[Hermit]

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Attrition rate is higher in sales functions, due to the nature of the job. There are a few reasons why people leave:

1. Job hop: higher earners are usually front office / sales persons / income generators. It is easy to attribute a value to such people and firms are always keen to poach. Also, the concept of a "high watermark" applies: If you hit 150% of your revenue target for 3 years in a row, it is likely your benchmarks will be raised. It will reach a point where it becomes difficult to achieve the same level of performance, then it is a good strategy to hop to a competitor and re-start from a low base.

2. Progression: You'd reach a point where directly above you is an incumbent whom will not leave / not ready to leave his post. The only way for you to continue progressing is to join another firm. This is pretty common in the finance industry

3. Hard to mantain performance for long periods: To do well in front office, it is a mix of luck, hardwork and talent. Even if you are talented, it does not mean you'd do well all the time. It is actually difficult to continually perform. This is something I learnt in front office (Applies to junior to senior levels) 1st year strategy: Create a good impression. Make sure you look good infront of superiors. Nobody really drills down into details and people evaluate your performance based on impression. 2nd year strategy: Stay below the radar. Network. Mantain good relationship with everyone who evaluate you. 3rd year strategy: Attempt to hop / change job. Leave on a high note. If you stay beyond the 3rd year, make sure you are very good at what you are doing because the performance of your first 2 years will start to show up.
Most high performers in banking change job / firm every 3 years.

MDs? About 5% I think.

There are some really talented people who continually do well in the same function year after year. After 10-15 years, they become MD. I would say this is the minority.

Most of the people who become MD have switched firms 3-4 times. Job functions even more. Are they good at what they do? I hope so. What I see is that the key to become MD
is good career planning, good EQ skills and networking.

What happens to the average-performing ones, those who do not become MDs when they are at 45-55 years of age?