Politely turning down offer for firm you want to work for in different division?

I’m a couple years removed from college (east coast, large state school, non-target, Poli Sci degree) and have worked in ops at ML and currently have been selling enterprise software for about 2 years.

I have an offer from MS to work in their PWM division as an analyst at a large field office. However, I want to work in their AM division in NYC and am currently in the interview process for some middle office positions both at MSIM and JPM. How can I go about turning down the offer without being blacklisted?

11 Comments
 

Thank you for weighing in. My big concern is consistent with what I’ve read on these forums - that transitioning from MSWM to MSIM isn’t really feasible and if it is, it’s more than just a year or two. Knowing that, would accepting the offer still be the best move? Or being honest with HR/recruiting about my actual aspirations?

 
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Why would you be blacklisted if you just turn down an offer? Maybe it's different in the US, but in Europe you can still get offers from a BB if you turn down a position in another division/city/country. They can extend the offer to the next preferred candidate. It can only be an issue if you accept the offer and then don't turn up.

That being said, unless you're close to getting an offer from their AM group, and unless you're fairly certain you're going to get an offer there, I would accept this one. I think mobility in middle office/back office roles is easier than front office for PWM to AM. Maybe someone that worked in either team can confirm.

 

Definitely don't plan on accepting and then negging later. I will definitely look into there being a higher degree of mobility in back/middle office roles in just bc what I've seen on here is that the transition from PWM to AM isn't usually a possibility.

 

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