levfin, I would stay - RBS maybe not so much. There are a lot of considerations for lateraling, like having to stay another two years in banking (otherwise recruiters will discount you), rebuilding your relationships and networks at the new firm, possibly entering a shitty environment at the new group, and obviously the caliber of the new group (GS TMT is a lot different than BofA TMT). I mean you are getting very releveant experience in M&A/levfin and if you like the people in the group and your MDs will give you good recs, I would definitely stay. If you hate your group, you are willing to do 3 years of banking, and you get an offer from like MS Tech Group, I would take it.

 

If I had to take a guess, I would say that you are working at WF, in Charlotte, simply because you pointed out about finding a spot in NYC, when anyone working there probably would have just thought it was implied already. Anyways, I would probably sit tight. The market is still tight, although there are a number of lateral positions open. The exception being is if you know that you want to focus on a certain industry and you find a position in the industry group you desire at a bank that is clearly better than where you are at.

Just remember you are taking a risk by leaving someplace you are established and going to a place where you will be the newest team member, potentially in a new city. Also, as dayaaam pointed out, you could be leaving a decent place and stepping into hell (or not) but it's hard to be sure. Sometimes the devil you know is better than the devil you don't.

Regards

"The trouble with our liberal friends is not that they're ignorant, it's just that they know so much that isn't so." - Ronald Reagan
 

Why have you hashtagged the tags for this topic?

You know you've been working too hard when you stop dreaming about bottles of champagne and hordes of naked women, and start dreaming about conditional formatting and circular references.
 

actually interested in this too now

You know you've been working too hard when you stop dreaming about bottles of champagne and hordes of naked women, and start dreaming about conditional formatting and circular references.
 
GSJPMMSMonkey:

bump?

I did and it was worth it, no question. Hard to say what would have happened if I had stayed but I recently accepted an offer in PE where I wanted to be. It obviously depends on the situation though...

 

have a good friend who went from an upper MM PE group to a top 5 BB group (one that is often widely praised on this thread). he had headhunters all over him for MF PE and top HFs. he ended up deciding to take the A2A route and stick with banking and he feels much better about the franchise he is with now and in general is much happier than in his previous gig.

 

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