I acceped two offers (GS vs Centerview), which now to take?

Hey guys, I accepted two offers for the summer at GS and Centerview in NYC. I haven't had the guts to decide yet what bank fits me better. I originally wanted to decide this by February 2020 but due to the Corona outbreak I wanted to make sure first which bank is the more safebet with regards to FT offers. Could you please give me the pros and cons of both firms in NYC?

Thank you very much!

80 Comments
 

I'm from a completely different geography and I would like to know how will the other bank find out if the op declines one offer? just curious to know

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Might well ride it out. At this point likely scenarios - Remote work. Not enough to do. You can intern at both places - Internship gets delayed / canceled or they give you an option to not to do it for whatever reason and you take that - Everything is back to normal in 2 months cause Jared Kushner found cure for Malaria - in which case you are fucked

 

First, that was really stupid. Second, Centerview doesn’t even give exploding offer deadlines, you literally had zero reason to accept the offer until you were 100% certain - so again, dumb move.

The good news is that it’s a small enough class that as soon as you renege this late in the game, it would be easy to find this thread and know who you are and why you reneged. So good job on that one.

 

"Second, Centerview doesn't even give exploding offer deadlines, you literally had zero reason to accept the offer until you were 100% certain - so again, dumb move."

Yeah, this is either a joke or the banks have been changed for the post.

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I respectfully disagree with the attitude of f*** the firms when it comes to accepting two job offers at the same time. It is not right. Ethics is a slippery slope. How could it be ok for one gal accepting marriage proposal from two guys at the same time, @Pussy Galore?!

 

These firms are only looking out for themselves. They don't give a shit about new hires right now. Neither should any of these guys on the other end of the table.

GS hired college kids for their SLC IBD program and canceled it before they even started. I used to work at GS and Citadel so I know the culture well. It's nothing personal, this kid is just looking out for himself just as these firms are doing the same.

 

simple bro just jump on a call with hr from both firms and let them decide

 

This panic might serve to help you because HR and others are most likely scrambling to get things in order to future on-boarding / hiring. If this was me, I would be honest and tell both banks of what I did and hope for the best. Tell them you made a mistake and you wanted to be honest. Honesty goes a long way with people.

 

Mazel tov.
Look, personality fit is a big factor, but hard to know, based on your interviews or what anyone here says, what your group will be like and if you'll be happy. There are no crystal balls. GS is definitely the security play. Once a GS SA, I'm sure many doors will open. That said, if you like the riskier play, or simply like Centerview's MO better and have specific goals within the firm, you are young enough and early enough in your career to take the risk. It's still well enough known name.
I know that you know, in your heart, where you really think you want to go. What's your dream? Name aside, did Centerview really strike you as the place you felt more excited about? I think that's likely what's going on here - you have a slight preference for Centerview, but are scared to not take the gold ring of GS. If you take GS, you can probably get to Centerview or the equivalent long run, but if you take Centerview, GS is probably not going to welcome you back. May be your one shot at GS. But if GS is simply not in your gut (you're accepting more out of guilt), go with your gut! Keep us posted.

 

surprised people are bashing this. i reckon because you probably fucked over some kid at gs / center who would have gotten the offer otherwise. but at the end of the day you should only look after yourself, especially in these trying times.

if its remote, id try to work at both places at the same time. thats a good story.

What concert costs 45 cents? 50 Cent feat. Nickelback.
 

Why? It's silly to accept two offers in the first place, nevertheless to sit on it (when this situation probably arose in August/September) until April.

Also, someone at GS/Centerview has probably seen this thread. Once someone at the bank puts two and two together on why an intern reneged in April(!), it might not end well for OP. This thread should be deleted

Accepting two offers works until it doesn't. But would make a hilarious story

 

There is only one honorable way out of this. Sepuku.
Or rather, see if you can do both, in which case you're not reneging. Some people have been able to do 7.5 week internships in a summer. But that's a very rare situation, and requires a long summer from your school and the banks to be understanding. It's difficult to swing this really. Good luck.

 

Don't know how to react, you might get into trouble. I think you should make a decision ASAP and decline one offer - remember to sound humble and polite and give valid reasons; such as family incident/sickness etc. and secretly take the other offer (but remain as low profile as possible, avoid writing it on linkedin until you get converted to a full-time analyst. in that way, the HR that got declined would be unlikely to find out.

 

Have you ever considered just not saying anything and never showing up to Centerview? I hear that it’s pretty common for people to go into witness protection, so maybe they’ll think you did that. Claim that the government gave you a job at GS, and change your name on your LinkedIn so it all adds up. 60% of the time, it works every time

 

Given M&A activity has all but come to a halt with the current market environment, I’d suggest reaching out to your favorite MD at each bank to invite them to a pitch for your offer selection process. Have the teams at each bank toss together some slides (they must have the capacity these days), including peer bank comps spreading historical return offer rates, average analyst bonuses, hours per week, vacation day utilization rates, meal stipend dollar amounts, and live deals closed per analyst. It would be helpful to also request some precedent buyside placement details, making sure to include frequency of megafund PE exits by firm so you can get a good sense of where to start networking over the course of your internship (never know when on-cycle will kick off these days!). Only then will you have enough info to truly make an informed decision here.

 

On the off chance that this isn’t a troll, here’s some insight the college kids on here don’t have. 1. No MD at a decent bank has time to track down where some kid who reneged ended up and try to talk to someone over there. Also, from the MDs I’ve worked with I know their response to this situation would be something around “Good, I didn’t even really want that kid.” 2. Given the current climate, most banks won’t be too upset about having one less analyst then they planned on.

 

Exactly. The crazy renege stories are way too over hyped on here, and usually doesn't happen. I know JPM on their website explicitly state that they dont care

 

Secretly take both. Don't disclose anything on LinkedIn. I assume this is your junior summer gig, so when you get a FT offer, don't be dumb to accept both (if you get both) again, by then you can come back on WSO ask which one to take.

You might need some accountants or tax lawyers to help you set up your bank account, though, if you are going to get paid by both firms. And this could be a great story to tell if you are trying to attend some MBA programs.

 

IMHO, biggest difference is Centerview is a 3-year program. If you are trying to do 2 years and dip to PE, Goldman is the safer bet.

Also, while I would argue that Centerview is as respected amongst finance circles, Goldman is a globally respected brand. So if you're planning to leave finance in the not-so-distant future, Goldman will have greater stamp value. I don't think this is true is you plan to stay in finance though.

I think the comparison also hinges on which group in GS you would be in. TMT > Centerview. I think the same applies for other top GS groups. A "shittier" group makes Centerview more favorable.

Either way, a great outcome, so congrats!

 

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