Biggest professional regret?
In light of the “Piper Jaffray: Sweatier Than Ever in 2018” thread (link), I was inspired to share the biggest professional regret of my career so far, however early in my career that it may be.
Asked to stay an extra month
I actually had to miss senior week since unlike many other banks, analyst training at Piper begins in early June and not right after July 4. From the first day of training to when I finished 3+ years later, I never took more than a week of work “off”. On every single one of my once per year, one-week long vacations, I worked a significant amount and never had the ability to truly decompress. I also remember missing things like not going home for Thanksgiving one year because there was just too much work to do.
Near the end of my analyst stint at Piper I was convinced to stay an extra month due to heavy junior turnover in my group as it was unlucky timing with some unplanned early departures as well as people’s end dates happening to coincide with one another. It was not my preference to stay that extra month at all - I wanted to have more time off for myself, but I chose to stay because: 1) I really liked my group and wanted to help them out and 2) part of the deal was I would receive a pay bump for that month in addition to a one month pro-rated bonus. I went out of my way to help my old group / firm out when I could've left them out to dry understaffed and with only a single experienced junior team member.
No bonus...
Like an idiot, I did not get the above deal in writing. Getting everything in writing is advice I’ve seen countless times before, but I never imagined that would be a problem for me as I was receiving the higher base pay and my group had always done right by its juniors during bonus season.
Fast forward to full-year bonuses being paid out and lo and behold, I did not receive the promised pro-rated bonus. After numerous back and forths and being ghosted for nearly a month, I was finally able to track down an answer. The feedback was that I was paid everything I was owed and that if I hadn’t worked as an analyst at Piper, that I wouldn’t have gotten the job offers that I did and I should be grateful for that alone – that I got absolutely the max amount for my year and that I should be happy with that – that maybe we did agree on the stub but I should’ve gotten it in writing – that even if they wanted to change it, that it’s too late and there was nothing to do now.
Regret
Now at the end of the day, the money is irrelevant. The amount I was shorted is easily less than 10k post-tax and I’m fortunate enough to be in a situation where my life won’t change because I am out that money. What I am bitter about and will probably regret forever is that by staying an extra month, I had only two weeks before starting my new job. I pushed my start date back as far as I could and there was no way to extend that further since my new group was being swamped and couldn’t afford to have me start any later. Who knows when I'll have another opportunity to have an extended time off in the future - I definitely won't be in my mid-20s.
In those two short weeks, I had to pack all my belongings, drive cross-country, and move into a new city, including buying and assembling furniture, getting a new driver’s license, registering my car, buying countless household supplies, etc. – all things that add up and significantly cut into the only time I truly had off since I graduated. That is time I will never get back, time I could’ve used to visit friends I hadn’t seen in years, actually travel a bit, or just time I could’ve used on myself to relax. Hell, I could’ve pushed my start date earlier to help my new firm given how busy they were and still have had an entire month to myself.
Get everything you negotiate in writing
I wish I had either said no or not blindly trusted Piper, thinking that my loyalty would be rewarded, or at least recognized. At the end of the day, I guess the healthy thing to do is to chalk this up as a learning experience that the world of business and finance is cutthroat, and that you should ALWAYS, ALWAYS, get everything you negotiate in writing, even when you think it won’t be necessary. Whether it's to prevent somebody from "forgetting" or actually forgetting, I'll never make that mistake again.
What’s your biggest professional regret?
One more thing: To summarize, loyalty to the firm is overrated.
Great Thread: Keystrokes Great Comment: additional Keystrokes Having the best comment on a thread you made: Priceless
Funny
Yeah this is 100% true. When I was negotiating an offer the interviewer told me "X you have no experience, who would take you? You are in no position to negotiate on the pay"
Fast forward a few years when you want to leave "How can you leave? We groomed you and now you just want to hop on to greener pastures??? Where is the loyalty."
Logic???
This hits home. Old MD of mine promised $X in bonus despite the off-cycle timing of my departure. I didn't get it in writing and sure enough, didn't receive any of it.
How's your relationship w/ your old group / firm now?
Mine is definitely leaving a company after a short period of time. I didn't even stay a year, but another opportunity came up that I was more interested in. I feel as if I let down the people I was working with at the time, as they spent a lot of time teaching me different things, and then I just left for another job.
