Asking for a cold offer at the end of the summer?

Hey WSO,

I was part of a summer analyst class of 15 kids, in which only 2 of us were extended offers. Apparently, a lot of the decision was due to "budget cuts"; having talked to the other analysts, that was the reason cited for the lack of return offers and not actually quality of work. Feeling a little burned and going into the FT recruiting cycle where firms are inevitably going to ask why I didn't receive a return offer, is it okay to ask the firm that rejected me for a "cold offer" (like for summer associates in law)? I feel as though the lack of return offer was not a reflection of my work or effort, and I don't want firms I'm recruiting for to construe it as such. When they ask, is okay to say "Yes i received a return offer but turned it down due to....", or do I have to go back my summer firm and ask for permission to do this? I'm also wondering if firms confirm these sort of facts with each other, especially if they are competitors. Advice?

6 Comments
 

Don’t lie and say you turned down an offer when that’s not what happened at all.

"If you always put limits on everything you do, physical or anything else, it will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them." - Bruce Lee
 

what should i say after my bank ghosted me? pretty sure they already gave kids who they want back a return offer but haven't heard anything since i left. too scared to ask at this point... 

 
Most Helpful

I did an off-cycle during the spring and did not get an offer. I got great reviews but they had simply hired A LOT of interns from SA 2022 and off-cycles during the fall. Now deal flow suddenly died out and they had a lot of full-times joining in the summer. I would tell the truth. It is no secret that deal flow is bad and it is no secret that a lot of banks overhired. Tell them that you got great reviews and are happy to back that up with references, but you did not receive an offer as the bank had overhired. 

 

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