Looking for some advice - Offer on the table from a top-tier MM firm
I have an offer on the table from a top-tier middle market firm in one of their well-respected satellite offices. The offer explodes at the end of this week.
I am in various stages of interviewing with 3 positions in bulge bracket firms. One in a satellite office, the other two in NYC. One of the BB firms I have already gone through first rounds and the other two I will probably go through first rounds with this week once their first year analysts are placed and business needs are assessed. It is unlikely that the last two positions will move quickly enough to give me definitive feedback prior to my offer exploding.
I know this information is vague but purposely so. My goal in 2 years is a respectable PE and afterwards a top 5 B-school. Should I take the offer or, assuming nothing materializes by week's end, roll the dice and try for the BB? The middle market firm in question is relatively reputable in placing analysts in smaller MM PE. If I work at a small MM PE, is it still possible to move to a bigger PE shop post B-school? Thanks in advance for your help.
Believe it or not, I was in exactly the same situation.
I personally felt that if I didn't give myself all the chances to work at a BB firm, I would regret it. I received an exploding offer from a middle-market investment bank, so I rejected it.
I ultimately did get an offer from the BB, but the pressure was intense to succeed. If I didn't get an offer, my arguments at any other interviews henceforth would have been that I'd received offers but felt that they weren't aligned to my immediate-term career objectives.
My advice - roll the dice and take your chances.
Hope this helps.
An additional factor I did not mention is that of timing. Several analysts a year or two above me that I know of successfully made the jump to BB firms. At the time of their hire (6-12 months ago), bank hiring was at an upswing, and open positions needed to be filled immediately. Now, the timing is such that the 2006 analyst classes are just beginning to be distributed to groups full-time and hiring numbers in 2005 assured banks would be fully staffed come the following August.
Whereas the MM firm needs an experienced hire immediately, at the risk of being overstaffed, the BB firms may or may not see an immediate need within the next month or so. Thanks to the poster above for the advice, though.
One question I'd ask to the above poster is, do you think your advice would be different if you hadn't received the BB offer?
In other words, one instance of a person rejecting a MM offer and getting a BB offer, does not mean this is the best atrategy for you. In addition to getting the BB offer, another possible outcome is not having a job a few months down the road. Make sure you are comfortable with this possibility and that you understand its likelihood.
I'm currently an analyst, so no matter what I have a job. I'm just looking to lateral...
I would have been absolutely devastated, of course, hadn't I received the BB offer...but I would have felt that I gave myself every chance, instead of bailing out early with an MM firm.
I was also an Analyst at a Tier 2, so there was no pressure for me to move - but I felt I was stagnating, constantly feeling embarassed, especially at the hot clubs for explaining I was an investment banker, at a Tier 2 bank.
In retrospect was it a good decision?
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