You definitely made the right decision. I was like you, had an offer but turned it down thinking "well these guys spent time training me, maybe I should hang around longer". Fast forward 6 months, I got caught interviewing and was threatened with dismissal. Your ex-bosses could have acted the same way or even worse. If I could go back in time I would fuck them and leave without giving a second thought. Now these guys treat it as if it is a privilege for me to be there.
Fuck loyalty.
Yeah, you see stories like mine and there are just too many cases where loyalty doesn't pay off.
in the same situation here. I feel bad for wanting to leave after such a short while. How did it work out for you at the end ?
How exactly did you get "caught interviewing"?
Turning down a top tier bulge bracket offer where I was asked to take a year back to stay at a lower tier, public middle market bank with high turnover and accepting a guaranteed promotion the following cycle. Now recruiting again with low probability of securing same caliber option in future. Idiot...
Are you recruiting to stay in banking now? Or trying for buy side as well?
Nope - pretty much stuck in banking. I'm at the senior associate (A4) level. Stuck around to get my VP promotion next cycle and chill lifestyle and now absolutely hate myself for it. Even if I do 100 more deals at my MM, recruiting upstream will always be an uphill battle because of prestige / brand factor in the business. Something I thought would go away, but doesn't really ever in Finance.
No Ragrets. That's my credo right there.
not one? not even one little letter
...
erudite - adj. (1) having or showing great knowledge or learning.
If there's a word you're going to misuse, the only worse choice I could think of would be diction.
Ah, I realize this now. I meant to say elitist. In any case, the gist of my point is there.
Not pursuing banking while I was in b-school. I went for jobs in a very specific field of finance and got burned. Banking at a top BB or EB provide amazing compensation, great exit opportunities, and transferable skillset. But there was so much banking hate at my school that I drank the Kool-Aid and went to FAANG. YUGE mistake.
>banking hate
>b-school
?
It’s probably Berkeley or Stanford
Starting my career in institutional equity sales. I loved it pre-2008, but it was almost impossible to transfer out of. Unfortunately, the role doesn't have the greatest exit opps.
I see you did though, eventually?
It wasn't easy brother. I essentially took a massive pay-cut and worked at some of the worst places in the world to order to transfer into CRE. It's tough seeing former colleagues prosper, but you just have to soldier on.
Following the money and then got burned... same thing happened to me and trying to exit as well.
Going into finance.
I second that!
Whys that?
I went into it for the wrong reasons (preftige, money etc.) only to find out that finance doesn't interest me in the slightest.
Fuck that group you used to work for with a rusty nail.
Dude, I know. They begged me to stay too, particularly the VP who I used to have a lot of respect for. She hard sold me so many times when I talked to her about having reservations about staying, and then didn't seem to care that much that they screwed me. Fucking ridiculous.
Starting a power battle w/ someone with a bit more juice than I thought.
ThatGuyBalls just seeing this. Is there a good story?
bump
I left O&G to pursue a more generalized role, albeit still working on a lot of O&G transactions. Realized my mistake after about 3 years and jumped back in. My regret stems from all the industry knowledge I could have retained and grown during that period and been in a better position to take advantage of the current market.
Buying a Rolex Submariner over an IWC Portugieser
Hahaha. I can definitely relate to this one. But hey, there's always room to add IWC Portugieser to your collection!
Not starting recruiting early enough. Nobody at my school knew much about finance, and as a result there was no sense that you need to be searching for jobs and internships the moment you walk through the door, which you do.
Playing hardball negotiating with a certain company.
As soon as they said sorry, we'll move on. I was like fuck, what did I do?
If you have your number and you know what’s rational, why settle for less?
Asking for 30% above market to try and anchor or something is one strategy, but not backing down and reading the reaction is another story.
25% is fine, too. For a top place, also.
Go knock some dudes out in the ring? And probably make more doing it?
Staying in the military as a reservist while working full-time as a Trader.
How was drill during that? Were they understanding? I have 4 years of IRR left and my worst nightmare is I get recalled as things just start falling into place.
My company was understanding most of the time, but I know most BB banks could care less if you are a reservist or not, they expect you to be there, and when you take time off for drill, you often times get reamed for it.
Do you regret being a reservist period or just that you happened to do it while working FT?
