Take Exploding Offer, or Decline & Go for OCR?

Junior at a target. I have an exploding IBD offer with a BB (think CS/BAML/BarCap) in the NY office. Not my top choice, but would still be happy there. I'm interested in specific industry groups, and this BB is not tops for any of them. People are great, though, which makes me hesitant to decline. That, and there's no guarantee I will nail an offer with another bank... you never know what could happen in interviewing...

Is there a point to rolling the dice and allowing the offer to expire, so I can go for the other BB's that I'm more interested in? What would you guys do?

25 Comments
 

A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. The job climate is too tough right now for you to let a BB offer expire to try to get something "better". Take the offer and laugh at your friends as they prepare for interviews in January.

MM IB -> Corporate Development -> Strategic Finance
 

BAML definitely not on the same level as CS or BarCap. Btw Barclays has the best NatRes group on the street. So, thats one of their top groups. You should just take the offer. Is this for diversity recruiting? Or study abroad? Cuz honestly if I were in your shoes I would just take it.

 

Take it and don't look back. As someone who went through FT recruiting this year, it is very brutal out there. Prob gonna be worse for SA.

Again, take it. Crush it during summer, and maybe you can lateral once FT comes around next year.

 

Congrats, absolutely take it. I wouldn't keep interviewing either. Reneging on any of those banks for a GS or a JPM is just silly. You could lateral later on if you really want to, but all those banks send guys to megafunds every year. You should be stoked.

 
JustADudewhat specific groups are you interested in?

Also BAML is not a tier below CS/BarCap. Outside the top 3, you have to look at the strength of specific groups

This. People saying BAML are below CS and Barclays... u wot m8? And take the offer, it is gauranteed. Others are not.

Frank Sinatra - "Alcohol may be man's worst enemy, but the bible says love your enemy."
 

If you are truly at a target, you should have negotiating power over the firm, some type of offer deadline where you can hold out until. If that is true, there is no reason to accept early.

 
hforbustIf you are truly at a target, you should have negotiating power over the firm, some type of offer deadline where you can hold out until. If that is true, there is no reason to accept early.

Speaking from experience, you really don't. Your career center will tell you to go them if you get an exploding offer that doesn't match campus policies, but in reality there's not much they can do it about it other than threaten to kick the company off campus (which a) isn't going to happen, and b) if it did, it's much more the school's loss than the firm's, since it's not like Barclays has a problem attracting talent). And regardless of how that whole scenario is eventually worked out, you'd lose your offer, since BBs don't want interns who play hardball with them before they even sign for a summer.

Asking for an extension for a couple days is fine. Asking for an extra month (assuming your OCR is in January?) isn't going to work, and threatening to go to the career center is going to lose you your offer.

 
triplectz
hforbustIf you are truly at a target, you should have negotiating power over the firm, some type of offer deadline where you can hold out until. If that is true, there is no reason to accept early.

Speaking from experience, you really don't. Your career center will tell you to go them if you get an exploding offer that doesn't match campus policies, but in reality there's not much they can do it about it other than threaten to kick the company off campus (which a) isn't going to happen, and b) if it did, it's much more the school's loss than the firm's, since it's not like Barclays has a problem attracting talent). And regardless of how that whole scenario is eventually worked out, you'd lose your offer, since BBs don't want interns who play hardball with them before they even sign for a summer.

Asking for an extension for a couple days is fine. Asking for an extra month (assuming your OCR is in January?) isn't going to work, and threatening to go to the career center is going to lose you your offer.

There must be different amounts of negotiating power based on the actual target school

 
Best Response
LFMurrayJunior at a target. I have an exploding IBD offer with a BB (think CS/BAML/BarCap) in the NY office. Not my top choice, but would still be happy there. I'm interested in specific industry groups, and this BB is not tops for any of them. People are great, though, which makes me hesitant to decline. That, and there's no guarantee I will nail an offer with another bank... you never know what could happen in interviewing...

Is there a point to rolling the dice and allowing the offer to expire, so I can go for the other BB's that I'm more interested in? What would you guys do?

Take the offer. Being at the top group matters, but look at what you wrote. "..I'd still be happy...people are great". Being around people you like should matter most in this decision. It's not as if you're comparing GS TMT to some no name 5 man shop. Congrats on the offer.

 

It was really hard to land a FT banking job and most kids who had wound up with offers converted their internships. This is junior summer, any of these banks on your résumé would be great. You have the opportunity to convert to a FT offer and will be able to go through accelerated FT recruiting with BBs.

 

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