Difficult boss, little upside...do i just quit?

Water Cooler Careers
#1

I have posted about this before, but thought to ask for advice due to some significant updates.

As background, i moved over from a back-office type role to equity research at a European bulge bracket, after having a Science degree at undergrad and passing CFA L1/L2.

My boss is a nightmare, a slave driver- the kind of person who blames other people for his own mistakes. He has had like 8 different people leave his team in 2 years before i joined.

When I joined, me and my colleagues were relatively new out of undergrad. We just absorbed his non-sense, thinking his behavior was normal and we just had to adjust. Fast forward, 1.5 years into this and we all hate the guy. Like, it has gotten to the point that we (as a team) are trying to remain patient and not say something really crazy. We talk everyday over lunch and in team meetings on how to get the hell out of here.

I have considered many options, and discussed:

  1. Just quit - Quit and then look for something, but as always, this isnt first choice

  2. Try for long-only jobs (we all love this kind of a job). But these jobs are so hard to get, plus we are only 1.5 years in so i am not sure we can compete that well.

  3. Just quit the industry. I love the public markets ( i really do), but i just cannot take this kind of abuse any more so take up Corp Finance/FP&A role

  4. MBA - but that cannot happen on the kind of timeline that I am looking at (really looking to get out in weeks/ASAP)

Ideal solution is obviously to find a long only job but given the competitiveness, scarcity and my timeline to get the hell out of this team ASAP, I just dont know what strategy to pursue?

Any advice will be welcome.

P.S. Sorry for the long write-up

#2

There probably is not easy solution to your situation. I would probably hold it out a little longer and probably try for options 2 or 3 for the time being. Stay up to the 2 year mark and then aim to leave

#3

You should look for another job while you still work there and once you find one just leave on good terms. You can still do MBA while you work depending on the university you apply to and the nature of your job, so just keep up with your boss and suck it in untill you find a better job and I suggest you start now.

#4

Thanks for the responses.

I agree with both- The only issue is the timeline is very accelerated. All my colleagues are looking around (now aggressively) and I dont want to be the last person on the team.

So just the ‘immediate’ nature of the action, is pressurizing me.

My personal concerns when I go for interviews is that

  1. I haven’t gotten a good research experience

  2. My boss was very disorganized and I havent learnt how a good research associate works (like the full workflow)

  3. I think after 6 months -9 months, I havent learnt anything new

What do you think?

#5

Apply for different jobs in same industry?

#6

Hi,

I considered that as well, but like I said i had some concerns.

  1. I haven’t gotten a good research experience

  2. My boss was very disorganized and I havent learnt how a good research associate works (like the full workflow)

Also, I feel like Sell-side research is a load of non-sense. Not insightful, late and too biased.

#7

Sounds like you’ve already got some useful experience right there…

#8

Doesnt matter, keep applying. are you going to learn in this job? If not, will staying on help you? I agree with you that sell-side is stupid, but so is the buyside.

I know people who have had bosses like that (those who regularly go through a lot of associates). You should interview with other firms, and at the worst, you’ll get better at interviewing. Your boss won’t get nicer.

#9

My advice on info provided…dude get the hell out!!

Aggressively look for a new job, you could be doing something you love (not sure u love equity research by sound of it) but if you’re doing it with a douche bag and they are not going anywhere soon then you have to go. no brainer.

Consider speaking to HR direct also…" Hi HR can I have informal chat please…sure come up to my floor…Im interested in new analytical roles can you help??? and if you don’t then I’m going to look externally." Sometimes they can create a role…I mean its a bank…you’re already on the payroll and you’ve passed CFA L2.

Obviously its december now so guna be hard to find a new job so hold off quitting for a while. eat some turkey hope ur boss doesn’t return from his vacation.

I’ve quit more than once with no job lined up (not ideal) and its luck sometimes u cud land a job the next week…sometimes months later. I do not recommend it but if you’re health starts suffering because you hate your job so much its time to go. good luck my friend.

