FT Recruiting in London after SA

Hi everyone, I am a penultimate-year undergraduate from continental Europe with an upcoming summer internship at a MM bank in London. Even though I am very grateful for this opportunity and would accept a full-time offer at this bank, I am wondering how the timetable for FT recruitment at BB/EB banks usually looks like in the UK.

As far as I know, interns receive their return offers at the end of the summer analyst program, meaning sometime in mid to late August. However, full-time recruitment seems to start around September (and takes place until around December). Does this mean, that if you receive and sign a return offer after the SA, there's no opportunity to apply or interview with other banks afterwards? Is that correct?

11 Comments
 

So I would have to sign my return offer, apply to other banks, and if I got another offer somewhere else, rescind my first offer? Wouldn't that really upset HR or even the whole team?

 

Yes you would need to accept your return offer and renege later when you get something better. Yes it will upset your team and HR but who cares you will never go back there anyway. Just do it politely

 

Did SA at a MM and starting FT elsewhere. Applications opened in early August and interviews kicked off in September. 

As mentioned, you can accept the offer and later reneg. The competitiveness/ high demand & low supply of position makes FT recruiting harder. There is no gurantee a bank will be doing FT recruiting and is purely driven on if they have enough people to fill their analyst class. 

If I were you, secure the FT offer first, learn as much as possible (which preps you for interviews anyway) and then see what opportunities are out there. All the best!

 

This largely depends when your internship ends, however, in my experience, at least 3/4 FT applications were already open before my internship ended with another 5-10 opening days later. 
 

However, before you even apply you need to update CV, Cover Letter and have everything ready technical wise, as processes move very quickly and because you already have pre-experience, these interviewers will be a step above SA recruiting. Processes can often start and have already handed out offers within a month. So even if, a large groups of banks have not opened during your internship, you need to prepare yourself for when they do.   

 

What happens when you accept an FT offer and renege it afterwards? What are the consequences?

 

Nisi doloribus quis neque perferendis omnis. Sapiente ad est enim dolores cupiditate architecto rerum. Corporis qui neque provident ipsum eum placeat vitae. Sapiente ex eum temporibus blanditiis vero necessitatibus distinctio. Illum in voluptate architecto.

Voluptatem quidem mollitia aspernatur quasi corporis voluptatem nemo provident. Fugiat ducimus et nostrum occaecati. Vitae praesentium neque sequi est. Autem quo ut corporis cum adipisci molestiae nesciunt. Dolor cum temporibus excepturi eveniet fuga numquam. Magni delectus distinctio accusantium sed enim itaque.

Career Advancement Opportunities

November 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.5%
  • Moelis & Company 01 99.0%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.4%
  • Guggenheim Partners 02 97.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 06 97.4%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

November 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.5%
  • Morgan Stanley 02 99.0%
  • Evercore 01 98.4%
  • Banco Santander 02 97.9%
  • BMO Capital Markets 13 97.4%

Professional Growth Opportunities

November 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.5%
  • Moelis & Company 01 99.0%
  • Morgan Stanley 05 98.4%
  • Goldman Sachs 01 97.9%
  • JPMorgan No 97.4%

Total Avg Compensation

November 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (16) $429
  • Associates (57) $264
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (29) $183
  • Intern/Summer Associate (16) $161
  • 1st Year Analyst (84) $151
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (77) $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
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
3
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
4
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
5
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
6
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
7
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
8
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
9
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
10
Linda Abraham's picture
Linda Abraham
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...”