Signing bonus lower than industry average

I recently received a full time offer at a BB for an investment banking role, but I noticed the signing bonus on the offer letter was only $5k. When I asked HR about this, they said only returning interns are eligible for the full $10k signing bonus, and since I was a FT hire, I was only getting $5k.

Is this normal in the industry? Should I attempt to negotiate with HR or speak to my team about getting the full $10k? I feel like they're only doing this because it's so late in the process and assume I don't have any other offers.

9 Comments
 

I'm not sure I agree with people telling you not to negotiate. $3,000 (after-tax) is $3,000, regardless of how much you're going to make.

I wouldn't make a fuss about it, but I'd definitely raise it in a polite way e.g. "Hey - I had been speaking to friends at other firms and noticed the norm on signing bonuses is generally $10,000 even for those that didn't intern there, is there any possibility you guys would be able to do similar?"

Let's be real - it's HR. They're not going to be like "NO! You greedy bastard! Offer revoked!!" and most likely they'll just say "Sorry, we can't" and move on, but it doesn't hurt to try.

 

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