Regret it period hahaha
Not buying more stocks in 2008.
being a professional
Complying with my Risk Managers.
I second that... also complying with Audit...
Had a super day with Goldman FIG. Was overall just lazy and didn't prepare at all. Bombed the technicals.
Getting married.
I know its personal, but care to elaborate further?
1.) Moving to Africa to join a 'wealth management startup' that was going to revolutionize the African asset management industry through its one-of-a-kind fintech innovation lab. Turned out to be just another brokerage shop... #scam 2.) Talking myself out of applying to a sweeeet super-competitive PE position, only to my mediocre co-analyst get the role 3.) Choosing strategy consulting over IB
From someone working in transaction diligence and longing to work more on the “vision” and “bigger picture” - what is it you didn’t/don’t enjoy about strategy consulting?
Tbh, the work is really interesting- you get to work on really impactful stuff. It's just that the exit opportunities are mediocre, and only a few people can make it to the top of the ladder.
Moving to the internal strategy department of any organization will always be a downgrade- the projects will never be as interesting. On the other hand, it will be extremely difficult to compete with ex-bankers for juicy PE-type roles.
The odds of moving into the C-suite after 4-6 years of strategy consulting is much rarer than the perception. I see many ex-consultants having to take up non-PE finance roles like equity research. Problem here is that they would have been better off just not going into consulting at all, because they're way behind their peers in that industry.
Most of all, I feel like strategy consulting makes you a jack of all trades but master of none, which isn't very helpful for anyone's career in the long term.
Why do you regret choosing strategy consulting over IB? Are you at MBB?
tier 2 (RB/OW/ATK/S&)
Had an opportunity to hook up with a very, very attractive intern at the first company I worked for. Didn't do it because I wanted to stay with the firm. Ended up leaving the firm 6 months later for greener pastures anyways. Coulda, shoulda, woulda.
Taking merit money from a lower caliber undergrad target over an HYPS. It clicked why it was lower caliber once I was on campus and I left after only a year. But it sucked coming in as a transfer, and my social or professional network isn't what it could have been. It just messes up your entire social and academic rhythm to come in as a transfer. Always bank the prestige, kids.
Mine would be not getting into finance earlier. It wasn’t until undergrad that I decided what I wanted to do. So after being in luxury retail, I landed an internship at a boutique firm moved to NY and no one in the summer received an offer for the following cycle. So now having to bust my butt to break into the finance world I am realizing is one of the hardest things to do.
Choosing BB accounting/product control over an S&T sales role at a small company because I didn’t like the culture/vibe at the small shop. I still think it would not have been a fit long term but I should have picked the FO job and changed later. I’m finding it really difficult to move out of BO now.
Working in banking at all. After busting my ass as an A-to-A, I burned out and realized how little I got from my experience in banking. I have two-three pretty large announced deals under my belt, but I didn't learn many new skills and was absolutely miserable. A couple weeks into my decompressing, I also realized the physical and emotional toll the hours, stress and general bullshit took on me. I can see my old, true self, reemerging now, but I suppressed myself and my desires, passions, and general happiness and wellbeing for years. Sure, I was doing it for "something" and good money, but in retrospect, it wasn't worth it at all. I'm looking at different options now (consulting, law school, some interesting buyside stuff I turned down to become an associate), and banking just isn't giving me that much of a leg up. The other candidates I'm running into have interesting life experiences and did something they were passionate about, and I have a commoditized and limited set of experiences and have not had a personal life since college. Life is too fucking short to give up that much.
Wow - this is super helpful. Currently deciding between an associate position at a BB or a startup - and people in banking have told me the same thing...
why?
Easy - Not being 6'2"
Taking an FoF offer over IB ...
Curious, why did you choose FoF over IB at the time?
Wasn't thinking rationally back then.
taking a prestigious FoF offer over Equity Research at a very regional IB is mine... function>brand kids!
So did you manage to get out of the FOF? If so, where to? Struggling to find an exit myself.
^ this, +100
Hey earthwalker7, would you mind I PMed you about something?
Incidentally, I remembered this comment and this post last year, when I left my job off-cycle in PE. Got the bonus figure put down in writing, secured it while not burning my bridges. Thank you.
That's awesome, great to hear it worked out.
not getting started in ideal industry/company I could grow into. Peers that did I see them moving up and in relaxation mode since they've absorbed so much after 6/7 years that they know everything like back of hand.
