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Move to MBB for better WLB, brand, and almost all of the same exit opps
Lmfao, nice troll.
you think a citi analyst could get an MBB offer?
(this is a joke, it's lighthearted trash talk, please do not flame me, you are all precious and valid for choosing banking uwu)
I'll play. in london. pay was shit relative to other banks. many people unhappy. people will begin leaving in feb.
Love it
Was the the comp rise for London (generally) similar to the US?
See, part of me wants to stay and hope a shitload of other people leaving leads to them getting the message, because there is a lot of stuff I like about my spot.
The other part says that I'll be tagged as a guy willing to accept shitty comp and just get fucked forever.
.
Sink their corporate bank and hop over to JPM. The grass is greener on this side.
Good luck lateraling everybody !
You realize this thread is talking about Citibank ?
https://www.citi.com/
I didn't...now I get it.
Yo I'm joining Citi next month in London lol what am I in for
Shit culture, shit pay
By culture do you mean the people, the hours...? The people I interviewed with were quite friendly
I mean ... the culture definitely has its perks. Most groups are only in the office 3 days per week. It's shocking what that option to take 4 days at home per week can do for your sanity, even if you are working long hours from home. That said, there can certainly be some unpleasant people - just as at every bank - but frankly I think it leans more on the chill culture.
In exchange, we haven't had such great performance on the ecm side of banking lately - not as much M&A or IPO work as we'd like (although we dominated the SPAC wave, everyone knows that's just a fad). And bonus payout was low, given our wallet was lower than it was with peers on the street.
If you find another opportunity and reneg on Citi citing "bullshit bonuses" you will be a WSO hero.
Obviously you'd never get a job there again, but who cares.
Some of the weirdest dudes I have met worked there. Like the type of kid who never got laid and now uses his position to project his insecurities. But in a weird, awkward way.
For some reason this made me LOL
I had 3 weird interview experiences:
1) It was supposed to be a 2 hour superday that ended up being 3-4 hours. They all kept on asking the same question, and after my 4th interview there was really nothing to talk about. The last guy I talked to had a really bad cross eye, and he didn't bother walking me down to the elevator.
2) Towards the end of the call two interviewers ask me if there are any questions, and I asked a few. Then one interviewer asked, do you have any questions for me? I was thinking to myself um wtf you guys just asked that, and I said I do not. They laughed it off but I don't think they liked that answer. I definitely dodged a bullet there.
I love how people pretend it’s just so easy to move from bank to bank, like it’s no big deal.
Bad bonus at Citi? Just move to goldman or bofa and show Citi seniors you just won’t stand for six figure bonuses! Yea that will really show them!
It’s easy to get a new job in this market! Just apply online and you should have an offer within days!
Much easier in this market than any other time since pre GFC...
This is true and I think They will probably still bleed juniors to a hand full of the usual opportunities. Curious to see if people move that much.
This just my experience, but I applied last year after a crap bonus and after a simple behavioral interview I got an offer at my current bank the next week. I don't think this year will be too different, we have already had 2 juniors jump in the last few weeks to other banks. It’s just this weird job market, if you’re a junior and unhappy with your bonus it's likely you already have several recruiters trying to message you on linkedIn so entering a new processes is as easy as replying and sending updated resume.
I wonder if we will see a unprecedent amount of analyst quite at the 1 year mark
I mean, it's probably harder than a lot of people make it sound when venting on a forum, but it's also easier than you make it sound. Pay is all relative, they could be 8 figure bonuses, that wouldn't make it harder to lateral if other banks were paying more.
It's one thing to say people shouldn't act like their life is ending if they got paid only $300k instead of $500k. Yes, they are still quite well off, monetarily, relative to the general population. But that doesn't mean that if the same job is available down the street for $500k they shouldn't try to get it.
much easier than pre-COVID too given zoom interviews / people avoiding hiring those without in-office experience (experienced hires have a huge edge over new analysts now more than before, even if it’s a marginal benefit)
I get three emails a day about job vacancies in IB. A quick glance through LinkedIn and I can find at least two dozen job openings for IB in my city. Thanks to Zoom interviews you can speak to competitors from the comfort of your own home without your current employer noticing. It's honestly never been easier to lateral.
