Anyone Deal w/ Extended Burn-Out?
Bit of background, I'm a 2nd year associate in my late 20s who went UG-->IB. Was top bucket each year during my analyst stint, was the first to raise my hand to take work most of the time, and really gave a fuck about my work quality being extremely high. After a series of nightmare staffings from COVID onset through 3Q21, I became incredibly burnt out and apathetic. I was able to take a 2-week sabbatical, felt no different when it was over. I wound up exiting to the buy-side before 2022 and hated it. Group was full of grade-A dickheads and they completely misrepresented the position during recruiting. I resigned without an offer in hand and didn't work for ~5 months - even start recruiting for 3 months.
I'm back in banking now and feel no different about it than I did right before I left the first time. Completely apathetic towards all aspects of the job...and every other aspect of life and have no ambition to accomplish anything. I know that I would hate it the second that the pay-cut became a reality, but I often think that I'd be a lot happier doing a blue-collar job in a LCOL middle-of-nowhere town.
Anyone else gotten burnt out to a similar point and found a way to get a second-wind during their post-analyst years? Have to figure out some way to reignite my spark because I know I'd regret the fuck out of walking away from the $ if I decided to radically change career scenery.
LSD.
Guaranteed to end w/ me hallucinating that I'm the guy on the table in The Judgement of Cambyses and the devil holding the scalpel.
Good reference but that's not how LSD works
You also don’t know how lsd works if you are just blindly recommending it lol
Honestly, he would probably feel suicidal if he took shrooms or lsd.
i'm in a similar position tbh, A2A as a teller (albiet middle bucket)
reccomend you find a more chill buyside/corporate dev job with chiller people. end of the day - finance jobs are very similar fundamentally, once the novelty wears off your enjoyment will be driven by the people and the hours
what are associate sign on bonuses in the consumer banking division like?
Are you back at the same bank? In a similar spot where I went to A2A and exiting to the buyside soon but now sure if I'll be as good / like it
Different bank - could have gone back to the same bank in a coverage group, but didn't want to waste several years of RX experience starting from scratch on the M&A side. Do know that it's difficult to come back to most banks, as they don't want it to seem like a revolving door for guys coming back from buy-side gigs that didn't work out for whatever reason.
Honestly, I think you should consider a job with a bit more WLB - even corp dev would give you most nights and weekends back while preserving a reasonable salary. You sound like a really high achiever, but 3Q21 to now is a really, really long time to be burnt out like this. There's more to life than money even if it doesn't feel like it right now
Pm me
Really tough situation. They say with this type of burn out, short time off doesn't do anything - it would take a year or two unfortunately. Brings up the question of business school.
You don't have a WLB issue, I don't think, since you are alluding to apathy. For anyone suggesting you take a chill corporate job, I think you would feel even more burnt out and even more apathetic, all to make less money
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I was in a not too dissimilar spot. I would recommend using some introspection to figure out what exactly you are unhappy about in your current job. For me it was a toxic culture combined with no agency/autonomy. I hate being told what to do and be micromanaged. That’s my shortcoming, but it’s also reality. I found a job on the buy side which lets me do whatever I feel like / allows me to use my grey matter 80-90% of the time (within boundaries) and it has improved my mental health massively. I enjoy the job again. I enjoy the people I work with. I think I’m better to be around for my girlfriend and friends. I’m less bitter and frustrated all the time (although I will still be every now and then).
You should try to find out what drives you and gives you happiness. It might be very different than what does it for me. But I did rekindle the spark and can’t imagine going back to where I was - no one deserves that.
Corporate strategy. When I was burned out during PE I did some interviews and found a few roles at 200-230k all in for manager/senior manager corporate strategy roles. Close to 40 hrs per week.
What types of roles does corp strat lead to down the line? Very interested in pursuing this post-banking.
Also, do you have to deal with a lot of hardos in corp strat or is it relatively chill? Do not want to end up working over 50 hours a week tbh. Unclear how high the variability is in the role / industry
I was in year 2 of my banking stint at a MM. Nightmare associate (yelling, standing on desks, the whole nine yards) plus a cancelled vacation "just in case we need you." Decided that banking wasn't a great path, but like you, didn't want to give up finance and the paycheck.
Ended up in a non-buyout buyside credit role with a better boss, better hours, and a 10% pay cut. It also meant free nights and weekends to go on dates, play volleyball, and see my parents. That part made all the difference. Those jobs are absolutely out there and seem to exist 1/2 step away from traditional sellside M&A desks and middle market buyout shops where most people end up (not a bad thing at all, just what typically happens).
This. Not sure why people say M&A, PE, Corp Dev or bust. OP is clearly doing it for the $; so a tier 2/3 bank with better lifestyle, or a cap markets group may be more his speed. Also, he may be able to ascend faster there. But OP, what do you "like" doing?
I feel exactly the same, 2nd year associate as well. Covid did a number and have 0 ambition/motivation to do more than the minimum. Thinking about moving countries and jobs but want to wait for a VP promote mid next year I was promised. Also zero clue what I would exit to (corporate strategy maybe?) and really don't want to make the wrong decision again.
Nice
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