24 Hour Exploding Offer -_-

24 hour exploding offer is tough. Kinda BS in my opinion but it is what it is.

How low is low?

60K

take it

60k is stupid low? kids....

not 60k?

is this BB a bulge bracket, or a Best Buy?

I wish it was 60k

Try to negotiate the price. If they need you immediately, then maybe they will bend. I don't think it's unreasonable to expect pay on par with other BB analyst. Maybe ask why it's lower as you were under the impression the pay at the firm is pretty standard at your level across all offices.

However, also consider that a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. An offer paying below street is still more than a phone interview that pays nothing. And take the cost of living into account. I was looking at a potential position in NYC and calculated that they would have to pay me more than I think the position is allotted if I wanted to keep the same standard of living as I have now in Atlanta.

Assuming you get the other offer, you could also renege right before you start or maybe even walk out soon after. I wouldn't necessarily suggest either if they can be avoided, but you have to make that call.

As far as your other questions, they won't necessarily wait for the background check. Often times you will be conditionally hired pending the background check...so if everything pans out then you keep your job, if something comes back wrong, then they can fire you at their discretion. I believe someone here on WSO talked about flat out lying on their resume about their GPA...I'm not talking rounding up a little extra, I mean like serious GPA hike...but he figured that they will either (1) never actually check, so he won't get caught, or (2) check, but it will take so long he would have gone through training and be doing a good job and thus, much less likely to fire him and try to find a replacement. Honestly, I don't know if the story is actually true or not.

If I was in your shoes, and assuming you wouldn't mind working there, I would ask that they move the salary up to street level and see what they say. I can't imagine $20k is going to break the bank for them, but if it does and they remove the offer then you just better hope the other opportunity works out.

Regards

60k is decent, but since you don't want the offer badly, I am assuming its somewhere in the range of 35k, which is pretty bad.

What is the job? Did you just graduate?

Also wondering how low is low

either take it or give it to me, being unemployed blows. bye

Is it actually a Bulge Bracket Investment Banking Analyst role? Cannot possibly be lower than 60k unless it is a totally different role.

It's not IBD, it's also not OPs

Fresh graduate.

Frankly, I'd say take it. It is better than nothing, by far. Also you can look for a job once you have a job, that hasn't been made illegal yet.

dude, if u want some help, u need to give us all the info. whats up with this low but i won't tell u how low and not ibd and not ops bullshit.

If they are desperate AND low-balling you, I think your best bet is to stand firm. Tell them you really appreciate the offer but you simply can't move that quickly at that amount. If they really want you and really are desperate they will bump up the offer, if they don't... Why accept an offer you won't be happy with?

I recently went through an interview process (although I already have a job so my situation is a little different) and went through almost 2 months of interviews. I knew the bottom amount I was willing to accept for the position and when they came back with an offer it was below my number. I told them so and they were not willing to move on the offer. It was tough (because the offer was still more than I'm making now) but I turned it down. And now... I am SO glad I did. For 2 days after I wrestled with it thinking maybe I screwed up, but now 3 weeks later, I am interviewing with one of the main competitors of the firm I turned down.

You have to figure out what you are willing to work for and if they won't give it to you turn it down. REALLY simple math... REALLY tough to do in reality. But trust me you don't want to take anything where you are going to regret it the entire time you work there...

Is it a major metropolitan area? If so, what is the cost of living?

Don't take it. 30k usd in china, sure. But this is the land of the free and home of the brave, so fuck off with that 30k offer. even ops pay more than that even in nashville. u can do better

im about to blow your mind with great advice. take the offer (potentially try to get more $$$). also take the phone interview. if you get the second job then leave or renege. if not, then at least you have a job.

30k? wtf?

do not take this job.

30k wont cut it. Ask to be paid in gold because you are afriad of the dollar's inevitable collapse

I wouldn't take 30k. Decline it if they won't budge on the number

Not sure how a company can expect you to be motivated and bust your ass for 30k.

Just take it and continue searching.

Try to negotiate but take the offer.

That said, continue to network and interview like a mofo (don't tell the financial analyst program that you have accepted another offer) and accept any better job that comes along, even if it is only one month later.

If they gave you a crap offer they clearly don't value you, so you should not show them an ounce of loyalty.

I think you base it on your personal circumstance. Do you absolutely need a paycheck asap? If so, accept the role and then continue looking. I wouldn't have a problem bailing from a firm that paid that low because it shows they already lack a certain amount of credibility. If you don't need the paycheck asap, then keep looking since you can likely do better. Just don't accept and get complacent, some people do that and it gets very hard for them to get out. I doubt you'd do that but I've seen it happen before

Would be my luck,

There's no possible way to expedite the interview process at firm #2, the recruiter will be conducting more first rounds all day tomorrow then going on vacation next week, completely cutting off contact.

The earliest I can even hear from them is the 18th, and from there it'll be even more tricky scheduling the next round as the analysts from diff groups need to be scheduled to meet as well.

A firm like that deserves to be bailed on. Unless you are working 20 hours a week. Screw them. I would be more than happy to reneg on a company like this. I would accept the offer, so you can atleast get some income. Do the other interview. If you get it, then just be like to HR that you just can't work on 30k.

It seems like your best bet is to try to negotiate some more money with your current offer, start the job if necessary and then bail if you can score the other gig. I'm typically not the type of person to just cut and run, but with such a low salary, they know that is what they are potentially facing.

