Why I quit my job at JPMorgan Chase

First things first: This is not a rant. Neither is this a description of what I am doing now. This is an unbiased factual description of what happened and what prompted me to quit my first and only job. And this is certainly not as sensational as Greg Smith’s experience with Goldman Sachs. 

Background:

As a freshly minted Engineer(technically atleast!), I headed to Mumbai to work in one of the big four - JP Morgan Chase & Co. Honestly, I had no idea what exactly am I going to do at my job(sounds familiar?) except that I wanted to put in long hours, kick ass and have fun - basically work hard and party harder. 

Beginning (6 months): 

Awesome would be an understatement. As anyone would tell you, first 3 months in your first job is your honeymoon period. Little work, more ‘team building activities’, new friends and a new city.

Middle (12 months): 

Honeymoon over. But it stays a happy period. Got a chance to start doing some real work. JP Morgan is a great place to work at and actually has some really fine leaders. The place gave me fame and fortune. I was a happy employee. But there was a problem.

End (6 months):

I was restless and itching to do something more. You see, the problem is that I am a product of our much vaunted IIT system. It gives you high ambitions and even higher expectations from people around you. I would be lying if I said that the latter didn’t affect me. And I am sure, some of you feel the same (especially during the time when CAT results come out :P )

I’ve grown up reading about entrepreneurs and artists. They inspired me to create something that is used and consumed by loads of people. But, this can’t happen in a big organisation - sure you could tighten few screws here but there is no real sense of ownership. And that is exactly what I wanted. 

Parting notes:

Let me be honest here, the journey for the past one and a half months since I quit my job hasn’t been smooth. It is by far the toughest thing I have ever done even surpassing that IIT-JEE exam some of us took. Those who have had to bear me all this while know what a painful friend I have been. Apologies to all of you and thanks for sticking it out with me. But, its been totally worth it for all the reasons that are well understood - meeting new people, new perspectives and so much more that can be just felt and not put in words.

Here’s hoping that what I am doing turns out to be as exciting to all of you as it looks to me.

Cheers!