Getting S&T FT at different bank?

Hi there everyone.

I am interested in breaking into S&T (particularly structured credit/HY credit/distressed debt, etc). I am a rising college senior and currently interning at a French bank in NYC. One of my rotations for the internship is syndicate (mostly ABS/CLO) and the other is not very relevant to my interests. I've interacted with the S&T team a good amount at my current firm. I'm not confident I want to stay at this company if I received a return offer just due to culture, and I would prefer an S&T role as opposed to syndication. However, I feel like having worked in syndication and familiarized myself with the credit world a bit I have something to point to. So, I guess I have a few questions I wanted people's input on. 

How often do banks hire externally (not from SA pool) for S&T FT analyst roles?

What would be the best way to pursue obtaining an FT S&T role at another bank?

Would it be dumb of me to not accept a return offer? I am relatively clueless on how the process works (what team I would be assigned to FT, how long I have to decide, how binding it is, etc). 

I go to a small LAC but we have a fair amount of alumni in S&T roles so should be able to make connections there. Any and all help is appreciated. For reference, interns are making 85k prorated, which I guess is probably the S&T base as well. Not sure what bonuses normally look like. Thanks.