How to Resign from your investment banking job

In the middle of the year every year, a whisper is growing among the ranks if investment banking analysts everywhere..."this place sucks! as soon as my bonus hits the bank account, I'm gonna quit". There is an art of quitting your investment banking job, and here are a couple a rules you may want to keep in mind if you are thinking about your exit if you want to remain in the finance industry.

#1 Get an offer before you quit

Have a clear exit strategy. No matter how bad things are, it is really a very bad idea to quit if you don't have at least one offer on hand, or at minimum a very clear lead on what you want to do next. Obviously if your are planning to join the family business you won't have an offer as such. But having an offer is important because if you are unemployed, it is more difficult to be appealing to potential employers and headhunters - some firms may even require people to be currently employed before making an offer. Also, your unemployed status may raise a lot of questions (justified or not)...you can't really say to a potential employer that you just had enough so you quit.

#2 Dont let anybody know that you are quitting beforehand and don't let rumours circulate

Things Not to do:
- Allowing rumours to circulate and telling your friends that you are interviewing/looking for a new job. Try to be discrete when interviewing. If the news of you quitting or interviewing become known, you'll likely be pulled off of all projects, or even be asked to leave immediately - which could be an issue if you dont get the offer in the end! Even if you have the offer in hand, this will leave a very bad impression.
- Don't tell your friends first, your MD or Team head should be the first one to know.
- When you quit, don't send long, angry emails. Stick to a brief: “I’ve enjoyed my time here, but I’ve just received an offer for [Name of New Company], and they want me to start immediately – so I’ll be leaving. Please do stay in touch, my personal details are [Personal Email, phone number]”
- Don't start downloading project data or confidential files around the time you quit. When you quit, you'll likely be put on a "red flag" by the IT, and they will investigate any attachments you have sent to private email addresses, which could land you in serious trouble! Private files are fine, maybe a couple of model templates, but confidential stuff is a no-go.

#3 Dont burn bridges

- Be professional, polite, and never bitter, overly happy, or emotional. This is because the financial community is a small world, and you may need recommendations some day (for an MBA, or a Private Equity job, etc.). Your MD may react positively and professionally about the bad news of you leaving, or he may complain about all the work you are leaving behind - in both cases, stay professional and be firm.
- When you have told your MD, go to your team and tell the members one by one, in hierarchical order (Directors, VPS, Associates, etc.), keep it brief and unemotional - don't have a big smile on you face! Don't keep hanging around chatting to your friends about your new job, you'll have time to catch up with them later.