Unhappy with the summer team placement

I've recently received the results of the group placement for my upcoming summer internship and, unfortunately, I got placed into my last preference, a product team I couldn't care less about.

For context, this is at a BB in London.

Obviously I'll give it a chance, but how common is it in London to join an industry team after a summer in a product team?
Will this put me at a significant disadvantage when I'll try to recruit full time at other BBs?

 
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It depends on how your FT process is structured. If you get an offer that's generic (team agnostic), then you'll be able to go through the team selection process again for FT. However, I know some banks give you an offer directly to the team (so you're being hired by your team rather than generally as an FT analyst).From a tactical perspective, you must not give off the vibe that you're unhappy with your team. Give off the perception that you're just as excited about the team you got placed in as you would've been if allocated to your top choice. Meanwhile, do find out what the process for transferring is, but keep it under the radar. If you perform well and don't look like you want to be elsewhere for all of your internship, I think you'll be fine.

 

In my bank, many who had SA roles in product teams converted to coverage after the summer. American BB

 

at least drop the product group - others prob in same situation

 

At my bank (non-American Tier II) it's reasonably well-precedented. Not just between intern and FT, but even a year or more into your career.

The important thing, as another poster commented, is to secure the FT offer regardless. From there, your ability to move teams will depend on your reputation / review (the teams will speak to each other), headcount at your desired team, and any relationships you've been able to make at your desired team. You can and should network - no one expects you to know what you want for a long-term career on day one, so it won't look unusual to be networking.

Worst case, and assuming you do land that FT offer, you should be in a good position with a good story to shop around for grad roles at others banks in your final year.

 

Thanks for the advice, I'll bite the bullet and do my best to secure the return offer. Would it make sense to talk to HR very politely and unpretentiously during the training week before I hit the desk?

 

No !!! Don't do this. During my SA a while back there was a girl who was asking around for moves, the manager confronted her saying that she doesn't seem very interested in finance (many times!) and she didn't get a return. Get the return offer first, THEN see about going elsewhere.

 

I'd tend to agree with the other response to your post here. It doesn't set a good tone, and HR have a fairly strong hand in determining who gets a return offer (this does differ by bank). I'd save it for your exit interview, or at least until far enough into the process where you have a good amount of confidence in getting the return offer.

 

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