| Topic Name: |
Cross LOB Career Moves |
| Message Name: |
Time to Move On |
| Date Posted: |
02/06/2006 |
| In Reply To: |
I am in TSS now (I do not want to get much more specific). I have only been in Ops for about a year. My position was ??reclassified?? into operations last year, prior to that we were in Client Service (Front Office). Most of my job function is deal support for the salespeople. In the past year, I have found that I do not have an operations personality. I do a lot of cash flow modeling and system setup so the administration people know what to do and how to do it. Prior to the acquisition, we were more like partners with the salespeople. I could call the lawyers on a deal if there was something wrong with it and work it out. Now if I did that, I??d likely lose my job. They have scaled back my job to the point that it no longer serves the purpose for which it was designed (quality control on new deals) and is not what I signed up for. It??s getting to the point that a reasonably intelligent Chihuahua could do it. I??m a little bitter about it on a personal level, but I also truly believe that we must do this in order to be successful. We have to lower out cost basis in order to compete. I don??t work cheap, and neither does anyone in my unit. We are a bunch of lawyers, CPA??s and MBA??s. I??d rather not leave JPM, but I will be very unhappy and frustrated if I stay in my current position.
In terms of relocating, my wife is a professional and I have a young child, so I??d rather not relocate if possible. I??m in Columbus, so there is opportunity, but the majority of it is in operations (PCS, Corporate and Retail IT, TSS & Retail all have a large Ops presence here). I would really like to do deals if at all possible. I??d like to move into a regional IB type position, either doing middle market debt/equity deals or structured finance. I have experience with ABS/MBS deals. The position I am looking for doesn??t necessarily have to be with the Investment Bank. If I can find something in a different area that will allow me to do this type of thing, I think that I would enjoy that too. The networking opportunities are pretty thin right now. I have an offer from a competitor, but I really don't want to jump ship if at all possible.
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| Message: |
OD
Only you can (and should) make this decision.
That being said, some thoughts.
Currently, you have little or no job satisfaction.
Future prospects are not promising.
No joy on the horizon in work satisfaction.
The likely future is more cost cutting and more defining down the workforce.
At some point, someone is likely to look at your unit and ask "Why have we got all this high priced talent in operations?" Then, it's overboard for you and your colleagues. Or effective demotions/pay cuts.
As JPMC has noted in the "Engineering Students in Ops or MS" thread, once you pass 2 years in operations, your mobility in the firm is extremely limited.
Also externally, you'll be tagged as an "ops guy".
If you really want to do finance related work, that's not going to be helpful. Especially, if after say 3 to 4 years you can't take it anymore and want out.
Better to move on now. You've got the credentials and skills and another offer.
Finally, I'm not sure exactly what you meant in using the term "we" to refer to the necessity of cutting costs.
But, the sad reality is that there is no "we": the firm is not run as a brotherhood which looks out for its members. In many cases such "we-ness" is used to get folk to take actions inconsistent with their own self interest. And usually the burden or pain is on only a segment of the "we".
"We need to defend freedom" (But you won't see certain folks' kids in Tikrit). "We need to cut costs and staff" but you won't see DJ or Heidi out the door.
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