As stated. Received a verbal offer from a top tier EB (NY/SF), and was due to receive the letter (the HR told me over the phone they will send it over in the next few days). Then no word from them, and the team-member who was running the process (the same person who called to congratulate me on the offer) calls me to say they will not be offering me the job.
I asked for reason, and they said its a competitive process, nothing to do with my candidacy (how does that reconcile with it being a "competitive process")?
Question: Instead of sulking here, curious to know if others have similar experiences: is it common for banks to reneg on their verbal promise or is it a symptom of a really slowing hiring market?
What!? Haven't heard of anything like this. I wonder if something came up that made them question the hire. Super odd and I would probably push for further feedback. BEst of luck
name and shame time
Exactly, nothing to lose with them and makes sure the rest of us know. If the street can share word on candidates reneging to revoke offers then we can share word when they reneg.
To make it clear, i'm at a competitive bank and have good/relevant experience on my resume. The person told me that my interviews went really well, they were all very impressed and would be making an offer, and put me in touch with HR to iron out the details, etc. I don't know what could have happened, but it is sort of unusual for sure.
I don't know if I can push for any further feedback beyond what I already have- it sounds to me like they wanted to hire me, but maybe ran into HR who doesn't want to increase the headcount (but then why interview?). Anyways, just wanted to flag this to the community here, because if anything, this shows the importance of signing on the dotted line. Luckily I'm still at a good place, but I must admit, the process was a real distraction for 2-3 weeks.
The person did say "let's keep in touch, you are still in our list if things change/you are on top of the list". I truly didn't know what to say...all seemed a little bizarre
I would be so pressed
Low rent move for sure. Did you get specific numbers etc verbally? Anyway I’m sure it’s a function of market conditions and maybe head of IB is panicking about headcount at some banks. It seems like some banks may have overhired after over firing during beginning of Covid and just don’t want to add new bodies. Would expect tougher hiring environment as deal activity normalizes.
The only thing that was left to discuss really were relocation expenses, and guarantee around full bonus at end of year (verbal or otherwise as is standard for lateral moves). None of these are exceptional things to negotiate. Still surprised- seemed somewhat amateur-ish but was even more surprised that this is from a top firm.
It could be someone fked up and verbally offered you when they meant to reject or sth.
Besides that, it's a very unusual situation, especially coming from an EB.
Not common whatsoever and super shitty move on the firm's part. Likely that their hiring needs or budget changed in the midst of the depressed earnings banks are seeing right now. Sorry that happened - just press forward with new processes, nothing you can do to reconcile the situation. Good reaffirmation that no offer is final until its written and signed.
Agreed completely and thank you for the helpful advice. I'm entirely focused on my self, and have other options available too. No point worrying about them.
If anything, the process speaks a lot about how disjointed their culture and internal communications have been, following a recent flurry of departures both at mid and senior levels. Most of the people I spoke to were all recent hires - some of them having worked less than 6 months there. Not a going look for sure.
name and shame
Name and shame or you're cappin
Expose them
Some banks have put a hiring freeze. That may be the case for you.
It could be. It would have helped if they were more clear about a hiring freeze.
For those asking me to name and shame, I really don't know if that's a good idea. Unless there are others that have experienced something similar and are willing to share their stories privately on DM, and then maybe its worth making a call on whether its a systemic problem with this team that warrants being disclosed. Otherwise, I don't see the point of doxing anyone.
One problem is that their team has turned over - many senior bankers have left the firm, the staffer and pretty much everyone from VP and above is new - joined within last 12 months. They do sound like they probably have little idea about what they are doing from a recruiting perspective vs HR maybe trying to rein them in . If anything, this is a reflection on how shoddy their culture has become due to turnovers/overwork.
From what I have seen from the inner works of recruiting, it may be that HR wanted a diversity candidate, and while your team pushed for you, they had to pull the offer.
Name and shame or it didn’t happen #facts
Didn't happen
Not to highjack the thread but the same thing happened to be just today from a BB. Absolutely gutted.
Sorry to hear. Happy to talk through DMs if you need a listening ear.
I recently connected with someone who interviewed me where my verbal offer was pulled. They mentioned that they are worried about over-hiring and markets slowing down, and got clamped down by HR, particularly on the part where I asked to be guaranteed a top bucket (since I'm top bucket at my current competitive firm here). They recommended I definitely should try to recruit here in Jan, when the bonuses get paid out, as more people are likely to leave again, and that I had really positive interview reviews with the team rating me pretty highly. The reality is, according to them, their EB is still understaffed at junior levels, even though they might have over hired at mid/senior levels. So they recommended to just wait it out for a few months.
If it helps, you should try to reach out to someone you connected well with at your target BB and see if they can give you informal feedback on what actually happened - and if its market related, its more likely that you can just wait out for end of year when bonuses get paid out/people leave/more certainty over the market conditions, to get them back on the table. But that's dependent on if you still want to be there.
Name and shame
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