Did I screw up: Chose Barclays over Lazard?

Hey Y'all,

I was lucky enough to land around 8 offers during recruiting.

2 BB
2 Elite Boutique
3 MM
1 Non-IBD

I ended up choosing Barclays over Lazard (which was my second choice) after consulting with a bunch of people in the industry, talking to many people at both banks, and analyzing the people/pay/hours/groups etc.

I really thought that the people at Barclays were much more personable, seemed friendlier, and were not as weird. Not saying Lazard people were weirdos but they definitely seemed odd compared to other banks I interviewed with. I also thought the exit opps were relatively the same and I would not be losing much by going to one over the other.

I really didn't think it was a big deal until I read this board and talked to some other friends and they all said I super fucked up. Did I really screw up?

 
BlackHat:
You did fine. But what the hell does "around 8 offers" mean? Is that like saying you got "around a 1500" on the SAT?

haha I was not going to list the breakdown when I wrote that and then I changed my mind. Part of the explanation even though that still doesn't make much sense.

 

I actually know someone who was in the exact same position last year, and funnily enough with a similar offer pool.

Unfortunately for you, he came to really regret not going to Lazard after he did a summer at Barcap, but will be doing Barcap FT anyways.

 

Lazard's current 2nd year analyst class has nearly 100% placement, Barclays is not even remotely close.

would say you made a bad decision. at the end of the day when it comes to exit opps Lazard is top brand name and Barclays isn't (other than NR which these days will get you to upper MM at the absolute max, reputation isn't anywhere where it used to be).

 

You fucked up. Barcap has been going down the shitter recently and LAZ exit opps are about as best as you can get in an elite boutique (probably only BX is slightly better). Only BB's I personally would've chosen over LAZ would be GS/MS. Yeah, culture's important, but if you can suck it up for two years, you (and your resume) would've been golden.

 
PiperJaffrayOrBust:
You fucked up. Barcap has been going down the shitter recently and LAZ exit opps are about as best as you can get in an elite boutique (probably only BX is slightly better). Only BB's I personally would've chosen over LAZ would be GS/MS. Yeah, culture's important, but if you can suck it up for two years, you (and your resume) would've been golden.

Eh, wouldn't go that far. There are other BBs with killer groups (JPM M&A/others? BAML Sponsors/LevFin? CS Sponsors? etc), other great boutiques (Moelis, which he actually got an offer from, Evercore, Centerview is baller) and Laz has some shittier groups in their regional offices (their Tech and Converts teams kinda suck).

But Barclays certainly isn't killer, and like you said, it's been getting killed with lawsuits and hacking up trading teams...I'd take just about every BB except UBS OVER Barclays, honestly.

 
triplectz:
Laz has some shittier groups in their regional offices (their Tech and Converts teams kinda suck).

Yes, I realize I'm being nitpicky, but...

I would say the comment about Laz's Tech group shows a pretty big misunderstanding of the company's strengths on your part. Not sure what standards you hold an M&A group to, but the team has major relationships with all the tech majors, does mostly buyside advisory and has done some pretty landmark stuff in the last few years (Google/Moto, MSFT/Skype, MSFT/Silver Lake/Dell, IBM/Kenexa, Amazon/Zappos, Cisco/Tandberg, etc.). Would go so far as to say that with the exception of QP, I challenge you to find a more relevant Tech practice out of the independents.

(Can't speak for the comment about the Converts group as I'm a lot more familiar with Tech groups across the street.)

“Millionaires don't use astrology, billionaires do”
 
PiperJaffrayOrBust:
^ true - I guess if we're talking about SA positions it might be a little riskier since group placement is decided after acceptance of the offer

I got a group specific SA offer, but I'm not in NY. So yeah fair point.

Regardless, there's absolutely no situation in which you would take Barclays over Laz. JPM over GS? Ok sure, I could see a situation where it makes sense. Houlihan RX over MS? Weird, but maybe, if you love distressed debt. This is fairly clear cut.

