Career Clinic: Mismanagement is ruining the team I want to join!

Competition is way better than funds. Better hours, more client contact, more intellectually stimulating. If the competition team is trashed there, go somewhere else - most of the big teams are hiring.

Anonymous -25 May 2007 | 12:22

Well it sounds like you'll be wanting to move on to another firm in due course, with all these problems at your firm, in both areas. So keep your options open. Competition is more interesting, investment management could be a better bet if you plan to go in-house (more jobs). I'd go for competition and more job satisfaction.

May -25 May 2007 | 16:44

Investment management is also intellectually stimulating, particularly where structuring is concerned. Drafting is more of a feature too. Funds allows you more scope to move internationally (let's face it, competition means London or Brussels) and you could work for a number of banks/institutions or funds on very decent pay. Hours are really not a consideration, IM hours are not generally akin to capital markets or other corporate departments.

Anonymous -26 May 2007 | 13:12

Are you sure you know what the problems are in these teams? You don't specify what you mean by bad management. In recent years many firms have lost (or got rid of) good people because the business case/economics haven't been good enough for the firm to be able to promote senior associates who, looked at purely on merit, deserved to be made partner. Are some of these departures in fact senior associates who have got bored of waiting for the upturn before the firm can afford to promote them? Or associates who didn't get the pay rises they thought they deserved? If you have got your information from the people at the lower end of the scale, think about asking someone senior about it - they may give you a different perspective on the same facts. Also, if capacity is low in those departments, you may get better quality work as there are fewer people above you. Presumably you are expecting these departments to sort themselves out in due course - if you can grit your teeth and ride out the storm, you could find yourself in a very good position at the other end. As for the other part of your question, between competition and investment management I would go for competition every time (yes, I'm a competition specialist), but I'd agree that it doesn't open as many options up for you in terms of working outside the UK or moving in-house. Also the hours are not better but different. An all-nighter is extremely unlikely but long stretches of a couple of months worth of very long days plus working all weekend are not unusual if you are advising clients involved in Competition Commission or EC Commission investigations.

Anonymous -30 May 2007 | 17:56