Quitting banking before full time?
Hello All,
I am a junior with an internship offer at a top 3 BB, GS/JPM/MS, for Summer 2021. I have been reading through WSO recently and seeing tons of first year analysts quitting and talking about how awful WFH has been and burnout seems to be on the rise.
I am really worried if internships will be virtual that I will get no exposure to my future team and get no feel for the real work on the job and my group culture. So much of whether an analyst survives or not seems to be the upper management in their group which it seems we interns will get no exposure to if we do virtual training like interns last summer.
It seems like covid won't be an issue come summer 2022 but will these issues caused by WFH continue? Would it be crazy to turn down that kind of (potential) return offer and pivot to another industry (MBB, PWM, ER, etc.) before giving it a real shot full time? Will the internship likely give us live exposure to our teams dynamics? First years would you still come on full time if you were in my shoes? I would appreciate any perspective here from those that have been around the block a lot more than I have.
Thanks.
I would do the internship. Consulting, especially MBBs hire a lot more FT than interns and having a top IB internship will open doors.
Just to clarify I want to do the internship, but already feel worried about accepting full time for a job I don't get to really experience with the covid intern training program.
I think the issues will probably change. Just yesterday an MD made a post about trying to see what they can do to change the work culture. Obviously this doesn't mean that we will see a revamp of the entire work culture but I think that if WFH continues to happen going into he summer where FT 2021 starts and even those FT quit just weeks or months on the job then the issues will have to change as they'll be lacking junior talent.
I’d do your internship and then decide. That said, if you know banking isn’t for you right now, figure out why you feel that way and make sure that mbb, ER, or pwm will actually be better long term. Things will 100% change before you start full time in 1.5 years. I will say it’s been super nice knowing I have something lined up. Also check out your schools ocr rules, mine requires companies to have our offer explode nov. 1 or later (and it’s actually respected!) which makes it super easy to recruit for other industries.
I would do the internship and gun for the return offer but really take the time between now and then to reflect on what it is you actually want to do. Take all the recent comments as a wake up call about what the job actually entails and what your life will look like as an analyst. Don’t follow the crowd into IB if it’s not something to truly want to do. You’ll quickly realize it a few months into the job and feel trapped / miserable for two years. The other roles you describe are very different and might be better suited for you. If that’s the case, position yourself to get a FT offer (much easier than trying to transition out of IB early, even at top shop). Moreover, IB isn’t going to help you with the other career paths you mentioned—you would likely have to start over again if you transitioned after IB.
FWIW, I don’t think the culture will be nearly as bad when you start given a lot of it is driven by the currents environment. Moreover, the thread has gained some traction with MDs across banks.
Why do you think the thread has gained traction with MD's across banks?
One of the finance meme pages is taking ideas from their DMs on how to improve the situation to give to Rich Handler over a virtual lunch. If there are any major WFH improvements at one bank, most will likely follow. Bunch of BBs tried the personal hour a few months back but didn't get any traction
The point of internships is to try things to see if you like it or not. If you don't go back after no harm done.
I don’t understand, you think the internship won’t prepare you? A ton of people do IB FT without internships in IB, reach out to them and see what they say. Either way, if you hate it you can quit with the same reproductions as if you declined a FT offer
Could any UK Analysts shed some light onto whether WFH has been as bad in London as it evidently is in the US?
If we're all still WFH in 2022, there will be a lot worse to worry about.
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