Parents, I am out of my league on this subject. My kids get banking jobs and they immediately seek exit opportunities. I encourage them to stay put and move up the ladder a bit … maybe 5 or 6 years before jumping ship. They work 16 hours a day and worry about the next interview. I asked them to seek some “normality” so that they can have a successful family life at some point. Is this typical for the industry? Is this just the way it is? I am sure they will find their way - just seeking your wisdom. Thank you!
There is a lot of turnover (and less loyalty) in the industry for a variety of reasons. The hours are long, the stress is high, the pay is volatile (a huge proportion is in bonus which is subject to personal performance, department performance and firm performance – in my last years, my bonus was in the magnitude of more than 10x my base comp) and job security is not certain. In this world, it is easier to believe that the grass is greener elsewhere as a matter of compensation, opportunity and lifestyle.
Occasionally, a young associate or VP is going to be “identified” and he/she will get tangible feedback (bonus/reviews/quality of projects) that he/she has great long term prospects at the firm, and they will more likely want to make the firm their career (although these high performing individuals are probably the ones the headhunters and other firms want to pick off). This is the exception in my experience.
Of course, no one should start a job looking for the next one, but I don’t think your kids aren’t doing what everyone else is doing. We all pick up the phone when a headhunter calls. You never know.
Your kids are indeed doing what is now standard practice in IB today. There is a myriad of reasons but firms looking for top talent have greatly accelerated the hiring timelines in the last two years to the point they have been pushed up min of 1.5 yr before the internship and full time offers even happen. ( You interview for summer after junior year internship during the fall semester of college sophomore year- so you sign for junior internship before you have even started your sophomore internship) This in turn caused private equity to push the timelines up. It used to be entry IB analysts (a two year program) interviewed at the end of the second year, now PE interviews start the fall of 1st year as an analyst. So literally college students (some of whom may only have had 1 finance course at this point in sophomore year) have to think about exit opportunities before taking their junior year internship. Different coverage groups provide different skill sets for exit opps in PE so students start thinking about exit opps before they even have the internship… its insane. Son worked 80 - 100 hrs/week during his internship w one week pulling two all nighters working 110 hr week. No one can do that for years on end, hence they look for exit opps that provide more balance. Right or wrong rest assured that what your kids are doing is indeed standard practice today.
Also there is a website much like College Confidential that has forums all about banking jobs and hiring. They have an IB forum you should take a look at to read more in depth. All of what you are asking about is discussed at great length there. It is called Wall Street Oasis.
All- thank you for the reassurance!