Should I accept this offer for 2021 SA?

Recently received an offer from KeyBanc Capital Markets in their TMT group. Want to know if it's worth it to accept this offer or should I wait out more firms to open up? I'm from a non-target background but have networked extensively at some top banks and am hopeful. Is it worth to turn down an offer just to take a chance on getting another offer?

My biggest concern is the fact that PE recruiting is very weak from KeyBanc and it also doesn't hold the same level of brand name/prestige as some other firms. Thoughts?

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what are you specifically looking for here? it’s all about risk tolerance.

you’re recruiting for internships during a global pandemic/recession...not to mention the fact that you attend a non-target school, and are trying to get a job in a prestige-driven industry.

roll the dice if you want...but if I were you, I would take the internship, be grateful, and grind to earn a full-time seat.

in the words of an MD from my school that I networked with significantly: “whether it’s here or elsewhere, take a seat wherever you can get one.”

 

bro you only have a few shots in IB recruiting. Accept the offer and apply to other banks using the KeyBanc offer as leverage. You'll renege and burn some bridges if you leave them for a more prestigious bank, but honestly who cares?

 

Tips for Reneging:

1) Email AND call to tell the bank if/when you renege, nobody likes a coward. Also be extremely respectful and apologetic no matter how pissed they get at you.

2) Now this is important, do NOT tell the bank you're reneging on where you're going, they'll ask but just say you're not ready to say yet or some shit, also do NOT update your Linkedin to "incoming ib SA..." if you do this lol

If you follow both of these steps, the worse that could happen is that you get barred from ocr, but it really shouldn't come around to bite you in the ass otherwise. Additionally, another benefit people don't mention in reneging is that you'll now be able to focus your full efforts on networking for banks that are strictly better than your current offer, saving lots of time and stress.

 

Bro, take the offer - this is not even a debate. The economy is not doing great right now and you have an offer that many Americans would dream of. Yes, you might always wonder if you could have received an offer from a BB; however, this feeling is much better than if you walk out of the summer with no offer because you got greedy.

 

No, dude, seriously. For a bunch of smart guys on this forum who are good at weighing up risk v reward, people are too scared of some omniscient power that banks have to fuck those who renege.

Like, yeah, don't rescind JPM for GS. But KeyBanc in Columbus for a bank in NY?? Totally doable and you're being paranoid for believing otherwise.

 

Depends on what you want. I really care about prestige and what other people think of me, but also wouldnt want to end up without an offer, so I would accept then keep recruiting. If you just want an IB role and don't care about what friends/classmates think about brand name, then just accept and be done with recruiting. I would not reject the offer then keep recruiting, imo thats the riskiest option

 

See if you can drag out the KeyBanc offer as long as possible. Usually you get ~2 weeks, but often banks will be understanding if you ask for more time. Worst case they say no and then you need to make a tough decision, but hopefully you can squeeze another week or two out of them. Then you need to frantically start networking at any bank you'd rather end up at before that offer expires. Talk to your contacts, explain that you have an offer that expires on a specific day and, while you would much rather prefer bank x to KeyBanc, you really don't feel comfortable turning down their offer without another offer in their pocket. If your contacts like you, they might be able to speed up your recruiting timeline. If they don't like you enough to even try to speed up the timeline, then you probably don't have a decent shot at the job anyway and take the current offer.

 

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