I just quit my investment banking gig after 5-6 years for a variety of reasons. Partly personal (e.g., mental and physical health, wanting more time and flexibility, etc.) and professional (want to make a transition into something different). I was an analyst for 3 years and an associate for 2.5 years. Could have been a VP but thought it wasn't worth it and wanted to pursue things outside of investment banking.
Does anyone have any similar experiences? What do people do now? Buyside would be interesting but honestly I would personally rather take a more relaxed job and work less and have more flexibility (Corp Dev?).
I think I need a plan, but I also want to take a mental break from work. Any advice would be appreciated.
First of all, unless you have a wife/family, take a couple months to travel. You won't get the opportunity again for a long, long time, if ever. Then think about joining a promising early stage startup. You'll work hard but not as hard as you've been working (and it will be spent building something, instead of putting out fires / scrambling for clients). You probably have a few bucks put away, so suck up the salary cut but negotiate for as much equity as possible. After a few years you'll have learned a ton, opened a lot of doors for yourself, and have vested equity that might give you a nice payout. This last part is less common than it looks, but so are a lot of things.
Guys, to both of you: first congratulations. It's of greatest importance to observe, identify and execute on ones needs/situation/priorities. Whatever their nature, if you felt compelled to it, well done!
Btw. Your stint in IB was longer than most and indeed, enough, if you need to take care of things. You don't owe anybody an explanation, important is you are convinced of your decision.
Second: travel and take care of growing in the other pillars (dimensions) of your personality (health, social -friends, family, sentimental/relationships, education/erification, spiritual and creative/cultural). Life is way richer than the four walls and finance people you've been interacting intensily during the past years. Go out, explore, meet, grow.
You seem oriented towards Bus.Dev. (and after your sabbatical you may think otherwise, no worries). Not difficult to break in, if you are good (professionally and personally). My suggestion: take your time to look for a few industries you truly care/follow, find the companies you think would excite you. Put an automated search for these positions at these industries and also the companies you'd be interested into). That could bevthe start of the "pasdive approach". Then, whenever you feel its the right moment to start searching, start networking, narrowing your search, etc. Linked on, headhunters and own contacts are also ways to find openings. Don't jump the gun though. First take care of you, then take cate of finding a job.
To your fear, no serious employer would give you a "malus" for taking a sabbatical. Sure, you need to learn how to phrase it correctly and avoid tripping. Be honest and it will work just fine.
Corp. Dev is a field of choice for many former bankers and consultants, so no worry, they will understand and your skill set is useful. Moreover, the environment within corporates is most of the time diffetent than within banks and you'll need to interact with sr management, but also mid and lower management, sometimes also regular staff. Therefore your sabbatical can help you detox and reconnect with reality. Humbleness, courtesy, sincerity, patience and team work are key words that are a good start if you choose yo go there.
Last, be proud of what you have achieved and (whatever your reasons for changing paths) be confident on your skills and star.
Best of luck in your journey, keep us posted, share the wealth, (A fellow monkey, who have taken a similar path in the past, satisfied with his decisions and outcome so far)
Yes - I'm currently in the back half of a year long sabbatical. At the end of this, I will be moving to another continent to continue working in tech.
I took the first 4-6 months to relax and decompress- my daily routine looked something like this:
Wake up late, go for a morning walk & espresso, meet a friend/date for lunch (there is an insane amount of attractive, available women walking around major cities during the day), nap, read a bit, play some video games, maybe hit the gym, go out for a cheap & cheerful dinner, watch a movie, sleep, repeat.
I took the time to take care of some nagging health issues via physio and massage therapy, fixed my diet (and lost 15 pounds!), got rid of some toxic/unhealthy relationships, and generally cleaned up my life.
After relaxing, I spent a week in the Czech Republic, a month in the Middle East (Israel), and 2 weeks in Japan (Tokyo & Kyoto) during cherry blossom season. I was hoping to do another 2 weeks in China + 2 in Australia but I'm high maintenance and spent way more cash at high end hotels (i.e. the Mandarin Oriental and the Andaz in Tokyo) and restaurants (i.e. M25 in Tel Aviv) than reasonable, so I had to postpone those plans.
Now I'm slowly tying up loose ends, doing a bit of informal consulting for some cash, and generally living a healthy, well-balanced life. This is all good stuff.
As for the bad? I work on the business side, and although it's not nearly as rigid as finance, there is still a "track" in big tech - I won't be able to rejoin a Google/Salesforce/Microsoft/Facebook for 4-5 years, and unless I get lucky with equity (and make no mistake, having paper turn to gold at a startup is luck), I'll be taking a very significant pay cut for the next several years.
I can't speak for everyone and my situation is a little unique, but I imagine that for most people, the longer they take out of the workforce, the more "theta decay" they will experience.
For me it was 100% worth it and I wouldn't have it any other way, but I can see how it would not make sense for everyone.
As for getting in front of a startup, you can just show up at meetups/events/offices and speak to people.
Questions for you: what kind of work are you willing & capable of doing? What are your salary and job title requirements? What size company fits your personality? What problems do you find interesting?
If you're only interested in well established mostly-de-risked multi-billion dollar "startups" with healthy salaries that can leverage your analytical skills with well defined job requirements, Uber & AirBnB would be good places to look.
Reach out to ALL your relevant professional contacts and proactively take command of the narrative:
"Hey! So, I took the plunge - I've left banking.
We left on good terms, as the firm understood my personal and professional reasons. The personal I'm going to take care of with 100 days of traveling around the world (no need to do it in 80). Professionally, my goals are oriented towards corporate development.
How would you feel about slotting in a call sometime during the next 100 days? I can be flexible around your schedule - who knows what time zone I'll be in - and I'm very much looking forward to getting new ideas and being pointed in interesting directions."
Most people will want to stay in touch out of the sheer instinct to vicariously live through your exploits.