Bulge Bracket Gossip - Am I at risk?
Hi guys - I am an incoming IB summer analyst for a mid-tier BB in LA and attend a semi-target. I got my offer pretty early in the recruiting cycle for 2018 and therefore did not explore the option of many other banks.
The past month I have been reaching out to guys that work at some EBs or other BBs to ask for advice on preparing for the summer as well as learning about their experience at their respective bank. I'm doing this with the additional goal in mind to build relationships with them for a possible FT lateral position to a better bank.
Do you think the guys at my firm will hear about this? (I feel like coverage groups on the west coast are more tight-knit than the groups in NY)
If they do hear about me reaching out to other banks, will that impact my chances of getting a return offer?
If there is risk in doing this, I will obviously not reach out to anybody else. Let me know what you all think. Thanks.
[EDITED]
LA is a small world, so I would recommend not chasing a brand name if you're at a satellite office, recruiting will be based on your relationships and if you lateral to somewhere else, it would be because someone else didn't get or choose the slot (why?), and you won't have had the benefit of getting to know your colleagues over the summer, which leaves you with less momentum going into recruiting season (the first 1-2 months on the job).
Agree with this 100%. The marginal benefit is not worth the potential risks. I'm going to be in San Francisco which seems like everyone knows everyone... and would bet LA is similar.
Thanks for the response Syzygy. Just to clarify, when you mention recruiting, are you referring to buyside recruiting in the first 1-2 months of being full-time?
If so, I didn't look at things in with that perspective and will stop reaching out to people at other firms.
Yes. Let's say buyside recruiting happens within the first 10 weeks of full time, and your summer internship is 10 weeks. Switching firms means 50% less exposure than the other analysts who did summer in the group, and probably more than that given so much cultural and team bonding happens over the summer. A buyside recruiter calls me for example and asks me to compare the different Analysts ... fill in the gaps.
If you find yourself over the summer at a cultural mismatch or can go from a true boutique (1 MD shop) to a BB then it might be worth it, but if you are thinking e.g. Credit Suisse LA to MS LA is a step up or worth lateraling, you are so very, very, very, very wrong.
From this description alone if you are being truthful, I already know who you are. LA is a small world.
Lol, there are so god damn many summer analysts in LA and his post was so vague that you can't possibly have seriously let yourself believe/proclaim that you know who this anonymous poster is. No, you have no fuckin clue who it is.
Other than that, your follow on comments are actually very informative and helpful.
SB'd
Bulge brackets are generally considered...
Bank of America Merrill Lynch (BAML) Barclays Capital (BarCap) Citigroup (Citi) Credit Suisse (CS) Deutsche Bank (DB) Goldman Sachs (GS or Goldman) JPMorgan Chase (JPM) Morgan Stanley (MS) UBS
So, what's a "mid-tier BB?" Throw out GS, MS, JPM. Throw out DB and UBS. Now we have BAML, Barcap, Citi, and CS. There are ~a dozen incoming Summer Analysts in total. Target schools USC, UCLA, Wharton, Ivey represent the vast majority of the class... I'll stop here.
He’s trolling you, you’re ok to reach out and get to know people. Don’t come off as super eager to jump groups though.
And lateralling groups/firms for full time will have a negligible effect on recruiting when you start. I’ve known plenty of people who have done this and been at zero disadvantage.
Yes, it's of course fine to reach out to people, and you should always be networking in my opinion. It's not the fact that people would talk and black-list you, it's the fact that lateraling amongst BB in LA will basically not be additive to recruiting success and therefore brand name is not a sufficient condition to take that risk. Culture would be a great reason, but again, CS to MS or BAML to GS ... at least in LA ... the cultural factor outweighs the brand name by far, not to mention the groups are very different.
Everyone in Century City knows each other. You'll find this out through recruiting or very early on in your summer internship.
Also, from my limited exposure, I agree with Syzygy that jumping to a top tier BB is not nearly the same in LA as it may be in a place like NYC. The groups are completely different.