You understand many of us work in finance and have been moving around during the pandemic.
it’s really not that simple to just move around. You still have to get the interviews and succeed.
and on top of that, once you move you’re locked in for at least a year at a new place. You can’t just keep hopping around.
of course it’s not impossible to move around, I just think it’s hilarious when people make it seem like it’s the easiest thing in the world to do. And if I ever get a resume where a junior has moved around a lot, I just pass on the candidate.
Which city are you in?
Cannot agree more...it's not that easy to move around.
You all know that "hey it's a hot job market" and "sorry we cannot proceed with you even if you are a top 3 shortlist because we have 200 applicants for 1 lateral spot".
Think its easy to get interviews now adays. BB/EB banks are looking heavily at MM talent.
It legitimately is pretty easy in most years with decent or good markets, and it's been extremely easy lately. There's a ton of musical chairs movement after bonuses hit with people from grindy "prestigious" banks leaving the industry or going somewhere more chill and people from lower tier banks gunning for those open spots. Lateraling from bank to bank is a significantly easier and less stressful process than MBA recruiting.
You're acting like this is some unheard of thing. It happens literally every year.
Understand total comp at MS in London wasnt very good either
Man, literally some trade desks that like directly made money for the firm heard got treated worse than other years they didnt perform well. No reasoning. Funny part Citi claims to be one of the few places “you get paid more for holding positions..”
Really hoping people start leaving/ lateralling successfully. More pay bumps in IB should equate to more pay bumps in PE. In the MFs of the world that is. People go buyside for other reasons too (better wlb etc.). WSO and Litquidity got to make a movement again lol.
On a side note, business wise there's a lot banks/ financial services can do to keep retention high without increasing pay too. More vacation days that are fully OOO, better work on mental health esp for juniors, office perks, etc. I'm not an expert, just suggesting things.
Please just pay us more... I don't need a hour long HR meeting on mental health scheduled during my lunch break. Office perks are great if there something you'd use, its never something you'd use....
One thing I always get confused by is why banks don't offer increased 401k match. With c. 40% marginal tax rates, that's like getting 1.67x pay since it's all tax free.
I'd consider that in a total comp package favorably.
I agree with that. I just meant some packages for mental health like how you get dental and healthcare benefits. It'd be good to have something like having the option to visit a psychologist of your choice once every two weeks or sth. OR even a meditation room in the office. Might seem abstract but I've seen some funds buyside shops do it.
Maybe it’s level specific. I know associates are the most difficult to hire atm.
I had multiple job offers as a senior associate from EBs and BBs this past year. It was very easy as long as you knew the basics. I made a few mistakes and still got a few roles. I declined all but a couple included promotions.
But again, it’s that easy right now. JPM / other BBs are struggling for talent so much they’re tapping into QofE groups.
Do you mind sharing what the lateral interview process was like at the senior associate level? Specifically what level of technicals you went through and any model tests? Guessing it would be industry specific but curious to hear how your experience was. Thanks in advance.
Sure. I did minimal prep for these. Limited technicals and no modeling tests, but very focused on the VP role. I was also very transparent and admitted leadership mistakes and major lessons learned. I definitely was feeling them out just as much they were feeling me out and wasn't afraid of losing out on the opp - I would tell them I'd want to come in as a VP since I got the nod at my current firm but I'd be new to that role. I said while I feel like I've mastered the Assoc role, I don't know what I don't know but I don't make the same mistakes twice. How would they mentor me as I transition to VP - want to make sure I have the support to develop. Big questions are why leaving, etc.
I was deep in a few other processes but they were all behavioral before I dropped out. Demand for associates is crazy right now. I will say I either got a lot of love or none (e.g, GS / JPM). The rest of the BBs / EBs were tripping over for a senior associate.
Technicals were also more "why" driven - I was being asked to teach in some ways to demonstrate that I could train juniors.
As a resolution for those complaining that it's still too difficult to transfer laterally, I am personally committing to interview any candidate who applies to my firm from Citi IBD in February.
Except SmokeFrog. Can't have whiners in the group.
Not the hero we need
Which office
Probably not, Most likely they will fix the problem before hand.