To the OP: I'm sorry we're shitting on you. Barclays is a solid bank. And ranking banks is kinda douchey. But being real, there are material differences between Barclays and Lazard in buy-side placement, MBA admissions, stability of institution, and even pay (Laz is kinda cheap but Barclays is getting fucked over ATM). Laz was the better choice, unless you have some sort of non-finance plan after your two analyst years where none of that stuff I mentioned matters to you. But in that case, why are you doing banking again?

 
Best Response

Well, you're probably the first person to ever pick Barclays over Laz, so at least your mother isn't wrong when she says you're a unique, special little flower.

Really it depends what you want to do. If you want to do M&A advisory/corporate finance work, yeah that was fucking retarded. I mean, Barclays is still kind of ok, but Laz is one of the best. I mean... look at the M&A league tables. Barclays lends assloads of money to all the companies doing those acquisitions, but still gets smoked by Laz (who lends nothing) in the league tables. The markets have spoken - Laz is a better advisory firm than Barclays.

If you're more interested in capital markets, particularly fixed income, you made the right choice. Barclays has one of the strongest fixed income capital markets franchises on Wall Street.

And btw, by "that was fucking retarded" I don't mean to say your life is over, it's not. You live and you learn. If it's any consolation, I got so fucked up in the airport once, I literally shat my pants on the plane on a way to a client site dilligence visit once. I had to walk around the site for like 3 hours pretending i didn't reek of human feces in front of our client. I survived. Pretty sure you'll never do anything that retarded in your entire career.

But I treated it as a learning experience, you know? Now I always bring a change of pants when I travel for work, even if it's just a day trip.

 
NYCbandar:
And btw, by "that was fucking retarded" I don't mean to say your life is over, it's not. You live and you learn. If it's any consolation, I got so fucked up in the airport once, I literally shat my pants on the plane on a way to a client site dilligence visit once. I had to walk around the site for like 3 hours pretending i didn't reek of human feces in front of our client. I survived. Pretty sure you'll never do anything that retarded in your entire career.

...GS Elevator guy?

Anyway, I assume this was a troll because even implying OP's life is over because he got an investment banking offer is the only thing about this thread that's fucking retarded

I hate victims who respect their executioners
 
I got so fucked up in the airport once, I literally shat my pants on the plane on a way to a client site dilligence visit once. I had to walk around the site for like 3 hours pretending i didn't reek of human feces in front of our client.

LMAO!

Can't do this anymore. Shit.

 
NYCbandar:
Well, you're probably the first person to ever pick Barclays over Laz, so at least your mother isn't wrong when she says you're a unique, special little flower.

Really it depends what you want to do. If you want to do M&A advisory/corporate finance work, yeah that was fucking retarded. I mean, Barclays is still kind of ok, but Laz is one of the best. I mean... look at the M&A league tables. Barclays lends assloads of money to all the companies doing those acquisitions, but still gets smoked by Laz (who lends nothing) in the league tables. The markets have spoken - Laz is a better advisory firm than Barclays.

If you're more interested in capital markets, particularly fixed income, you made the right choice. Barclays has one of the strongest fixed income capital markets franchises on Wall Street.

And btw, by "that was fucking retarded" I don't mean to say your life is over, it's not. You live and you learn. If it's any consolation, I got so fucked up in the airport once, I literally shat my pants on the plane on a way to a client site dilligence visit once. I had to walk around the site for like 3 hours pretending i didn't reek of human feces in front of our client. I survived. Pretty sure you'll never do anything that retarded in your entire career.

But I treated it as a learning experience, you know? Now I always bring a change of pants when I travel for work, even if it's just a day trip.

just pissed myself from laughing so hard...

 
NYCbandar:
Well, you're probably the first person to ever pick Barclays over Laz, so at least your mother isn't wrong when she says you're a unique, special little flower.

Really it depends what you want to do. If you want to do M&A advisory/corporate finance work, yeah that was fucking retarded. I mean, Barclays is still kind of ok, but Laz is one of the best. I mean... look at the M&A league tables. Barclays lends assloads of money to all the companies doing those acquisitions, but still gets smoked by Laz (who lends nothing) in the league tables. The markets have spoken - Laz is a better advisory firm than Barclays.

