Didn't get offer- how to spin it?

I didn't get a full time IBD offer from a BB this summer.

What is the best way to spin it in a future interview if it comes up? Lie and say you have an offer? Say you didn't think culture/job is for you? Or say you didn't get an offer but stress how much you learned?

Thanks

 
GGopher21:
of course i am serious, thanks for contributing nothing fudgepacker

You're a fucking idiot if you think lying about having an offer is remotely close to a good idea. Don't act like a dipshit when you're in the wrong, btw JT Marlin is hiring.

P.S., I did contribute something. I told you this exact question was just asked a week ago. Relevant info can be found there. The combination of your attitude, lack of perspective, and inability to use a forum speak volumes.

Stay bitter, pennypacker

 

I honestly hope you're not serious about lying. They'll uncover it in 15 seconds and your reputation will be trashed.

Not getting an offer does not make you a pariah at other firms. You presumably got some good experience during the summer and obviously your background was strong enough to get the internship in the first place. You have a lot going for you, although you should be more sensitive to integrity issues. Be confident and talk about what you got out of the summer that makes you a great candidate. Hopefully you have 1 person at the firm who you worked with and will say good things about your abilities. Offer that person as a reference. REally you're fine.

If you need more convincing about why you shouldn't lie and what you should say, read this What to Do When You Don't Get the Offer at the End of Your Internship http://bit.ly/4tVkqL

Gotta Mentor www.GottaMentor.com Connect to the Advice & People You Need to Achieve Your Career Goals

Gotta Mentor Connect to the Advice & People You Need to Achieve Your Career Goals
 

Last Year when offers were coming out some of us got offers, some did not, but apparently our HR told some people that they could say they got an offer when they went on interviews, and this HR person would confirm it if need be.

I think it was mostly because there were so few interns getting offers compared to a year ago, and HR felt that some of the interns deserved a shot. Who knows, but I found that to be a nice gesture.

This was a BB too.

 

Be careful about what you say as this may count against you.

While I received an offer last year from the BB I was interning @ it cost me dearly when I let it slip @ a FT interview with another BB (JP Morgan).

During my feedback the HR rep stated that I scored highly in all areas but they were not sure if I was trying to play it safe by getting two offers especially in the context of the economic climate and therefore would not progress with my application further.

Personally I'd avoid discussing whether you got a FT offer or not as saying you got an offer/didn't get one, both have their advantages and disadvantages.

Of course if it can't be avoided then I'd probably try to spin it by saying something like having spoken to x no of people, reviewed your involvement with certain firms I am very impressed blah blah ;)

 
BrownMan:
Be careful about what you say as this may count against you.

While I received an offer last year from the BB I was interning @ it cost me dearly when I let it slip @ a FT interview with another BB (JP Morgan).

During my feedback the HR rep stated that I scored highly in all areas but they were not sure if I was trying to play it safe by getting two offers especially in the context of the economic climate and therefore would not progress with my application further.

Personally I'd avoid discussing whether you got a FT offer or not as saying you got an offer/didn't get one, both have their advantages and disadvantages.

Of course if it can't be avoided then I'd probably try to spin it by saying something like having spoken to x no of people, reviewed your involvement with certain firms I am very impressed blah blah ;)

Seriously? I thought you're supposed to shop around offers. Isn't an offer your greatest strength in a FT interview?

 
boom495:
BrownMan:
Be careful about what you say as this may count against you.

While I received an offer last year from the BB I was interning @ it cost me dearly when I let it slip @ a FT interview with another BB (JP Morgan).

During my feedback the HR rep stated that I scored highly in all areas but they were not sure if I was trying to play it safe by getting two offers especially in the context of the economic climate and therefore would not progress with my application further.

Personally I'd avoid discussing whether you got a FT offer or not as saying you got an offer/didn't get one, both have their advantages and disadvantages.

Of course if it can't be avoided then I'd probably try to spin it by saying something like having spoken to x no of people, reviewed your involvement with certain firms I am very impressed blah blah ;)

Seriously? I thought you're supposed to shop around offers. Isn't an offer your greatest strength in a FT interview?

You can shop around as much as you want as long as you don't tell them.

However a frd who was in grad recruitment for a BB told me that they have an unwritten rule where they would not make an offer to an intern (Only applies to entry level recruits) when they were aware that the intern already had accepted an offer ;)

This was confirmed to me when I made the mistake of letting JPM know I had received an offer from the BB I had interned at.

I guess the difference here is that if you intern somewhere and receive an offer is treated differently to say you were simply to receive an offer without interning somewhere and then ask a competitor BB to make a decision by stating you had an exploding offer.

