How to Quit Your Job in Investment Banking
Let’s face it, quitting your job in investment banking can be awkward. You’ve landed an awesome new opportunity that’s too good to pass up, but how do you resign without torching bridges or creating animosity? It’s a delicate balancing act.
Let’s take Dave. Dave recently scored an offer from a top-notch tech private equity firm that checks all the boxes for career growth. The catch? Dave hasn’t given his current in-house team a heads up that he was interviewing. Total oversight on his part since the bosses had mentioned keeping them in the loop. So now Dave is the guy who has to resign with zero prior warning. Ugh.
While some colleagues advise flying under the radar until you have a firm offer, going that route does make you feel a bit shady keeping your search on the downlow. At the same time, giving too much advance notice risks your current role getting jeopardized if other opps don’t pan out. It’s a tricky line to walk.
Timing Is Everything: When to Actually Give Notice
One key factor around giving notice is determining the right timing. The knee-jerk reaction may be to resign as soon as you receive a verbal offer for the new role. However, my advice is to exercise patience and wait until you have the written offer in hand before providing official notice.
The period between getting a verbal offer and receiving the final written documents can be a nerve-racking few days. You’ll likely still need to pass reference checks, background screening, and any other remaining contingencies before the offer is totally locked in. Giving notice prematurely could leave you in an awkward lurch if things somehow don’t pan out with the new firm.
By waiting for the written offer to be finalized and signed, you eliminate uncertainty around start dates, comp details. A week or two delay in providing notice is a minor inconvenience compared to the potential fallout of leaving your current role without a 100% secured situation lined up.
Another reason to delay giving notice until you’re fully substantiated is to prevent a counteroffer scenario from your current firm. If you give too much advanced notice before receiving the written offer, your current employer may try to re-negotiate and keep you, even if taking the new role was your intention all along. Holding off on resignation avoids starting any wars to keep you until you’re committed elsewhere.
The bottom line – As eager as you may be to get started at your new investment banking home, stay patient and don’t provide notice until you have full contractual paperwork solidifying your written offer and start date. A little delay providing notice is worth avoiding major headaches and burning bridges before you’re sealed into your new gig.
Pulling the Trigger with Class
I strongly recommend taking the high road with a candid but tactful approach to resignation once that paperwork is signed:
- Schedule a face-to-face ASAP with your manager(s) rather than a random email drop. You owe them that courtesy.
- Express sincere appreciation for the experience and opportunities at your current firm. Don’t be that jerk who bad-mouths on the way out.
- Own up to discreetly looking, which is par for the course. While you regret not giving a heads up, you didn’t want to potentially jeopardize your role.
- Explain why this new role is a great stride for long-term growth rather than gripe-listing your current gripes.
- Offer to smooth the transition by training replacements, handing off work, etc. You still value the relationships.
- If there’s any managerial blowback or hostility, kill it with politeness and professionalism. No need to nuke bridges unnecessarily.
How to Negotiate Garden Leave if you Quit Your Job
Another curveball you might face when giving notice is your current employer putting you on “garden leave“. For the uninitiated, garden leave is when the firm says “Thanks for the notice, but we’re gonna pay you to go home and not work during that period.”
It’s a pretty common practice in investment banking when dealing with sensitive info and client relationships. By putting you out to pasture at home, it prevents any potential conflicts or shady situations as you transition to the new gig.
If your employer mandates some garden leave, you may want to negotiate more reasonable terms:
Length: See if you can limit it to the standard two-week notice, or at least put a cap on the number of weeks if they try extending it longer. Your new squad likely wants you started sooner rather than later.
Pay: Make sure you get your full paycheck and benefits during this “free vacation.” Don’t let it become unpaid time off.
Responsibilities: Get clarity on what systems access and duties you’ll still have for knowledge transfer purposes.
Communication: Establish ground rules for what interaction you can have with soon-to-be-former colleagues during this period.
If garden leave is just not feasible for your new role’s start date, you may need to weigh that very tough decision. Getting put out to pasture is a real possibility when making firm swaps.
My advice? Do your best to negotiate fair garden leave terms while keeping your cool. Blowing it off could risk burning bridges for no good reason. With some flexibility on working out the details, garden leave doesn’t have to be too brutal.
The key is giving your new employer the heads up on this potential situation early. That way you can get aligned on timeline expectations. No one wants transition problems before you even start the new gig.
At the end of the day, investment banking is a small world. While giving notice may induce some temporary awkwardness, approaching it with candor, gratitude, and class helps mitigate long-term burn. An amazing new career step awaits—embrace it with respect for the past, but eyes squarely on the future.