Turning down the best level lump section offer where I was requested to take a year back to remain at a lower level, open center market manage an account with high turnover and tolerating an ensured advancement the accompanying cycle. Presently enrolling again with a low likelihood of anchoring same gauge alternative in future.
i got fired from my second internship for drinking box wine and falling asleep during the day when i was left alone. i regret not suing them for discriminating against my alcohol problem
Its not a huge regret for me or anything, but looking back maybe something I could have done to secure this position.
I interviewed for an associate position at a small M&A group in a large company in NYC for what seemed to be a pretty cushy position for good pay. The head of the group needed some help and wanted me to come in that year and move into his office with him to follow up with clients and take on some of his workload. He was a former Merrill Lynch IB guy, HBS grad. I had a good interview with him and we discussed salary and starting terms and hours. I had another interview with an associate in the group and it looked like I was going to start there soonish. He talked about getting the paperwork together for me for an expected offer and I felt I had nothing to worry about.
I exchanged another email with him about a week later and it seemed things were on track. Then, a week after that he emailed me and called me to say that he had to back off my candidacy and that an internal hire was 'promised' the job. Apparently by a higher up in the company (I think someone in asset management). They didn't get the memo that there was an opening in M&A and they finally did after I interviewed.
Looking back, I think if I pressed him a bit more, I could have signed papers that week. I didn't want to press him that much and he said he would take care of everything. He wasn't being dishonest to me at the time, but didn't know all of the circumstances and neither did I. I was also expecting a much lower salary and he threw out a number much higher than expected and I was just like 'yeah'. It was good money for me back then and seemed like an unrealistic amount at the time, so much so that I asked the associate about the number offered assuming he was getting the same or higher and he said it was all legit and he got his bonus as promised. I got along with him well and thought it would be a nice small team to crank out some niche M&A deals.
But, if I took on that job, I'd be stuck in banking making respectable money, but bound to my current responsibilities on the job. I left the country for about a year a couple months after that interview in a time that my mind and humility needed to be deeply molded to what is important in life. I went from not going to work in that position to basically a cabin in the woods. It was probably the best thing for me. Complete detachment from the demands of city to just step back and see what is important in life.
I would never have gotten to the place that I am today without that journey, so its not really a regret, but looking back I know now that if I want to close a really good offer that I want for a position, to just keep in very close contact with the hiring manager or MD to make sure the wheels are on track. You usually don't need to do it, but was completely put off and surprised when that happened and just thought --- maybe I could have followed up a bit more. Or pushed for just a single page contract and a signature.
Honestly, in this interview when the MD threw out that salary number at me, he wasn't just saying - I will provide you a good package for incentives to work here - - - it was more along the lines of 'I'm going to take care of you as family'. He actually told me what he made as well, roughly
He was bringing me into his office to be with him in his personal space every day. It wasn't the biggest office, but there were two desks and a nice window view. He was bringing me in as family and this started to become clear towards the end of my interview with him. I started an art/design company that was not financially successful (it hasn't failed, but just low sales) - by the end of the interview, we were BSing around and he was looking and my art and shit like that on his computer - and we were both kind of getting the sense of what it would be like working out of the same office everyday. Because I know that was a big question in his mind - can I spend all day everyday with this person. He had that on his mind from the beginning, but I was unaware of the situation and office space until the end. Maybe 60min into a 90min interview. We would have kept talking, but he had a call. Someone or a group of people just blew up his phone 60min into the meeting and he declined every call. I followed up with him later that day after the other interview on the way out.
The bonus was a percentage of the group's profits (he gave me a % - a specific percentage). Who the hell gives that to associates? No one. And that other associate dude said his bonus was all legit (he was on a % too). Our terms and relationship were on a really good level, so all of this just blindsided me. To add to that, I'm not sure if he even liked the person coming on to his team, so I think he was a bit disappointed too. We already both made plans and visualized this very personal relationship. In some way, he was to become my new mentor and was going to teach me everything he had learned in M&A throughout the years and I'd get to meet the select group of clients that he had taken on. I was already friends with one of his clients who was this british dude and Columbia MBA grad who referred me to the interview. I had his approval, so it was kind of like my 'shoe in the door' that got me face to face with the MD in the first place.
