How Long Does it Take to get a Formal Offer Letter after receiving a Verbal Offer?

Hi! I received a verbal offer from a BB. I would like to know how long do people usually have to wait in order to get the offer letter?

At what point in time, should someone contact the HR to follow up with the situation?

Also, if US students who will be working in Europe or Asia...do they have to wait longer compared to getting the offer letter within the states?

Thanks!

What time should I expect between a verbal offer and formal offer letter?

This question can vary a great deal based on the employer and how busy HR is at the given time.

User @PowerMonkey", an investment banking vice president, explained that:

PowerMonkey - Investment Banking Vice President:
My physical offer took about a month and a half to two months. I know people who have waited even longer. Generally different HR groups extend you an offer vs give you an offer letter vs do your training etc.

You should contact HR and determine how long till they send it and how they intend to do so. Its easy enough to do so under the guise of checking to make sure they have the correct address.

Some people receive their letter same day as @lou", an investment banking analyst, did.

lou - Investment Banking Analyst:
I was given the official offer letter, day of the call.

This can also vary based on whether the letter is coming in the mail or via email. You should clarify with HR when you receive your offer about whether you will be receiving a paper or digital copy.

What should I do if the offer letter wasn't received?

When given the verbal offer - you should check to confirm when you will receive the formal offer letter. If the date they indicated has passed, wait another week (in order to avoid seeming too aggressive) and contact your human resources contact.

If you were not given a date - check in after a month indicating that you just wanted to double check the address that you gave HR as mentioned by @PowerMonkey", an investment banking vice president, above.

Several users shared the advice that you should not stop interviewing until you have the formal letter in your hand.

2007Analyst:

Don't get burned by stopping all your processes and then having a "glitch" or something come up. There is no downside to continuing in the process until the written letter is in your hands.

Have an internship? Don't stop preparing!

Our finance internship guide will give you the best preparation for finance internships in the world. Following this finance internship guide will make getting through the your internship as painless as possible, so that you can have the exciting, rewarding experience you deserve.

Finance Internship Prep Package

 

My physical offer took about a month and a half to two months. I know people who have waited even longer. Generally different HR groups extend you an offer vs give you an offer letter vs do your training etc.

You should contact HR and determine how long till they send it and how they intend to do so. Its easy enough to do so under the guise of checking to make sure they have the correct address.

--There are stupid questions, so think first.
 
Best Response

I received my verbal offer on Monday from HR, they then proceeded to confirm my mailing address by email. I told them I was heading to the states for a month afterwards so that I needed my contract soon, so they sent a courier on Friday to my address. My friend at GS got her offer the same day, they offered her the job orally at 5, she had her contract by courier at 6. Some buddies of mine at Macquarie got their contract by email two days after the offer.

(All of this happened in London)

Not all part of my contracts were sent to me, the medical stuff etc.. will be sent to my address the closer we get to my hiring date this summer. I just had the "I accept to work like a camel for the rest of my life papers to sign, as well as the I accept my salary and offer papers".


Remember, you will always be a salesman, no matter how fancy your title is. - My ex girlfriend

 

It also varies by region. In the U.S., my experience has been that BBs typically mail offer letters the next business day or two after you receive the verbal offer. Maybe the fact that all of my offers were for NYC divisions. Friends of mine in Europe typically have waited longer.

 

congrats.

do not do a thing - stopping your interview process elsewhere, etc - until you receive the written letter.

mine was fedexed to me two days after the verbal offer, for perspective.

don't get burned by stopping other stuff and having a "glitch" or something come up. there is no downside to continuing in the process until the written letter is in your hands.

 

i have a different experience.

i received my verbal offer before christmas, around the 20th. i did not receive the actual offer until last week, but they were in touch and had informed me they were still drafting it, etc.

i would second the advice on not doing anything. i continued interviewing, and did let other banks know i had an outstanding offer. when given other interviews/superdays, i just continued.

as soon as i signed (last week), i called the other firms and withdrew. i wanted my spot to go to someone else as soon as i was sure i was okay.

 

Been a few years now but I think I got all mine in a few days to a week or so. But this was for FT recruiting.

Personally I would push to get it in a few days, just make up some story about being out of the country/changing addresses etc. if you have to... it's important to get that sort of stuff in writing ASAP.

If it actually takes a month, watch out... all sorts of shady stuff could happen.

 

I am facing the same situation with PwC. I got an interviewed more one and half month ago and I got selected for Sr. Advisory Role and they said they will make an offer soon somewhere around January first week, however I haven't heard anything yet. do you think they would have changed their mind? I don't know what to do.

 

for me its been about 3 weeks since they gave me a verbal offer. They said they were still hammering out the details and when I shot them an email last week they didn't really say much. It's a smaller MM firm, so the whole internship thing isn't really a standardized process for them, but I'm just wondering if I have any cause for concern right now

 

Send another email. You've already received the offer and the probability of them rescinding your offer due to your diligence is small if not zero, just don't harass them with 20 emails a day or something.

 

Had issues like that when I was starting as an off-cyle analyst at a BB. Took the douchebags at least 2 weeks to finally mail me something because they had to wait for a final approval from someone who had been out of the office. Had to get HR to write me up an "offer and acceptance" email so I could provide proof I actually had a job. By far the worst HR system I've ever had to interact with. But, the bank itself was sht itself, so it all kind of fit.

 

HR is often incompetent and lazy. They didn't send out my official offer letter until my soon-to-be boss paid them a visit call tomorrow if you don't have anything by then. All someone has to do is stop by "Brenda's" office and tell them to send it out.

Don't sweat, they've already given you a verbal offer, they're not going to change their mind now.

