Barclays NY vs DB SF

Thoughts on which offer to accept for SA 2022? Barclays NY is a platform offer, DB SF is for TMT, and MS NY is a GCM platform offer. My thoughts:

  • Barclays is probably stronger than DB in most areas, but I'd still have to go through group placement. My school has close to no alumni in the top groups, so placement into a top group is far from guaranteed.

  • TMT, especially tech, is without a doubt the most interesting industry for me, so DB SF is super appealing with that. The culture in that office is also great and the people in that office are also great.

If you want to do TMT and like the people at DB seems like you know what you want to do. One nice thing as u probably know about Barclays is each coverage group does their own M&A execution tho.

That’s assuming you get into a coverage group. Far from guaranteed if you’re not a Barclays core school. Works out for most, but definitely not all.

How has no one asked this yet: do you want to live in nyc or SF? These banks will be comparable exit and pay wise so it comes down to where you want to live and culture of the group. Barclays ny generally has a good culture but you might get placed into one of the few groups (industrials/tech?) that doesnt have the best culture. I have friends at barc ny in other groups and they said they have great culture but don't know anyone in tech/ind which people on wso have said are rough culture-wise.

DB tech is probably DB’s strongest platform, definitely consider it as your first choice if you want tech. 
 

Honestly, risk adjusting for group placement, I would take DB tech over taking Barclays and hoping to get placed into tech. Tech is one of the most sought after industry groups (especially for Barclays who happens to have a strong NY tech group relative to SF) and I would argue the difference in prestige/exits between DB and Barc TMT is not big enough to risk it. 
 

I also think SF is super underrated and a no brainer if you want tech buyside exits (although NY tech exits for VC and GE are getting better and larger in number than 5 years ago). 

Some alum from my nontarget school got screwed over by Barc NY placement and ended up with some weird group that's half S/T half IB, anecdotal but just my .02

Barclays tech NY is significantly better than DB tech SF. Tech at Barclays is pretty sought after, so you need to be okay with networking with other groups and potentially going to them if you pick Barclays. If you absolutely want tech and don't want to risk industrials fig etc at Barclays, go with DB.

I'm friends with a PE associate that was in Barclays tech NY for 2-3 years. He said hours were on the higher side but culture was great. Did you work in the group?

To me this is a no-brainer in favor of Barclays. If anyone disagrees with below plz comment rather than MS. Put simply (and happy to expand below):

  1. Barclays >>> Deutsche Bank on a brand name basis. Don’t think it’s that close. At my top target, you barely see anyone go to DB these days but Barc remains highly sought after.
  1. NYC >>> SF. I have only heard stories of people doing summers in SF and switching to NYC full time, never the other way around. Keep in mind this is a large sample size of people who interned across finance, tech, and consulting.
  1. Barclays Tech > Deutsche Bank Tech. Just look at the recent exits.

Main Counterargument: Barclays group placement.

Yeah, it sucks. But if you got an offer you don’t have a serious leg down over other people. Just be scrappy and don’t get complacent. Start early.

Most Helpful

Can shine some light, currently at an EB Tech group in PA.

1. No one gives a shit. All you younglings care way too much about splitting hairs between banks. Once you actually start working in the industry you'll quickly realize no one really cares about what bank you work at, and as for PE recruiting it's a lot more about analyst preparedness and skill than you realize. It's not really Top Tier BB > Mid Tier BB > Low Tier BB for PE recruiting as you youngsters think, it's literally just 2 tiers: GS/MS (Where analysts are able to get attention from HHs purely just from name brand rather than resume) and all other BBs.

2. SF >>> NYC for Tech. The vast majority of reputable Tech groups are in the Bay Area for a reason. If OP is set on Tech the Bay Area is far better than NYC.

3. Goes back to point 1. Also, from my personal observations DB SF Tech is no slouch, their WC placement is solid.

  • I don’t think saying Barc > DB is revolutionary. This isn’t splitting hairs between Barc and BAML or GS and MS - I am also not a fan of the rankings threads.
  • Re-read OP’s post. If committed to tech BANKING, then yes SF > NYC. However if they’re just going to leave after 2 years, there are equal if not more investor roles in NYC.
  • My point still stands that from a quality of life perspective, I have only seen people prefer NYC to SF.

this seems like a west coast vs. east coast decision. I'd go with DB TMT (especially) if you want WC exits. Barclays placement process is pretty unreliable if you don't have a strong alumni network. 

Is Barclays Tech generally one of the more coveted groups?

Yes Barclays tech is a top group at the firm now. Them and HC get a ton of interest. But doable if you network early.

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