Has anyone successfully negotiated a FT return offer at a BB (MS/GS)? I know the answer is likely no, but curious to see if it's worth giving it a shot. Thanks!
Edit: When I say negotiate I mean salary or signing bonus
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What do you mean by "negotiate"? FT offers are given out at the end of SA stints and on a case by case basis off cycle.
If you mean has anyone negotiated a "no" return offer into a "yes", I highly doubt it but your mileage may vary. Return offers are based off of months of working with a variety of people ranging from A1 all the way to MD. I imagine that at offer meetings at the end of the summer, it'd be extremely difficult to convince the VP or MD who's rehiring that their entire team made a mistake and that you're a good fit for the team, especially since the people that communicate the decision are usually the furthest from working with you (you're not going to convince a VP you worked with a couple times that his whole team in the trenches that you sat with is wrong and you're actually a stellar fit and hard worker).
Basically I just don't think it's possible for someone who has only a few months of experience to "negotiate" a return offer at the very end of a SA stint. They're meant to be built from weeks of positive work experiences and fostering connections with your coworkers, not from a 5 minute conversation at the end of the summer with an officer who you had relatively limited exposure to.
Thanks for pointing that out, realize my post is unclear. Edited it to clarify that I'm asking about negotiating salary or signing bonus
Haven't heard of anyone at the analyst level negotiating comp either, you're still way too inexperienced to have that kind of power, plus most junior level assignments like that are set in stone by the BB's HR policies.
I have heard of SOME (very few) higher level Associates being able to negotiate their salaries if they're taking on more officer level responsibilities regarding clients, but this is obviously group and bank specific. Probably much easier if you're client facing in a smaller group or office and about to make VP, very ill advised if you're in a large group where the promotion from Associate to VP means less.
Basically, the gist of it is, until you're responsible for winning clients for the bank, you don't have much power over your comp.
I’d be surprised if a bank reacted politely to that, let alone was amenable. A first year analyst is a commodity, normally a short-term one, and there’s barely any differentiation at the bonus level, let alone in base.
Don’t think this would be smart at all to try. Banks are very competitive jobs in the first place and this could easily rub someone the wrong way. Not to mention pay is gonna be some of the best out of undergrad and signing bonus at least for EB and BB is generally a very solid amount that is more than enough to get you started, moving to a new city and getting yourself set up there. Use the money from this wisely and push yourself to get into the top bucket for bonuses.
At the analyst level most groups in a bank will have the same base salary. Mine wasn't even talked about, they just sent the offer letter with my base and it was take it or leave it. The only thing you could POSSIBLY negotiate that I could even think of is maybe convincing to come in as an analyst 2 instead of a 1.
Help Negotiating Offer in Risk Mg from BB (Originally Posted: 03/12/2018)
I just received an offer from a large UK-based bank for an Associate Level position within their Risk Dpt. The team supports the bank's lending group within a specific sector. I have a MSF from a non-target and one year of financial regulatory experience from a federal position (US). The role is based in NYC. They offered $80k base. I am wondering if I have justification to counter for a higher compensation.
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