Citi only does 401k match 1 time/year. It's not like other places where they match you as you contribute during the year. The policy says matching is done sometime during Q1, money hits your 401k around mid/late March. So I wouldn't expect to see many defections until the post-March timeframe.
Even after you leave, you still receive the 401k match the next March for whatever you accrued. I left last year and still have my 401k open with them until this match hits in March, then I’ll roll the balance
Also it starts after one year of service. So technically you’ll get your 401k Q1 year 3
How bad were these bonuses? Thought they gave 60-90 for IB which seems decent as a bulge
Good performance at any of the EBs or better BBs would get you 100-200% of base. Go look at the compensation discussion thread.
60-90 is pretty bad lol. On a 150 base, 60 (210k total) is basically the same as what you get in your first year of consulting. Imagine making the same as consultants with all those extra hours. I'd quit on the spot.
Oh I meant bonuses as an analyst w/ the 100 base. Totally agree 60-90 would not cut it as an associate
Speaking as a Citi associate in a large coverage group, it’s going to be a tough next few weeks/months for the seniors & MDs in the firm. They are in for a rude awakening. I know for a fact in my group that over half the associates, at a minimum, from my class year alone will be gone by the end of February. Would expect more defections across the bank at the junior levels through Q1.
Could you please share where these associates are exiting to? Corp Dev? Tech? Assuming they are 1.5 years in IB..
From my knowledge, it’s pretty spread out across those exit ops as well as PE, startups, etc.. Have people going a number of different routes and I wouldn’t say there is one particular path that stands out.
Do you know what analyst bonuses looked like?
My understanding is last summer they were also left feeling relatively disappointed by the overall level of bonuses.
Must be IND
Neither confirm nor deny.
Can someone just explain what the fuck is happening to Citi? How come they're struggling so much? People leaving and bad pay must be the symptom of a bigger problem
From my understanding as an N1, there wasn't enough focus on retaining talent at the higher levels. We then lost a good number of our rainmakers (see: our entire healthcare group exiting to SVB) so now we have new people coming in (from Goldman, of course) across the bank to try and make it rain again, but it's taking them a hot sec to get up and running.
I was in the market late last year for a senior associate role and spoke to a few banks. Despite its BB pedigree, Citi honestly struck me as weird. Had 5+ Zoom meetings with junior and senior bankers over the course of several weeks. I could tell they were desperate for talents, yet they completely flunked selling their culture, other than just "hey, we are Citi, the 800lb gorilla". Ended up declining the offer.
Agree with most of other posts. Lateral is relatively easier these days for those that can get their stories together. Limited technical (didn't get any from a handful of banks that I spoke to) and mostly focused on behavioral/deal/leadership.
Baird paid huge bonuses this year. Leave a comment below if you're interested in lateraling, and I'll DM you.
Which office?
Chicago
deleted
Just DM'd you. Look for the ursine user name.
Interested, could you DM?
Starting FT at Citi in a couple months and having mixed feelings. Seriously considering making some reach outs to other banks I interviewed with to see their situation.
That's a tough situation. At the A1 level, the pay disparity isn't probably going to be enough to move the needle toward jumping ship immediately, and you'd likely have more success with a full year under your belt so that they don't have to train you.
Unless you hear about something, I wouldn't reach out actively and kill your chances early for a future lateral. People will remember you and you'll want to be very polished when you engage with them.
Helpful feedback - thank you. Am trying to see a year at Citi as an opportunity to learn banking in a (relatively) lower pressure environment before making a jump to an independent advisory firm. Telling myself that the pay disparity is secondary for the first year.
Any thoughts on a long-term career in banking? My MD just quit for an EB and wondering if I should do the same. FWIW he comes from a distinguished banking dynasty with successive generations of family members having worked in the financial industry. Pretty much for the last 300+ years he and all of his ancestors have worked in banking. Wondering if I should do the same or just do the usual 2+2+MBA and fuck off to corp dev?
I think you’ve framed this up well; you have two choices: start your own 300 year banking dynasty or jump to F500 life
For associate 1s/2s moving up to associate 2/3, is base salary bumping to 200/225?
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