I hope you are enjoying your current gig, the way everyone talks about Piper Jaffray on this site... good God
not getting started in ideal industry/company I could grow into. Peers that did I see them moving up and in relaxation mode since they've absorbed so much after 6/7 years that they know everything like back of hand.
Curious, why did you choose FoF over IB at the time?
I don't have an "instance" of regret per se, but I do have a year or so that I look back on and think could have been handled significantly better.
Going into my final year of university, I didn't yet have a job lined up. Although I'd done all the internships expected of me, I was unsuccessful in converting my final summer internship into a full time offer: not only was the firm in question midway through a significant strategic shift, de-prioritising S&T in favour of AM, but the very first day of the programme was Brexit. As a result, what was already an abnormally small global markets headcount allocation got cut even further.
Naturally, I spent a good portion of my final student year interviewing wherever I could. Because of Brexit concerns, a lot of shops were on the defensive, so my prospects - despite studying at a target - looked bleak. I was eventually interviewed by a Swiss trading house. The job description was a little vague, however it advertised a "commodity trader" role and I thought it seemed like a reasonably good learning opportunity. After getting through the initial phone interviews, I was invited to the final assessment centre - on the same day as my graduation ceremony. Needless to say, I chose the assessment centre over the ceremony.
I ended up getting the offer, which was a huge relief and meant - in my mind - I had the chance to get my career underway. What, however, caused some consternation was the fact I'd also been offered a a place on a master's course at another top university. This was a big deal in my mind: I'd received a lot of help from a number of professors in my department, and was hugely grateful that a large number were willing (and did) write me references. Still, I thought the chance to get material trading experience outweighed this prospect and so ended up declining the master's place.
I go to Switzerland and begin my job at the end of that summer and very quickly I realise I've made a mistake. The trading in question is freight-centric rather than product-centric (an inkling I got, but ignored, at interview), and so the technical demands of the job are very low. In addition, the people I'm working with - my colleagues - aren't "of the standard" I'd hope for. I put a huge emphasis on who it is I work with: these, after all, are the people you spend 80% of your day with and from whom most of your learning will derive. Needless to say, it was a real gut punch. Having always aimed for the most prestige throughout my school career, I'd suddenly found myself in a less than desirable position with few exit prospects. Compounding this was the fact I'd gone abroad to work, opting to try long distance with my long-term girlfriend.
I ended up leaving that job after a year to return back to the UK and work for a fund back in London. While this has been an improvement, I still feel as though I'm picking up the pieces from that year. While not totally disastrous by any means (and certainly an opportunity to learn from an "experience" perspective), I hugely regret not attending my graduation and not doing my master's.
Not buying more stocks in 2008.
THIS
Mine is definitely leaving a company after a short period of time.
Loyalty to your firm IS OVERRATED! ESPECIALLY IN THIS INDUSTRY!
Call me salty but I worked my fucking ass off as a Summer Analyst unpaid, and did more than I needed to as I was promised a fucking Deal Tombstone because I helped the Associate pick up slack on bullshit tasks since our VP quit mid due diligence.
It was a lot of fucking work as a Summer Analyst that I didn't need to do, but I "liked" my group and since I wasn't getting paid I saw that tombstone as light at the end of the tunnel.
I didn't get shit and I ended up staying an extra week to help them out instead of going to our Business School's Orientation.....
Never making that mistake again, I obvi couldn't have done any of this in writing since it was a tombstone but getting fucked in the ass after helping them out more than I needed to really put things in perspective for me.
Sorry to hear about your situation tho.
To confirm, you are angry that as a summer analyst you did not receive a tombstone?
Yeah, what?
I see you did though, eventually?
No... the project lasted until a few months after my internship ended in the fall.. I even extended my time a week in order to help our more, and sent a follow-up text to the assoc slily hinting to his promise to me.
Needless to say I stole a coffee mug from the office before I left and that is my acting tombstone.
People don't need to be assholes in this industry for the sake of being an asshole.
Haven't done it before.
Leaving Freddie Mac in 2009 for "greener pastures." I'd be a Director today making $250,000/year working 40 hours/week with 4 weeks of vacation.
would you still be interested in working for freddie mac if you were graduating today
I would, yes. Great pay and benefits and there is still runway before it comes out of conservatorship, so it will be a dominant force for at least the next few years.
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