Bad Return Offer?
I have been working as an analyst intern at a smaller PE firm for the last two years in a major city (summers and through out school). I go to a pretty good school (good reputation in New York with lots of alum on wall street) and will be graduating top of my class (4.0 GPA). Was excited when talks of a return offer were coming up expecting it to be very good. The return offer ended up being 75k base total comp of 100k, I said thank you and that I would think about it.
I was extremely disappointed because this is lower than other pretty much every other shop in the area by at least 30% and I know people in public accounting that got higher base offers than that. Not to mention I have been there for two years and they said my title if I accepted the offer would be senior analyst. It is making me feel like they do not value their employees and that I might not even want to be there if they think that is what I'm worth after learning from them for two years.
Am I completely out of line in thinking this?
I know that 100k is a decent paycheck for a first year but it really isn't much to live on in a major city. This is probably the bare minimum that they would offer someone and if I reject it they will have to pay some other kid 100k with no experience at the firm.
You have very limited leverage until you get a better offer. Then, you can try negotiating if you’re willing to go somewhere else
Agree with above, it's a tough spot because I'm sure you have been doing legitimate work but no one is going to give much credit to your time as an intern.
Your school/accomplishments are all fine and well but it's late November and FT recruiting is essentially over. Not sure why you would intern only at 1 firm for so long including summers... A 4.0 and alums on Wall Street don't mean much when you will have a lot of difficulty landing something else in IB or PE at this point in the cycle.
Time to start recruiting, I wouldn't turn down the offer until you have a better one in hand though.
To the above points- I have been interviewing at other places and have some offers that are better than this from comp perspective- they just aren't in PE. And I stayed with the firm for two years because I believed that my experience there would set me up for a better career path at the firm. Partners there are all very smart and the fund will do great though it would be a good spot for me. I guess I put too much confidence in thinking that they would treat me right.
LOL, you are a nobody in this industry. Sorry bud but be happy to have a job in this economy. If you’re ballsy enough, just renege and keep recruiting
You are upset that you are "only" a senior analyst your first year out of school? You thought being an intern meant you'd come in at the associate level?
Title doesn't mean much when the comp is significantly lower than market...
Small boutique IB/PE shops regularly pay well below market, their candidates are not weighing their offer versus NYC MM+ PE shops. I'm guessing you're in a T2/T3 or lower city too. Maybe if they could come up to 85/30 that'd be closer to what I'd expect for a small shop, but you're not getting the "market" you see on here as that is for much larger shops in NY.
I was in a similar boat, joined an LMM PE shop out of school having known the guys for some time. Comp was fairly below market and the experience wasn't horrible, but comp ended up being indicative of some top-down cultural issues that drove me to lateral. I don't regret it per se but my advice would be to start in banking if you can. Doesn't have to be an A+ group, so long as as it's not a no name regional bank and has a track record of exits. Any banking analyst worth their salt can at least land a decent PE offer that I'm guessing would be comparable to what you have now. November is somewhat late but from my understanding of campus recruiting, probably still a few spots out there to be filled. Good luck.
Appreciate the response and the advice. Will definitely look for some IB.
OP - Was in a similar boat and joined a LMM shop (~$400M shop in tier two city) at a below market offer. My advice would be to take the offer, work there for a year to 18 months, get some strong deal reps and punch above your weight, make associate and then lateral. It’s disappointing but the reality is that firms with top-down cultural issues related to comp and outdated partners never change. They will regret it when you are worth 2x in the market what they are paying you and you walk (and usually can negotiate carry as an experienced associate at a new shop). Focus on experience and title progression and eventually comp will take care of itself over the next couple of years. Another $30-$40k is not worth the heartburn right now, it is small change in the grand scheme. Good luck.
If it makes you feel better, I went to a target school, living in a mid-major city in the US and my return offer for an acquisitions role (pere) was $65k all in. Politely turned down the offer. Shit happens.
Yea glad I'm not the only one
Don't turn it down; reneg later - yes it looks bad, but that's life. Keep recruiting - only downside could be if those firms know people here and ask you why not going back + do reference check. I'm far removed from analyst recruiting to know if this happens or not.
What are your other offers?
Other offers are analyst at portfolio management shop, consulting and corporate finance most offers same comp area some a little higher. Was holding off on going hard on PE/IB in the area as the partners know management at most shops in the area.
What are you other offers?
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