Weighing Options - Seeking Advice
Hi everyone. Seeking guidance on if I should stay in my cushy role with little/no career growth or take a lower paying opportunity with way more upside. Currently I am a business process architect (director level IC) working at a $16B/revenue distributor for Toyota in Florida. Pay is good, but nobody gets promoted and the exit opps aren’t great. Of note, this cushy internal consulting role has had people laterally shift for ~a decade with modest <= 3% pay bumps, even when people had 20+ YOE and former c-level experience. Starting an interview process to be a process improvement AVP at a reputable investment bank (top 10) in NYC in a middle office role for significantly better brand / career trajectory but severely less pay ($130k + 15% bonus). Being young (late 20’s) with great “paper” credentials (Ivy League degree, PhD, Master Six Sigma Black Belt, etc) but limited well branded company experience (outside Toyota, prior 7 YOE have been at smaller non-Fortune 500 companies), I think that building brand equity with more reputable companies is the best way to build my marketable value. That said the pay cut is at least 20% (and potentially 50%+ when considering cost of living differences). What would you guys do? TC: 185k YOE: 9#
Ya it’s not leaving to IB, it’s not IB unless you’re in the front office and client facing. You’d just be a guy in the back office (let’s not kid ourselves there is no “middle office”, that term just means you talk to the front office guys more than IT does) that plugs along with mediocre raises. I worked at a well known bank and some people in my group liked to call us “middle office”, and some guys did publish market research so they counted more but raises were shit and I ended up leaving for a consulting career. I would go client facing consulting over back office b!*ch for investment bankers any day of the week. I recommend you start shopping tier 2 for strategy & operational roles. TC 170K >3 YOE
Haha love the candor and insight! Thanks.
Sure thing, I was essentially in an internal “strategy/consulting/sales/buzzword ops” role at a trendy bank, so I’ve got some insights. The bankers will not see you as an equal while you’re there or after you leave (resume wise), it’s just important to be realistic about things like that when career game planning
Neither that seems really low. Keep applying and leave you have a Ivy League school and at director level. I would leverage that title for another opportunity elsewhere where you don’t have to take that big a hit
Thx for the insight.
Neither. I felt like I was in a similar position last year. Got an offer for Charles Schwab that was well below my pay but I was really excited for the org and role. They also wanted us to cover moving expenses (~$60k). I turned it down and stuck it out - got an offer with much better upwards potential and much higher pay. They paid for the relocation as well. If you have the potential a good leader will recognize that, invest in and pay you what you're worth. It takes a while so stay patient.
You don't always have to sacrifice a great salary for a growth trajectory. Those can happen simultaneously
Appreciate the perspective!