Cliff notes: Verbally accept, attempt to negotiate a high salary, accept no matter what and then interview, job search, network and gain experience while collecting your check.

Regards

Do you know what your colleagues are making?

Im guessing the other program you will be interviewing for is the energy analyst slot at WF?

I know the HR dude over here just did first rounds today - and is going on vacation immediately after.

If the other analyst program you are talking about is for WF - you have a decent shot at getting the job since there will be 3 analysts hired (and most of the candidates have historically not been very good)

Why would a BB pay 30k for any position? Even the administrative staff make over 30k, I think OP is getting low-balled

I've never heard of a firm making an offer that low. I was in a similar position not too long ago. I had an offer from a firm that was lower than I expected and they made me accept within 2-3 days. I tried to negotiate and they wouldn't budge so I ended up taking the offer anyway (verbal, never signed any papers -- not that it really matters). I continued to keep looking and ended up with an offer that was a way better fit and paid a lot more and I am as happy as ever.

I know it isn't ideal but I would accept, keep looking, and renege later.

Will,

I was in the same situation as you to an extent. I could have gone to a BB IB analyst role making good money or buy-side VC that paid me 50% of the IB role. I talked to multiple MD's and friends and this was some of the most valuable feedback I got from one of them:

VP at a $2 Billion+ <abbr title=middle market>MM</abbr> <abbr title=private equity>PE</abbr> shop:

My view for the first 10 yrs of my career was 100% focus on maintaining as steep a learning curve as possible w/comp being relatively low on priority list. I cared about quality and diversity of work from a functional and industry standpoint, culture/people, international exposure and enough comp to pay for rent and weekends out w/friends.. I believe comp will take care of itself over time if you build the right skills and resume.

I took the VC job and haven't looked back as I know I'm setting myself apart with each job I take out of college. Some guys here may strongly disagree with me but if you can live ok and the 'exploding offer' is for a job where you'll really learn what you want to do then maybe you should take it.

Oh and one more thing - a week after I singed to offer for the VC I got interviews with a high probability at a MM PE shop paying comparable to IB analysts. However, it's my opinion to never reneg on my word once I've committed so I stayed with the VC.

Just my 2 cents.

i say bang the chick that winked at you brah

Negotiate the offer and blow them off if they don't budge. You can make 30k busting your ass at McD's. There are plenty of 30k jobs available, so don't hit the bid. Make the right move not a desperate move.

Newspaper article just in:

Open Job At Boston Law Firm Pays Just $10,000 Per Year

http://boston.cbslocal.com/2012/06/04/open-job-at-boston-law-firm-pays-…

Maybe OP should just take it?

30K? I'm pretty sure they are paying the janitor more than that for less hours.

The average salary for someone with an associates degree is ~35k.

They are absolutely aware how much they are face f'ng you- Low ball offer, take it or leave approach. That is a mickey mouse operation that has no concern about your growth or well being.

Take the offer and reneg it with the 'quickness'. Hell, go to the job, do '30k' worth of work and look for another job in the process...

I'm guessing you're talking about Denver, or possibly the Goldman offiice in Salt Lake City.

Either way, $30 is pretty much a sick joke. You're being taken advantage of if you accept that--but, on the other hand, in this job market, someone WILL take that job at that salary. Sure, they may be less qualified, but it's hard for me to believe a firm offering that salary will actually train you a decent amount (as opposed to being the go-to coffee run guy). I wouldn't take it if they weren't willing to renegotiate, just me though.

I would like to know what BB this is. This is just disappointing.

I would try to negotiate, and if they don't offer a reasonable salary then focus your efforts elsewhere. No use jumping into a role you're not satisfied with from the start only to leave a short time later - unlikely that any good will come from that kind of scenario.

You said the role was "invest consulting"? I'm assuming that this is an investment consulting position in which you would serve as an investment analyst most likely analyzing various investments offered through a multitude of defined contribution and defined benefit platform channels. As far as BBs go, there aren't too many that actually have DC/DB platforms so I would hazard a guess that the role is with BAML, JPM, or MSSB.

The reality is that these roles typically don't pay all that much. While $30k is very low, it's probably not too far from the median pay level for entry level in the investment consulting industry. If you're actually interested in investment consulting I would look at some of the "other", read better, firms out there like Mercer, Cambridge, AoN Hewitt, Towers Watson, etc...

The money is obviously less than desirable, but it beats having a gap on your resume.

30k is insulting.

With such a low base, it's clear they don't give a damn about you and just want a grunt to do some extra temporary work.

If you really need a paycheck, then think about accepting the job to at least make about $400/week after tax, but working full-time will make it difficult to interviews for other jobs. What is more valuable than money at this point with this offer is to negotiate a 4 day work week so at least you have a business day/week to interview. Otherwise, you will be stuck making $400/week for a while.

It's fairly abhorrent for a for-profit financial or consulting company to pay this low, but his is the economy we are in. Think about it carefully and negotiate time and do not feel bad about leaving in a few weeks. However, be aware that if you do leave in a few weeks, you will probably not easily get paid for those few weeks without pursuing legal action.

They were willing to do 35 but I still wanted more. He tried to sell me hard on 35 but I just couldn't do it. He said he's going to talk with the group

Even if they do bump me up, my view of the branch has changed and probably won't be happy there. So we'll see what happens. The other jobs im in the interview process with aren't in the same city and would require taking an entire day off. Not sure how feasible that is being a new hire.

offer to work at 50 and give them 24 hours to accept