 

Definitely don't lie. You'll get asked in interviews whether you got an offer. If you have stats that are more helpful (2 of the 10 interns received offers and both had 2 summers of banking experience), you can volunteer that, but in general you don't want to dwell on it. Simply say something like "I didn't get an offer. It was a tough summer in terms of conversion from internship to offer. Although it didn't work out with Firm X, I got tremendous experience doing A, B, and C (all of which are relevant to the job you're now interviewing for").

I hope you're joking by the way about being a failure in life. Most people who are bankers hate their lives, so in the end it might not be that great of a prize.

Gotta Mentor www.GottaMentor.com Connect to the Advice & People You Need to Achieve Your Career Goals

Gotta Mentor Connect to the Advice & People You Need to Achieve Your Career Goals
 
melvvvar:
cite "creative differences"

Here's Rakim spinning a story about creative differences:

Notice how he uses a real-world example and keeps his answer short, under 3 minutes, and properly covers the situation, the task at hand, the action he took and the result. The only problem is that he didn't quantify his contribution.

 

Considering incoming analyst classes are smaller this year I don't think not receiving an offer will be that big of a deal.

If anything just say you had a slightly different personality than the rest of your group and people that "fit" in better were chosen despite you having the competency to do the job. I would certainly stress that the feedback you got was positive, but do not mention that you "screwed up" or be prepared to quantify what exactly it was that you did wrong.

 
Best Response

"I'm surprised I haven't seen this one on here yet."

This topic has been covered many times... try using the search function?

Anyway, I think what matters more isn't why you didn't get an offer, but rather:

a. what did you learn from your experience (and specifically from your experience in not getting an offer. How did you re-evaluate yourself and your future behavior/actions as a result of this?)

b. how you are nonetheless still the best candidate out there for whatever you're interviewing for

The specific reason for why you didn't get an offer doesn't matter much, as long as you can hit these two points out of the park; after all, everyone knows that you didn't get an offer because you either didn't mesh with the group (which makes me question whether you'd mesh with my group) or because you didn't do well (which makes me question whether you'd do well here), so you need to touch on the past, but focus on the future. Hope this helps and best of luck.

 

I had situation like this..... ....

First, unless internship was wrong fit, do not say you didn't mesh well etc. They likely may know someone there and also putting down former employee. On top of this if going into same role/field as internship it won't look good.

Find number of interns hired... and find out from ones not hired if they will share their reason. Might give some insight if it was bs. If it appears that way you can say tough economy = no full time, firm was not sure if they would need to hire additional staff at the time given their needs, desk or group was not hiring..... etc are good reasons.

If they press you more as to why hired FT, then say why you didn't get hired by the firm if it is minor. Regardless if major or minor, have a way how you improved it or fixed this issue. Employers won't be happy if you didn't attempt to fix the issue as it shows lack of initiative.

 

just be honest, say it plainly as you put it above. These are hard times, everyone knows there are extremely good people fighting to get the few openings.

As always networking can give you some advantage, particularly if you got along with some senior figure, perhaps he can help out (or at least give you more direct feedback, so you can prepare better). Try reaching back to people you know there.

Albeit not having experience with this situation (either as candidate or recruiting/interviewing for the firm), I would suggest to treat it with no fuzz, mention the feedback received, what you learnt, whether you got along with team and particularly why you would like to work for them... so highly motivated to give it a fresh try.

Be able to mention why you are a best fiiting and top qualified person for the role. In addition, you know the company, the team and are sure you can perform there, so less surprises for the company (and for you) and more firepower in your arsenal of high-caliber arguments.

This could be a good start and clear the first line, abviosuly if there is not a concrete (negative) reasong for previous decision.

If they push, try to be more specific addressing the strategically the issues, putting it in light of achieved self-improvement (p.e. revisited accounting classes, or whatever) and in future light.

If they invite you, they seem to see potential in you. Give them reasons why it is so, but be honest, always. Good luck!

 
california:
BrownMan, so did the HR rep expect you to decline the offer you originally received before interviewing FT for them or what?

Well when I interviewed @ JPM I let it slip with my third interviewer that I had an offer from the BB I had interned at.

During my feedback the HR rep stated the reason for my application being unsuccessful was the fact that they were not sure if I was merely trying to safeguard my position by obtaining two offers.

They were not aware of the above before I interviewed and I doubt they would have expected anyone to decline an offer ;)

 

you would say that you didn't thrive because the environment wasn't a good fit culturally. be careful though, everyone knows this is a bullshit answer so try and come up with a few examples of cultural differences (hours do not count as firm culture within a specific industry eg. consulting or IB).

 

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