 

They are still talking to you, so give them some time. Don't be to pushy and maybe email HR in a few days. You can do it under the guise of verifying that they have the correct mailing address and ask if they need you to send any additional information.

"Greed, in all of its forms; greed for life, for money, for love, for knowledge has marked the upward surge of mankind. And greed, you mark my words, will not only save Teldar Paper, but that other malfunctioning corporation called the USA."
 

I interviewed with a team 2 weeks ago and the MD said he will most likely extend an offer. I still haven't heard back from them though. How should I go about managing my expectations?

 

It took me about 6-8 weeks to receive the letter. They had said it would take 3-4 weeks. (I was informed before most others.) I was in communication with the VP who interviewed me and let him know every few weeks what was going on. The VPs who work there have a lot more sway to get HR to act than you, as a prospective employee, do.

Don't worry if it's taken a while. If they're hiring a big batch of people for first-year analysts, they have a lot of internal crap to deal with. Head counts, background checks, reference checks, and a thousand other time-wasting compliance requirements. Just stay in touch and make sure that your hiring manager is aware of your situation.

 

I just recently got into a similar situation myself, but with a boutique consulting firm (which actually just got acquired by a bigger Consulting Firm). HR gave me a verbal offer 2 business days ago, saying that a written letter should come in the coming week (which is this week). HR also told me that the President signed off on the decision already. (I know this because HR was waiting for the President sign-off before giving me the verbal offer). I'm not in panic mode yet but would like to hear from the good people of WSO who might have had experience with boutique consulting firms before. Is long wait for a written offer usual for smaller consultancy? When should I start feeling panic?

Thanks everyone.

 

Don't worry. I received a written offer 2 weeks after a verbal offer for a summer internship. For the same BB, I received a verbal offer immediately after my internship ended. Took almost 2 months before I received a written contract. They were just really slow.

Good thing about receiving a verbal offer is that you keep applying to job postings and keep interviewing until you receive and sign the offer letter.

 

Definitely nothing to worry about. Given all the bureaucracy at BBs and the formal processes HR has to go through, I'm not surprised they haven't followed up with a written contract. Just be patient, and keep in touch with your key points of contact if necessary.

 

Tell them what your deadline is and that you have already extended it. If they dont give you an offer by Friday then you have to determine what to do. There is nothing you can do on your end. You can always accept the extended offer and then renege if you get the other one.

Frank Sinatra - "Alcohol may be man's worst enemy, but the bible says love your enemy."
 
pplstuff:
You verbally accept offer 1 and hope offer 2 comes in [in writing] before your offer 1 start date.

I'm clearly so new at this whole getting a grown up job thing here.. how do I go about accepting the offer "verbally"? The guy emailed me the whole offer package (benefits, etc) and told me to sign things and send back so not sure how I would go about accepting it verbally.

 

agreed on the verbal offer for #1. I would check on thursday with the HR of the other firm what the status is.

Do you have any contacts at the firm your waiting on? They might be able to provide some insight, or push things along.

Fear is the greatest motivator. Motivation is what it takes to find profit.
 

Laudantium excepturi voluptatem rerum in. Doloremque aut temporibus eaque ex. Sint et fugit iusto laboriosam totam sapiente et repudiandae.

Non ex aut aperiam deleniti quo et. Fuga commodi consequatur dolor aut. Et rerum non voluptates. Ut ut qui sint earum distinctio. Non doloribus id libero consequuntur ad voluptatum. Et laboriosam adipisci corrupti qui eligendi.

 

Velit velit sunt a rerum commodi ea. Dolores aut corrupti eos explicabo id. Aut natus ut repellendus incidunt facere consectetur. Deserunt laudantium aliquam recusandae sit rem sit exercitationem. Nulla quo qui ea modi corporis. In dicta qui repellendus deserunt voluptates cupiditate minus.

Explicabo sequi mollitia in laboriosam quod numquam similique. Dolores voluptas reprehenderit velit impedit incidunt rerum. Ipsa perspiciatis laboriosam eos accusamus aut et. Iste ipsum rerum qui nemo.

Numquam quas fugit earum debitis. Consequatur earum quis tempore. Voluptates ipsum deleniti sit porro. Ipsa praesentium corrupti sint id aliquam sunt. Voluptatum quibusdam eum quis perspiciatis non earum. Aliquid eum et sint aperiam voluptates nemo amet ut. Consequuntur libero consequuntur eos est eos laborum doloribus nam.

 

Non eum tempore est suscipit voluptatibus. Inventore libero deleniti libero dolore quos atque. Modi minus possimus totam veritatis fugiat itaque minus. Qui sit earum iure dicta facere. Tempora quae molestiae qui iusto et et quod vero. Explicabo quisquam quam autem. Excepturi voluptate ut sit iure architecto rerum corporis quo.

Beatae fugiat eum molestias a non repellendus. Rerum illum alias velit ipsam ducimus error. Vitae vitae unde pariatur. Qui illo sequi molestias exercitationem perspiciatis. Voluptatem quo quo unde velit ratione saepe aspernatur.

Architecto quisquam id suscipit labore praesentium veniam hic voluptatum. Sed mollitia qui laborum eos magnam quo est. Quas inventore harum minus dolorem.

Et quasi nihil necessitatibus provident. Alias quia et nemo animi sequi. Quo molestiae nemo velit rerum ratione. Nisi iusto eius possimus ex aspernatur. Accusamus aliquid illo autem voluptas rerum quisquam et assumenda. Enim consequatur aut dolores odio debitis rerum et dolorum.

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
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
99.0
4
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
5
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
6
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
7
kanon's picture
kanon
98.9
8
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
9
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
10
Jamoldo's picture
Jamoldo
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...”