If you're more interested in capital markets, particularly fixed income, you made the right choice. Barclays has one of the strongest fixed income capital markets franchises on Wall Street.

And btw, by "that was fucking retarded" I don't mean to say your life is over, it's not. You live and you learn. If it's any consolation, I got so fucked up in the airport once, I literally shat my pants on the plane on a way to a client site dilligence visit once. I had to walk around the site for like 3 hours pretending i didn't reek of human feces in front of our client. I survived. Pretty sure you'll never do anything that retarded in your entire career.

But I treated it as a learning experience, you know? Now I always bring a change of pants when I travel for work, even if it's just a day trip.

Can this please be permanently posted somewhere for the rest of time?? Hilarious doesn't even begin to describe that fourth paragraph.

 
NYCbandar:

And btw, by "that was fucking retarded" I don't mean to say your life is over, it's not. You live and you learn. If it's any consolation, I got so fucked up in the airport once, I literally shat my pants on the plane on a way to a client site dilligence visit once. I had to walk around the site for like 3 hours pretending i didn't reek of human feces in front of our client. I survived. Pretty sure you'll never do anything that retarded in your entire career.

Not buying it - sounds oddly similar to that roadshow/private jet story that made its way around a year or two ago - are so many analysts shitting themselves on planes?

 
NYCbandar:

And btw, by "that was fucking retarded" I don't mean to say your life is over, it's not. You live and you learn. If it's any consolation, I got so fucked up in the airport once, I literally shat my pants on the plane on a way to a client site dilligence visit once. I had to walk around the site for like 3 hours pretending i didn't reek of human feces in front of our client. I survived. Pretty sure you'll never do anything that retarded in your entire career.

True? Made-up? Don't care either way, it's fucking hilarious. +1.
 

I made a similar move to go to Citi/CS/BAML over GHL/LAZ. At the analyst level, I'll be very honest with you - M&A and modeling experience are quite important and necessary for exiting. With that in mind, you also have to consider your lifestyle. Guys I know at LAZ (at the associate level) hate themselves. But at the associate level, it's different; it's a career. Associates who go into banking wanting to exit to PE are delusional. Analysts view it as a stint.

You had four great offers (C/Barc/M/LAZ). Your goal now shouldn't be worrying about whether you made the wrong move or the right move. Your goal should be enjoying your few months before your summer stint starts and owning your shit and grabbing that F/T offer. At that point, talk to other summers and see what their experiences were like. I considered going to LAZ/GHL, but after talking to a few friends who summered there as associates turned down the offer. Now, I'm much happier than a lot of the guys there. Again, as an associate, your exits are primarily biz dev/industry/corp fin/long term banking.

Kill your summer. See how you liked the experience, the people, the firm. If you end up hating banking, it doesn't matter where you work then.

Regarding P/E placement (should you not hate banking so much): Barclays did well with their analyst class. Perhaps not as well as Lazard, which again is strictly M&A focused, but well like a BB would do (exception of GS FIG, MS M&A). There is a ton of legal/restructuring speculation surrounding the bank, but from my friends who are there currently: NYC won't be affected; all the issues were legacy Barclays (not Lehman, which most of the NYC office is). So you'll be fine. It's easy to attack a bank that's publicly undergoing a ton of media scrutiny - look at Citi last year. Or BAML. Or DB. Or UBS. Or also CS. I could go on. Every BB is taking it over the barrel.

For now, focus on rocking your summer. Congrats again - there are many people here (especially on this thread) who would love to have shared your success.

 

Firstly congratulations on the amazing offers. Secondly not a huge deal. I won't lie, I would definitely have chosen Lazard but its only a SA position. ROCK your internship and network your ass off this summer while you crush it. Then you can line up accelerated interviews with all the top BBs and elite boutiques before summer is over. AGAIN this is an SA positions and Barclays IBD and your gpa/background (which I'm assuming is top notch considering all of your SA offers) you can certainly get your foot in the door at most top banks. You didn't make a big mistake and you don't have to be at barcap FT but if you end up loving the bank and your group then all the better man.

