No RO and Dark Thoughts
I didn’t get a return offer from my BB/EB this summer and I’m having a really hard time dealing with it.
I spent years trying to get into banking and took on a lot of debt for school because I thought I was working toward something. I finally got the internship I wanted and then didn’t convert it. Right now it feels like I got my shot and blew it.
I’ve gotten to a pretty bad place mentally over this. I’ve had some dark thoughts, I barely want to get out of bed, and I keep thinking about what I should have done differently. Everyone else is going back to school with a job and I’m going back with nothing and a no-return that I now have to explain.
I’m not really looking for “you’re young, it’ll work out.” I genuinely want to know how fucked I am for FT recruiting. When another bank asks whether I got a return, is that basically game over? How much of a red flag is this in practice?
If anyone here didn’t get a return from a BB/EB and still ended up somewhere good, I would really appreciate hearing what happened. Where did you land, how did you explain it, and how much did the no-return actually hurt you?
Right now it feels like I spent the last few years working toward one opportunity, got it, and fucked it up.
You can always figure it out. The window is tight, pick up your head and grind harder than you did.
If you truly want a seat for FT, whether it's a step down to a boutique shop, I guarantee you can get it. Just GTFO of bed and get to it...
Honestly, you're fine. Will you be able to go from a BB/EB IB to MF PE on the "traditional" path? Maybe. Can you go to a MM bank and then go to a PE firm or Corp Dev afterwards? Yes, absolutely. There are hundreds of kids every year that don't have a blue-chip name on their resume for internships and still end up at very reputable firms, so you not ending up at whatever bank you just interned at is literally no big deal. Plan A didn't work out; it happens to most people. You're only in a bad place if you can't come up with a Plan B or C. Maybe you might have to go to a city you weren't planning on, and work on deals that aren't headlines on WSJ, but you aren't necessarily going to be locked out of the industry forever.
Instead of a NYC/SF/LA big-name bank then a MF PE firm, you might go to Chicago, Charlotte, Miami, Nashville, etc. and make as much, if not more adjusting for cost of living, and have a great life. You're too young and have too much promise to think your life is over because you didn't get the exact life you thought you wanted before you're even 25.
I was in the same boat last year - PM me
saw a great post someone did who didn't get RO last year, i'd recommend reading it - goodluck, chin up - we move baby.. this is real life - you'll get fired, you'll get hired - all sorts in your future - small potatoes.. you'll do just fine!
Not getting a RO was the best thing that happened to me in my career - went to a much better platform and location. You can do it!
Can I PM
Life will always throw curveballs like this. Some graduated during the Great Recession and others during Covid years. Right now is another weird time with uncertainty in hiring and while it feels like the end of the world things will always work out for those that grind hard and stay consistent. 5 years from now you can be anywhere you want and look back on this as a small bump in the road.
The truth is, you're not remotely fucked for FT.
All bankers understand that there's a crapshoot element to the SA program. They've all seen it themselves. They remember the guy from their class who should've gotten an offer and didn't. They may have even been that guy. And then through their career they've seen summer classes come and go every year. Everyone knows there's good people who don't get the RO.
In FT recruiting, they're mostly seeing two types of candidates: SAs without ROs, and people who didn't even do an IB internship. You're in the stronger of those two categories.
You probably think you're competing with people who have ROs. Not much. Sure, there's a few of those . . but they're just vacating another seat. Net-net, there are empty seats that can't be filled by those with ROs.
Your odds are decent, and you can upgrade them to very strong if you can get people from your SA bank to vouch for you. The street is a small place, and bankers mostly trust eachother's opinions. If someone is willing to tell FT employers that you did a good job and fell through the cracks, you're in great shape.
All of the interns in my class who didn’t get a return ended up at firms maybe 1-2 “tiers” below ours. If they want to lateral in a year’s time, I’m sure they can end up somewhere even better than here, i.e. where they started. You’re good bro - lock in
You are wasting time on your bed. Go hustle like a fucking dog, you have experience under your belt!
Fight like a warrior to get a Job. If you can pay your bilis it is all that matters, Banking or no Banking, no body cares 2 years out of college,as far you are not a beggar.
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