Leave IBD before starting?

I am an incoming 1st year analyst and really hate and suck at the job and already want to leave. I come from a pretty terrible non-target and spent all my time during uni focused on ibd, i got 2 IBD internships at BBs and didnt convert them because I hated it. I was able to recruit FT but tbh I dont want to start but I am also from a undevelopped country so it is either that or going back home and probably not even having a career at all. I recruited while working and it was really bad and even wondering if this can be done while FT now, dunno what to do thinking of postponing my start date to get my head clear but I know I will have to deal with it again.

I am interested in LO AM but spots there are scarce and it is harder than iBD, havent had much luck and dunno what to do in the mean time.

 
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It’s your life and no one on this forum will have the answers for you. All that said, a few thoughts:

Pros of Staying:

1) I hated my analyst stint and most people do, but very few regret doing it. The painful truth is adjusting to working sucks for almost everyone. Especially for people’s first job, most people really hate it—that’s why it’s a first job. I’m putting this as a pro, because the grass isn’t always greener, but with IB it’s pretty much up after you leave almost no matter what you do. I think to some degree starting your career with a job that sucks helps set you up for a happier life. I get this logic is backwards, but it’s true.

2) along with the “first jobs suck” the first 6 months of any role, undergrads are pretty incompetent and are given grunt work. There is a learning curve required to working where undergrads need to learn how to take ownership of a deliverable, work with coworkers, deal with horrible managers, deal with good managers, and learn how to be fast at excel, ppt, outlook, etc. This sounds stupid and tedious, and it is, but it’s actually really important for your professional development. IB allows you to become a corporate machine faster than any other job just due to a function of the hours you work. This is partially why even doing the role for 6 months can be pretty solid from a development standpoint no matter what you do. My non-IB friends are absolute snails when it comes to getting work done and this is just a function of me gaining so many reps and learning efficiencies and good habits early in my career.

3) People talk about the exits as though KKR and blackstone are the only paths out there—they aren’t and personally I think they are pretty crap paths for someone who is creative, isn’t completely risk averse, or who desires a life. That said, the exits are a huge pro. After some time in IB, doors are opened that it’s hard to understand prior. Even staying a year allows you to have a stamp on your resume that brings you to the top of piles and will have people picking up your call for life (to some degree). 

4)  The money early on is great and can allow you to take vacations/ fun/ etc or just have more financial security down the line.

5) The network is a bit like a target school. The rest of your life you will have an in for various finance shops if you work in banking.

6) the stress and pressure will make you reevaluate what things mean to you and why you are working.

Pros of leaving:

1) if you know the role isn’t right for you, you are wasting time figuring out what role is right for you by taking a job you know you don’t want. The caveat being—you likely don’t know so early in your career.

2) IB sucks and you will likely be miserable as you work as an analyst—almost everyone is. You can avoid this misery by picking an industry that isn’t so abusive or unreasonable.

My personal advice is to plan your exit now and leave immediately after 1 year. The year might be one of the worst years you’ve ever had, but if you can make it through to the other side, you will have gained much. I hate banking and I encourage many people to get out as soon as they can, but it is and will remain a great place to begin a career even though it’s painful.

 

What exits do you see some of the more creative types / non-risk averse types take out of IB?

I’ll be joining a solid shop next summer, but can’t help to feel like PE is not what I see myself exiting too.

 

All over the place—chief of staff/ cfo at a startup, unique family offices, new funds, getting their phd/ graduate degree, long only funds, nonprofits. It’s not that PE is a bad place to be it’s just that I think most people do it just because other people are doing it and they all target the same shops—I think that’s where you see some serious sadness.

My favorite is watching this websites “ideal” path play out and the people being pretty unhappy and/ or kinda just clowns in real life. I know a few former BB analysts that went to a megafund and now are at HBS and they are literally the shittiest investors I’ve ever seen/ all they know and all they exist to do is follow what everyone else is doing. I would genuinely not want to hire them or work for them and feel places they work are kinda red flags for fluff without substance. They also personally have literally no life besides being a megafund pe guy who goes to hbs
 

I also have friends who followed the path and are exactly where they should be—point is it’s personal and you need to determine what is right for you. Your career and my career should be different because we are optimizing our individual happiness which is by definition different. Try things, quit, get hired, it’s a mess, but your career is like 60 years long so you got time.

Also worth noting—you could have ideal jobs at different points in your life and change things up. I know a few former hedge fund guys that absolutely killed it, but left because they felt the work had gotten repetitive and too stressful and they no longer wanted that. Also, there are a ton of people who start their own business at like 40, it’s not like you need to have everything figured out. There is no ladder you are climbing relative to everyone else because it’s your personal happiness and financial security.

 

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