No return offer success stories
For those of you who didn't get any return offers, where did you ultimately end up for FT? And how did you manage to do it?
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Interned at Mizuho/HSBC/SMBC/DC Advisory in a US office last summer. Full-time recruited into an EB (US office as well).
How I did it? Cried for a couple of hours after getting the news, stuffed my face with food, then took a few days to rest and talk to friends and family. I was pretty disheartened and shocked because I worked most weekends and got strong feedback but everything happens for a reason, right? Anyway, the week after, I started reaching out to my network (people I chatted with before, friends/alumni at other banks) and asked if they were hiring for FT. I also started applying to every single finance job out there. I knew I wanted to be in this industry so I didn't look outside finance, but I also applied to non-IB roles (PE, ER, PWM) to cast a wide net. Got interviews and ended up with an EB offer and a BB offer in March/April. Signed with the EB.
When I got my FT offers, I cried (lol) because I was so close to giving up. Graduation was 2-3 months away and I was the only one in my friend group without a FT job lined up.
To anyone in the same position who's reading this, don't give up. Cast a wide net, do mock interviews, and craft an honest but succinct answer to "Why didn't you get a return offer?" Also, there's no such thing as firm loyalty. If you can get an SA/FT offer at a more stable firm with a strong outlook, take that offer, even if you have to renege on a prior commitment. Good luck!
What was your story on not getting the offer?
Group was struggling to generate fees, had 3 interns and but only 1 FT spot.
In my interviews, I emphasized that I still got strong feedback, learned a lot, and was more sure than ever that I wanted to start my career in finance. On top of that, people (at least the ones that interviewed me) were pretty understanding because it was the height of the pandemic and many firms had historically low return offer rates.
Were you in a US office during your internship?
US
I recently got an offer from one of the banks you mentioned. I wonder if we could chat more about your situation back then. Thanks!
Would you mind PMing me?
Different industry but I didn't get a return offer from my summer internship during my MBA. I didn't want to go back anyway but the thought of having to explain it away was frustrating and I was sick of recruiting. Anyway, after chilling the rest of the summer until school started, I hit the pavement and doubled the size of my professional network, had a ton of informational and actual interviews, applied to everything on the school job board. Eventually one hit, one of my classmates interned there so I had a connection already (and she spoke highly of me, it helps to be friends with your peers, you never know when they'll be able to help professionally. (And it's not like I wasn't going to be friends with her, she's super chill, but you get the point)). Covid fucked up the timeline of when I actually started, but I got that offer in early March 2020, so like 3-4 months before graduation.
I know my situation is very different from someone coming out of undergrad recruiting for IB, but the fundamentals are the same. Network your ass off, talk to everyone you can, and spread your resume around.
All in all, it's a mixture of luck and hard work but the whole process of applying for jobs is an horrible experience in itself. Keep your head up and enjoy the downtime as much as you can.
bump just got fucked over I wanna hear success stories :(
Sorry to hear that :( Best wishes and keep your head up. We cant FT recruit together lolol
Some of you who dont get an offer back need to be honest w/ yourself on if this is really a path that you want to pursue (e.g. you're interested and want to do it, not bc of exit ops, etc, etc.) bc while there are kids who don't get offers due to group specific situations (e.g. pandemic), there are also a lot of people who don't get an offer bc they're not that good at the job.
Would really urge people to think hard before they end up in this square peg round hole situation.
Ouch
He speaks truth tho
This is such BS. There are plenty of reasons why people don’t get return offers but it absolutely does not mean that they can’t do the job. At the end of the day, it’s a great experience to have on your resume and sets you up to recruit for FT - plenty of people have done this. Is it tougher? Yes, but it’s not all doom and gloom.
I said some not all.
…But having been in the room for some of these no offer discussions, there are definetely people who don’t belong in Investment Banking (and maybe finance in general), and that’s perfectly fine. Point of an internship is to try something to see if you like it - if it’s not a good fit, go for something else. Life is too short.
Even if you're not "good" at the job as an intern doesn't mean you wouldn't grow into the job/skills if given more time.
I would discourage 20 year old kids from giving up on a long term goal just because things might not have worked out perfectly on one assignment/for six weeks.
Lol bump. Interned at a place that historically didn’t convert interns into ft hires tho so I’m not shocked. Life goes on, we got this kings/queens
Bump
Interned at a BB back-office in bangalore. Absolutely hated it, was like working in a call center.
After a bit of a winding path, I'm in a front office India Coverage role at a US BB, making 4X of what I'd make if I'd gotten the offer.
Chin up fellas.
how did you get there? Very interested in your story.
Didn’t get a return offer from a Lower mid market shop despite excellent feedback.
Was kind of shook because I killed it for the firm but for some reason I didntdwell on it or get scared. I guess I had anyways planned on re recruiting for FT bc those guys sucked but now I had extra motivation.
Day I find out I didn’t get a return I sent out a shit ton of cold emails to alumni and anyone that might help. Basically back to the Internship recruiting grind nothing different. Surprisingly I got way more pull this time around because I had banking experience on my resume. Being soneone who doesnt have a return offer might feel lonely but on the flip side, there’s so few of you that youre very much in demand for firms looking to expand their FT class past their interns. All you have to do is network until you find a firm recruiting.
I got 2 superdays from firms exceptionally better than the shop I interned at and ended up starting full time at one. Got my offer in September senior year so I still had all of senior year to relax knowing I have a job. Its just a month extra of hard work but it’s well worth it.
No return offer from a boutique. Culture was terrible there anyway and got into a BB with a lot of interviews for other banks as well
How did you answer the why no return offer question?
And congrats!
No return offer from Citi but luckily got a FT offer from another BB (RBC)
LOL
Not me, but back when I was an analyst at a BB we didn’t give an offer to this kid and felt bad about it because it was very borderline. Ended up working for a MM bank, getting a MM PE offer, got promoted to VP and lateraled to a very high profile UMM firm and appears to be absolutely crushing it these days
Did not get MBA Summer return offer at top-3 BB (overworked - 100-110+ hour weeks and couldn't handle it, 1 spot for a few of us)
Re-recruited down market and value WLB
Moved around a couple times and have found good balance at a good firm (overpaid $/hr wise)
Director level now - network, network, network and chat with recruiters, let's you constantly work on story and get a feel for where market is going
Longer term, but I know of one large-cap global investing head who did not receive one when he was starting out
The co-founder of diameter didn’t get a return offer at MS. Ended up at Citi. And now runs a pretty well established credit fund.
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