#10
#11

I can try option 2 but those spots are very coveted and hard to get. Plus i wanted to get out as early as possible.

Thats why I was concerned.

#12

Do not quit until you have a new job.

#13

Its not the ideal option. but i keep having to control myself everyday -literally not a day goes by, without this guy being a complete douche.

#14

Look on linkedin, try to get in contact with a good recruiter. ER experience is good and desirable and they should be able to talk you through some options. I have less experience than you but I’ve already had 3 different recruiters, unsolicited, try to get me to switch to 3 different banks, one of which needed someone “yesterday”.

Another unconventional way would be to look up those 8 people that left and see where they went. Connect with them, get some rapport going, and try to see if their firm is hiring or they know anyone hiring. Any commonality is good in hiring, especially since they know the same processes that you know and also your work ethic (your job to sell them on that if they don’t realize it). Good luck!

#15

That is something i tried. Like literally every1 who worked for this guy ended up doing something else completely like tech, real estate, corp at F500. I only know 1 person who stayed in the sellside/buyside.

I really feel having a boss likes this makes you very demotivated and you just start hating the role.

#16

Recommend that you just troll all online job posting boards and apply for anything that seems interesting over the next few months. It shouldn’t be *too* hard to get an interview for 0-3 year experience jobs if you have a relevant background. 80% of the people who apply to these are not qualified at all. In the mean time, just try to tolerate the work environment the best you can. If you are willing to take anything that is not horrible, the timeline for your job hunt, starting in January should be roughly 0-6 months. In the mean time, try to schedule some coffee meetings with people to talk about what people do after ER.

#17

DO NOT quit before you have something lined up.

#18

I’ve been in your spot before so allow me to give you the advice that I wish that someone had given me when I was in a similar spot. As people have pointed out, don’t quit before having something else lined up. Now on to my advice. One thing that you will learn as you advance in your career is that most places don’t train employees well. One of your frustrations is that you’re not learning the things that you want to learn. I would encourage you to take a different view. Don’t get frustrated by a lack of training rather view each role as an opportunity to develop a skill set based on outside professional development. What I do now, is look for the responsibilities of any future role that I want. Begin to develop those skills outside of work. Whenever you can, apply those skills in your current role. For instance, if you’re interested in doing equity research and your current team is terrible at it, then spend your time outside of work learning how to be the best equity research analyst in the industry. The piece that I think that you’re missing is that there is value just in having a job within a relevant function that you want to have a career in. Imagine someone in FP&A who wants to do buy side. You both can do outside of work professional development to build your skill set. The advantage that you have is that you can directly apply the skills that you develop while someone outside of the industry can’t do anything to get relevant experience.

I know that it sucks right now, but there are still positives to the position that you’re in.

#19

I am in a very similar situation right now, but it has more to do with the irrational verbal abuse than anything else. It’s very difficult, rock and hard plate kind of thing, but I’m optimistic because I’m keeping an open mind about my career options while staying very aggressive pursuing them. That’s my general advice to you. Research different career paths whether it’s closely related to yours now or a 180. Narrow down your list, then aggressively pursue your favorite options. If you only want to be in equity research, then apply what Osirus0830 said above combined with aggressive job searching (networking, applying, headhunters, etc).

I don’t think quitting is completely unrealistic assuming 1) you have enough acorns saved up to get you through 6-12 months, 2) you don’t have a family to feed, and 3) you’ll spend every waking minute of the day applying to new positions and networking. Its forces your hand a bit. Accelerates the move into a new position. Nevertheless, try to avoid this option if possible.

#20

So I have been in contact with recruiters, and searching for new sell-side roles on Linkedin.

I am not interested in HF so i am finding few choices right now. My 2nd choice would be to continue to be on the sell-side, given lack of long only options for me, but for a different bank etc. However i keep finding that all Linkedin jobs for EQR have 500+ applicants? I dont understand how I can stand out here and how are there even this many candidates to begin with? Any suggestions/comments.