Best of luck! Remember get after it this summer and never stop networking.

 

know folks at LAZ and they are pretty awesome - place ligths out HF/PE/Random places etc

but fit is important too - high level depends on what you want to do..

but 8 offers wow lol that is a Non Targets dream, forget 8 offers get them 8 interviews haha

 

Let's be honest here. If you're talking about exit ops, the difference is marginal. Sure, LAZ has an awesome name, but so does Barclays, LAZ being a little better. Network and do a good job at Barclays and it really will not matter.

Plus this Monday morning quarterback mentality is bullshit. Get over it either way.

 

Doesn't matter. Your analyst career is 90% what you make of it, how hard you work and how much you're willing to learn. You'll probably have fewer exit ops from Barclays, which is too bad. You'll probably work fewer hours, which is nice. If you impress, you'll get decent deal experience at either (better at LAZ, but good enough for PE firms at either place).

Ultimately, whoever said ranking banks is douchey was right - you made the right move if you made the call based on a better fit. The two years are brutal as is, and much much worse if you're working next to people you don't get along with really well.

 

First, take a step back and be happy for yourself. Seriously, kids would kill to be where you are. Honestly, there is no looking back. While I personally know people at Laz and Barc, I did find it odd why you made that choice. Again, I can't speak for the culture, and to me thats more important than prestige (a non-target sophomore probably just got a heart attack). I think Lazard is much better overall. That being said I have no idea what your group at Barclays is. More importantly, I would be concerned about job security with Barclays. I was reading dealbreaker and I know Jenkins has announced 40,000 jobs to be cut. This would take headcount from 140,000 to 100,000...pretty big haircut. I would be very concerned about job security with Barclays compared to Lazard.

Array
 
TeddyTheBear:
First, take a step back and be happy for yourself. Seriously, kids would kill to be where you are. Honestly, there is no looking back. While I personally know people at Laz and Barc, I did find it odd why you made that choice. Again, I can't speak for the culture, and to me thats more important than prestige (a non-target sophomore probably just got a heart attack). I think Lazard is much better overall. That being said I have no idea what your group at Barclays is. More importantly, I would be concerned about job security with Barclays. I was reading dealbreaker and I know Jenkins has announced 40,000 jobs to be cut. This would take headcount from 140,000 to 100,000...pretty big haircut. I would be very concerned about job security with Barclays compared to Lazard.

This is speculation, which you read on dealbreaker. The stock didn't have a massive jump/fall when that was said. Clearly, it's not a short-term plan.

OP: you've made your choice - feel good about it and best of luck with your career.

 
bankbanker101:
TeddyTheBear:
First, take a step back and be happy for yourself. Seriously, kids would kill to be where you are. Honestly, there is no looking back. While I personally know people at Laz and Barc, I did find it odd why you made that choice. Again, I can't speak for the culture, and to me thats more important than prestige (a non-target sophomore probably just got a heart attack). I think Lazard is much better overall. That being said I have no idea what your group at Barclays is. More importantly, I would be concerned about job security with Barclays. I was reading dealbreaker and I know Jenkins has announced 40,000 jobs to be cut. This would take headcount from 140,000 to 100,000...pretty big haircut. I would be very concerned about job security with Barclays compared to Lazard.

This is speculation, which you read on dealbreaker. The stock didn't have a massive jump/fall when that was said. Clearly, it's not a short-term plan.

OP: you've made your choice - feel good about it and best of luck with your career.

http://www.foxbusiness.com/industries/2013/03/08/report-barclays-ceo-wa…

Not that much speculation, but the plan is said to be over a 10-yr period.

Array
 

thank you everyone for the responses. I should have specified that this was not for SA but for full time. The only reason the past is this late in the year is because I was confident that my choice was fine for a while until recently when everyone started asking me where I am going to work and where I had offers. That's when people said I was stupid and crazy.

