Getting an offer - Top 5

you can not be serious. No one will look at this situation as you would so any and all possible outcomes will be different for each person.

Actually I am serious.... I am simply trying to get another perspective. By no means am I complaining, just wanted to get an honest take on the situation. If you think it is not a big deal, then you would have just given your take on the situation, irrespective of what I think. Thanks and am really looking for constructive feedback. And no, I am not in college, so please hold all your "you don't shit then you shouldn't get shit" remarks to yourself.

it still lends you credibility to say you received an offer from both bank #10 and #2, which are likely top competitors to bank #7. definitely mention both.

azwethinkweiz- appreciate your honesty, that is the route I was planning to take, but was worried about getting dinged if they feel they can't attract me. I will just have to convey my intentions more enthusiastically to abate this situation. Thanks again.

i would definetly mention both banks but tell them your situation, tell bank 7 the specific reasons you would chose them over bank 2

I hope you didn't sit down and rank the 10 best banks. If '#7' is tops on your list, then it should be '#1.' Once you get into the GS/MS/ML/LEH/UBS/CS/JPM caliber banks, it is more a matter of which group you're going into (except GS, they're at/near the top in everything) as well as which office culture you like. Nobody's going to laugh at you if you decide to choose a bank that's 7th on Vault over one that's 2nd.

1) As gomes3pc said, do not rank investment banks.

I hate to rant, but nothing pisses me off more than seeing people debate which bank should be #5 and which one should be #6.

Anyone who's worked in industry before laughs at this kind of discussion, because it simply doesn't matter once you start working... culture and your team matter way more. "Exit opportunities" tend to be the same regardless of the bulge bracket you're at (assuming these are bulge brackets).

2) I would simply say you're interviewing at both those banks and maybe throw in a few other names to the mix to make the scope broader. Emphasize that you care most about culture/team and whatever "bank #7" focuses on.

http://www.mergersandinquisitions.com/
Mergers & Inquisitions

Thanks for the replies. In terms of ranking, I did not literally sit down and rank them. My hypothetical rankings were just primarily based on name and nothing else. For example my #7 vs #2 dilemma, would be if I was interviewing with CS, but was given a GS offer. Just a hypothetical situation that I wanted some perspective on. Either way, you guys have been more than helpful; I was over analyzing the situation.

If you have an offer in hand and you continue interviewing, it means that you would be interested in working at the bank you are currently interviewing with. If you have an offer and are interviewing at places that you wouldn't accept over the offer you have in hand, then you are messed up. I highly recommend honesty, especially because it all depends on the person on the other side of the table. There are a million ways to view this question, so just be honest.

As a side note, I typically ask this question to get a feel for whether or not the person is interested in the position. If I ask you where you're interviewing and you say mostly consulting firms, then it tells me that you aren't really dead-set on banking. At the same time, if you are only interviewing at middle market investment banks similar to mine, I'm going to be pleased. Certainly none of this "OOooO Goldman wants him!" bullshit.