Lateral Recruiting - No Return Offer from SA a Problem?

Wanted to pose a question to those who are involved with their banks lateral recruiting efforts or have been through lateral recruiting.

I went to a target school (mid-Ivy), had a high GPA, and interned at top EB but did not get a return. Landed a solid boutique FT where I have gotten good and technical deal experience and performed well. Going through FT recruiting, I got interviews everywhere but the no return offer torpedoed me. Should I be expecting this to be an issue during lateral recruiting? 

I am going in with the assumption that I will need to be as polished as possible but wanted to get an idea of how big of an obstacle I am really facing to get back to a top group.

4 Comments
 

It will definitely come up in interviews and be a bit of a question throughout the process, especially since you now want to leave when you're (presumably) under a year in. Ultimately not something you can control but you just need to have a solid answer about why you didn't get the return, and why you want to leave so quickly.

On the flip side, top groups are wide open for experienced laterals right now so don't think you're the underdog either. Just have your story ready

 

Got it. That is helpful color. Do you have any advice on whether it is best to lean into it (I.e bring it up proactively) and show what you have done to overcome those issues or is it best to quickly cite something like fit and move on. Most of the advice I get is to keep it short and vague and move on but my natural inclination is take ownership and talk about how I rectified the issues I had during the summer. 

 

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