Passed all interviews but being told might not have headcount

Hello,

This is my first post here. Recently, I have gone through all interviews with a BB investment bank in London for an analyst position.

The team was pleased with my performance during the interviews and case study and would like to hire me. However, I was told there is an issue with the headcount in the London office, and they are currently negotiating internally for a headcount.

From the conversation, I understand their team is still busy and needs analysts, but the headcount issue involves negotiation with other teams and HR.

They also inquired about my availability to work in other offices across the globe, and I replied that I am open to all opportunities.

Since it has been almost 3 weeks of waiting without anything guaranteed or confirmed (not even sure if I can get an offer, though the team would like to take me), I would greatly appreciate any insights or suggestions regarding the optimism of the situation or any steps I could take to enhance my prospects. For instance, should I ask for the possibility of an internship or propose a later onboarding date?

I sincerely appreciate your comments and time.

11 Comments
 
Calabi-Yau

Don't wait for them to come back. Continue recruiting and if / when you get an offer get back to them to try and shop it.

Thank you. I have actually pushed them a bit with an offer from another bank and they told me they really couldn't do anything with it. (So I trust it is really because of the internal headcount issue)

I have turned down the other offer in the hope of joining their team.

 

That's rough man. Something similar happened to me twice and there were no offers in the end. But keep in mind it's a company cost issue not a problem with you so definitely keep recruiting as you have been and I'd even try to frame this situation as an 'incoming offer from a BB' to build some competitive tension in other processes

Thank you! It's really hard and cannot imagine how you managed them twice...

 

"limited headcount"
"role filled internally"
"resource allocation changed"

"role was put on hold"

could all be true. Or maybe not.

You never know. Unless you have a trustworthy source on the inside you can ask confidentially, there is not much you can do except interview elsewhere.

While the response given could be an authentic reason, I have seen multiple times where teams just lied to a candidate and gave a "legal line".

 

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