For the group I will be in: I basically have a choice of any group because I networked with a ton of analysts there and I am on good terms with some higher ups as well. Hence the reason I went with Barclays in the first place. Other than that, I really wasn't interested in restructuring at all so thats why lazard was a slight turn off.

 

Yeah OP, you chose what you felt was best for you. Honestly, this site can be pretty ridiculous with the "OMG, you should've chosen A because they are further up league tables than B and have more prestige; i.e. will get you into a better PE/HF". Fuck that. You have a great job now, regardless of industry rep of Barclays or whatever group you are in.

I honestly admire someone (out of ignorance or not) that would choose a shop on how they feel about it rather than the industry prestige standards. To hell with all of it. I don't doubt for a second that you'll never look back on this moment and say "Damn, sure wish I'd taken Lazard over Barclays." You are most likely going to be one of the top earning brackets in the world for kids coming out of undergrad. Kill the opportunity that you have taken and there's nothing else to it. If you are as ambitious and successful in the future as you are at this moment, you will be doing fine for the rest of your life.

The whole IB or bust thing is blown way out of proportion. Take a job with a company and group that you can enjoy (or at least bear) working with for the next couple of years. Not sure who said it but; "Nobody on their death bed ever says, "I'd wish I'd spent more time at the office". You have the rest of your life in front of you and choosing Barclays as opposed to Lazard will have zero effect on anything henceforth. (Irony is, while I was looking up the quote, some dumb bitch on FT was saying how there's nothing wrong with saying that. Idiot.)

Anyways, IMO, this is an arbitrary question pandering to a crowd of prestige whores. Fuck it all and go about your life.

Regards

"History doesn't repeat itself, but it does rhyme."
 

You.Are.So.Fucked. WTF were you thinking dude!? Do even understand the repercussions this will have on your professional career forever? Goddamnit man, you need to go back LAZ and BEG them the to reconsider you...

Jokes aside, die in a fire bro. Seriously, there are kids starving in the world right now.

Ace all your PE interview questions with the WSO Private Equity Prep Pack: http://www.wallstreetoasis.com/guide/private-equity-interview-prep-questions
 
Stringer Bell:
You.Are.So.Fucked. WTF were you thinking dude!? Do even understand the repercussions this will have on your professional career forever? Goddamnit man, you need to go back LAZ and BEG them the to reconsider you...

Jokes aside, die in a fire bro. Seriously, there are kids starving in the world right now.

I'd expect better logic for a PE associate. Since kids are starving in Africa, I don't have any real problems. Ok buddy.

 
poonslayer:
Stringer Bell:
You.Are.So.Fucked. WTF were you thinking dude!? Do even understand the repercussions this will have on your professional career forever? Goddamnit man, you need to go back LAZ and BEG them the to reconsider you...

Jokes aside, die in a fire bro. Seriously, there are kids starving in the world right now.

I'd expect better logic for a PE associate. Since kids are starving in Africa, I don't have any real problems. Ok buddy.

Trololololololololed
 
poonslayer:
Stringer Bell:
You.Are.So.Fucked. WTF were you thinking dude!? Do even understand the repercussions this will have on your professional career forever? Goddamnit man, you need to go back LAZ and BEG them the to reconsider you...

Jokes aside, die in a fire bro. Seriously, there are kids starving in the world right now.

I'd expect better logic for a PE associate. Since kids are starving in Africa, I don't have any real problems. Ok buddy.

You do have a real problem; not being able to take a joke

 
poonslayer:
Stringer Bell:
You.Are.So.Fucked. WTF were you thinking dude!? Do even understand the repercussions this will have on your professional career forever? Goddamnit man, you need to go back LAZ and BEG them the to reconsider you...

Jokes aside, die in a fire bro. Seriously, there are kids starving in the world right now.

I'd expect better logic for a PE associate. Since kids are starving in Africa, I don't have any real problems. Ok buddy.

 

I don't really want to turn this thread into a referendum on whether or not I shat myself, but I just think it's funny that people don't believe me. I mean, it's not like I'm saying I fucked Heidi Klum here, I'm saying that the first time someone was dumb enough to turn me loose with an unsupervised per diem/corporate card, I used it to drink until I shat myself.

