Decline FT trading offer and extend graduation for IBD
Here is my situation.
I have an exploding return offer in S&T. I have wanted to do IBD all along but wound up at a strong bank in a good position and took the S&T summer offer since that was all I wound up with. Interviewed internally for IBD position, no luck. Have no outstanding IBD offers elsewhere from the full-time recruiting period, no luck there either.
I want to get an MBA in a few years. I believe trading is not the best option given increased regulation and decreased volumes (thanks to the economic downturn).
Is it suicidal of me to turn down a full-time offer to stay on campus for another year, participate in OCR with a very strong brand name on my resume and hope I get an IBD summer role, and delay my start date by another year? I feel hesitant because the offer comes from good people who like me ... the money is there ... but I wouldn't be happy in the role and it wouldn't set me on the long-term career path I want at all.
The money for the extra year of school is not a deciding factor. Please share any insight; I know others have gone through similar situations, would appreciate any comments. Thanks.
No, i think you should go with the ST offer. The market is tough. I am note sure whether it will easier next year.
You are not thinking clearly, take the job. Don't waste a year waiting for something that might not happen anyway.
Why? Should I take a job I don't feel comfortable with just because it's a job?
I feel very confident in my profile and believe I could do well in SA recruiting. I am also very young for my year, this isn't setting me back at all in the grand scheme of things.
People would kill to be in your position.
But to go through what you're proposing, a) the firm you're at now will not give you a look when you apply for IBD (one count against), and more importantly b) you will have to explain why you did a second year. If you tell them that you did it purely to get IBD, you'll get laughed out of the interview. Good luck coming up with another story.
Take the job.
How would that lead to me being laughed out of an interview?
I'll be the fourth one to say it. Take the fucking job, who knows what the industry will look like next year.
take...the...job
Take it. Totally not worth it. It doesn't sound like your profile is strong enough anyway to do that. Why do you think you can get a SA this time round when you didn't get any last year, and failed to get one through your own SA bank.
You must've performed alright for them to offer FT.
not sure what makes you so confident on your profile considering you didn't get an IBD SA in the first place.....
LOL... this man speaks the truth
I'm going to counter and say the following:
OCR will probably pick up this year; there was essentially zero full-time hiring relative to years past this year, you'd certainly have a better shot during summer recruiting than during the incremental hiring period. If you're certain on IBD, it might not be worthwhile to you to sign the S&T offer, do the two years (if your bank is one where trading is in the analyst program), and attempt to move internally or to another bank. If your firm shut you down when you tried to move at the end of the summer, what's to say they'll even consider allowing you to move in two years.
As someone who has gone through Fall recruiting the past two years, 2012 was just as bad if not worse than 2011 OCR/Fall recruiting. Many banks filled most if not all spots from SA return offers. Others are only hiring 1-3 Analysts.
Lack of openings + # of qualified candidates = extremely competitive environment.
I don't think delaying for a year in the hopes that he MAY be able to get a SA offer and leverage that into a FT position is in his best interests, but at the end of the day it is his decision which doesn't affect me in the slightest so he can do whatever he damn well pleases.
Don't take it, send them me instead. I will gladly take it.
I have a feeling this OP is just writing for no reason. Take the job. It's much easier when you are in the right geographical location and already have a good job (with good hours) to network into your next one.
But based on your comments I don't think you want to listen. Please let us know what you decide.
I'm gonna disagree with most posters and say that OP should stay another year if he really doesn't want to do S&T. Why take a job you absolutely don't want, unless you're short on money? Firms WILL be taking SAs this year, and OP should be able to do quite well, given that he has a strong summer internship.
Interviewers probably won't ask you how you got such strong experience. And honestly, I don't think they'd care anyway. To be safe, don't mention you're a fifth year. Give them your graduation date, if they ask.
It's your life, OP. Don't take a job just because other people wish they had it.
It's honestly impossible for a college student to be so confident that they will like or be a good performer in one division or the other, in all but rare circumstances (ex. maybe a hard core quant). I would look at this as a blessing that you won't be in banking, to be honest. It seems like torture to work there.
Just wanted to share an update for future reference for people who may search for a similar topic and come across this thread.
I chose not to take the trading offer. I reached out proactively to a couple specific people in my network who I had developed relationships with since sophomore year when I began preparing for recruiting, and I wound getting a summer banking offer with an even better bank (GS/MS).
Long story short, my situation may not be similar to many others', but in my case, I knew I had a vibrant network, knew I wasn't going to be happy with a trading job, and welcomed the chance to take a victory lap on campus just to keep my graduation date within the range eligible for another summer job.
For the people telling me I was an idiot or "reckless" for walking out of a job, I'd simply say that I'm the sort of person that isn't risk-averse and I'm not willing to compromise my goals or my interests simply for the sake of expediency. Maybe that means I have a great personality and mindset for trading (and I crushed it at that bank), but I didn't want that gig, and at the end of the day, that's what matters most. Follow your heart, monkeys.
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