Why would I make that up? Shitting your pants isn't exactly the kind of thing that gets you laid when you brag about it in bars, you know?

 
NYCbandar:
I don't really want to turn this thread into a referendum on whether or not I shat myself, but I just think it's funny that people don't believe me. I mean, it's not like I'm saying I fucked Heidi Klum here, I'm saying that the first time someone was dumb enough to turn me loose with an unsupervised per diem/corporate card, I used it to drink until I shat myself.

Why would I make that up? Shitting your pants isn't exactly the kind of thing that gets you laid when you brag about it in bars, you know?

I am highly amused and could care less whether it happened or not. But, it certainly seems plausible.

 

Good thread. I'm going through summer recruiting right now so this is super helpful for me. I'd like to chime in on the energy piece.

From what I understand, Barclays is consistently leading the leauge tables for energy (along with Citi BAML and JP).

Lazard is probably one of the sexiest banks I could think of, but when I really think about it all I know about it seems to be mystique from other aspiring bankers. Can anybody weigh in on Lazard's energy team?

 

In laudantium rem porro quia. Ipsam quia ut sapiente et et modi sit. Fugiat ut et quis earum voluptatibus. Impedit repudiandae inventore occaecati repellat tempora ut totam.

Similique laboriosam illo labore voluptatem fuga autem consequatur. Est architecto incidunt debitis est itaque ea praesentium. Quidem ex culpa excepturi assumenda.

Deserunt cupiditate incidunt et quidem aut laboriosam. Quibusdam labore qui corrupti perspiciatis. Accusamus est esse assumenda aut incidunt aperiam neque. Iure et autem rerum similique voluptas.

 

Dolor qui sit aspernatur pariatur. Asperiores temporibus ea omnis alias aut omnis. Non neque quo quaerat veritatis. Aut aut corrupti labore possimus rerum. Rerum voluptatem harum distinctio est ipsum. Et dolores architecto aliquid inventore. Beatae velit quidem unde dolores porro suscipit omnis.

Et ut totam dolores esse dolores est officiis illum. Et totam tempore aut reprehenderit ratione. Numquam ad temporibus dolorem error ab iste id et. Beatae eum recusandae porro minima delectus et. Praesentium eaque quia ut consectetur.

Voluptas omnis nostrum molestias inventore perspiciatis. Ex illum ipsam ea repellendus. Accusamus quaerat veritatis ut possimus asperiores. Ab quam dignissimos ea eveniet. Voluptatem iure minus blanditiis qui quos est delectus. Et et maxime delectus provident.

Veniam reprehenderit sunt sed. Et voluptas commodi architecto voluptatem sint. Ipsam vel alias quod sed et ut.

"Jesus, he's like a gremlin; comes with instructions and shit"

Career Advancement Opportunities

March 2024 Investment Banking

  • Jefferies & Company 02 99.4%
  • Goldman Sachs 19 98.8%
  • Harris Williams & Co. (++) 98.3%
  • Lazard Freres 02 97.7%
  • JPMorgan Chase 03 97.1%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

March 2024 Investment Banking

  • Harris Williams & Co. 18 99.4%
  • JPMorgan Chase 10 98.8%
  • Lazard Freres 05 98.3%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.7%
  • William Blair 03 97.1%

Professional Growth Opportunities

March 2024 Investment Banking

  • Lazard Freres 01 99.4%
  • Jefferies & Company 02 98.8%
  • Goldman Sachs 17 98.3%
  • Moelis & Company 07 97.7%
  • JPMorgan Chase 05 97.1%

Total Avg Compensation

March 2024 Investment Banking

  • Director/MD (5) $648
  • Vice President (19) $385
  • Associates (86) $261
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (13) $181
  • Intern/Summer Associate (33) $170
  • 2nd Year Analyst (66) $168
  • 1st Year Analyst (202) $159
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (144) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
3
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
4
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
99.0
5
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
6
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
7
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
8
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
9
kanon's picture
kanon
98.9
10
bolo up's picture
bolo up
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”