Renege on MM for BB
Recently accepted an offer with an MM out of NYC that I’m excited about. Great team, great MD, but the exits and pay are worse than many of its peers. Also have an offer from a mid-tier BB that pays better but my life would be much worse there (better exits but very sweaty).
Would you renege on this ft offer for a mid-tier BB? Really don’t like the idea of burning this bridge to start my career, even if its a better offer from a career standpoint. Would you take a great team over the prestige of a more elite firm?
How much worse is the pay? At this point, the risk might be too high. Finance is a small world brotha
20-35k difference in bonus depending on Bucket, but base is the same. Personally I really hate the idea of reneging, but wanted to see what others in the industry would do.
If you look at the Pros & Cons of reneging (not exhaustive):
I'm risk averse - I wouldn't do this. Plus, my two cents is that if you're gonna live and breathe work (which is what IB is), it's better to do that in a team culture you actually somewhat like and don't actively despise. This is nobody's decision except yours, but my advice is stick with what you have, it's not bad.
I think the most important thing you should factor in is burnout. Yea 20-35k difference at this stage feels huge but over the long run you will make more as a VP at an MM than a burnt out AN3 that rage-quits his job.
I obviously don't expect you to be there until VP but remember the tortoise beats the hare in many instances like these
Totally get this. The firm i accepted the offer at has a lot of internal promotes, and while some analysts do leave, the group I recruited for has high retention. Think that’ll be better long-term too
Might be playing devil's advocate here, but I'd strongly disagree with the opinions voiced above. I was in a similar situation a couple years ago, when I accepted an offer at a MM bank, but was offered superdays at multiple mid-BB banks (ie BofA, CS). Biggest regret was not taking these superdays - there's a huge difference between the actual type of work you do (ie. live deals vs. pitching) as well as the way you're perceived not just by your peers, but by HHs. Totally understand that the BB team is going to be tougher, and much more intense. Think it's important to consider the degree to which you value exit opportunities / long term earnings potential, and I think on an expected value level, the BB will yield higher returns. Obviously in the large number of potential outcomes, there are some in which the MM will be better in the long term, but on an expected value basis, I'd go with the BB.
If your goal is to MF PE, I think it's an uphill battle doing it from CS / BofA average groups (ie. tech, consumer, etc.), let alone a MM bank. I played the same risk aversion game, but realized very quickly that it was the wrong move. You're not going to lose both offers - you'll just lose the MM one. Renege the MM one only after you've completed the background check and done everything you need to do on the end of joining the BB.
You're right in thinking it's not necessarily the most moral thing to do, and you're right that you're be burning your bridges at the MM. Two counterarguments to this - if you died tomorrow, your bank would have an online posting the next day, and maybe just maybe send out an email to the team expressing their "deepest condolences". To the second point, as an analyst, you are the most dispensable part of the business; there are hundreds of applicants for each analyst. It's very easy for them to replace you. Just don't expect to ever work for that MM bank ever again.
Again - totally acknowledge that this is not the moral / ethical thing to do, but genuinely believe it's in your best interest to renege. Trying to offer some advice based off of what I went through, and the mistake I made in a very similar situation now. Ultimately your call at the end - just wanted to offer a different perspective. Good luck!
Definitely appreciate this perspective and your POV given your experience with a similar situation. Certainly have a big decision to make, so thank you for offering the other side of the argument.
Have you wanted to lateral from the firm you’re currently at, and have you found the difficult given less experience with live deals than your BB peers?
I guess I see the obvious answer here is to stick with the MM and see if you want to lateral to a BB. If it's a reputable MM you should have very little problem doing so. This reduces all risk and gives you the chance to see if you will even care a year from now.
Burning a bridge (beyond the ethics) could really be dicey in the small community of IB. Imagine the worst-case scenario and ask yourself if you're really comfortable with the non-zero chance of that happening.
Same analyst as before. Transitioned to a top BB shortly afterwards. Want to reiterate, definitely not necessarily ethical, but just realize that it's a very common thing and even though people at the MM bank take it personally, it's highly unlikely they'll do anything to screw you over. Not worth an MD's reputation to try to mess with some first year analyst.
I think the world is a lot smaller when you look within the same region, the same status of bank, and the same coverage, but highly unlikely that say reneging Cantor Fitzgerald TMT (for example) to Barclays Industrials have any negative impact on your long-term career in finance. Moving from say JPM Industrials NY to MS Industrials NY, however, would likely ruffle a lot more feathers and you're pretty likely to run into the same people again down the line. Also FWIW, I think it might worse for banks to have some lateral halfway through the year - from what I've heard from people who left, it's a tough conversation to have, since the analyst contract is like a handshake agreement. Much worse for the bank if they train you, get up to speed on how to do things, and then have you leave as opposed to just have to rehire from the beginning. Much less opportunity cost in the former situation. Just my 2c
I didn’t read those above walls of text because the answer is yes. Simply do what is best for you. Nobody gaf about some first year analyst leaving and you’re not burning any bridges because they won’t be there to begin with if you never actually work there. In 10 years if you’re a pe vp that bank you reneged on will still send MDs to lick your toes for business.
whatever you do, I wouldn't base your decision on feeling guilty about reneging. your bank does not care about you, and you should have no loyalty to them. once you work in banking for a bit you'll see how everything these banks do to look good is virtue signaling bullshit. at the end of the day they will do whatever is best for their bottom line and you should do the same for yourself
Doesn't seem like OP is reluctant to renege bc he'd feel guilty; my sense is he fears reneging bc it might damage his career -- either now if he blows both offers, or bc it might later come back to bite him in butt.
Something that hasn’t been voiced yet - in many instances, reneging has hurt the school’s relationship with the bank, especially if it is a target for that firm. Not that it should be the basis for your decision but definitely worth considering.
I would go for the BB
Given that the offers and acceptances are "at will" (terminable at any time, for any reason), why do some consider reneging unethical? How is this different than terminating shortly after starting work?
Take the MM. Lateral after 9 months to an even better BB if you hate the MM experience. This is the only right answer.
Wouldn't it be better, for BOTH the MM and the OP, for the OP to go straight to the BB? The MM will be training and investing in the OP, and losing OP to a BB after 9-months of training seems worse to the MM than losing OP before the OP begins work at the MM. Also worse for the OP, as the OP will have to spend time trying to network and recruit to a BB (presumably a different BB) from scratch.
dont want to steal the thread but currently have two offers to decide as well: strong MM vs. mid-tier BB niche group (Citi/CS/BOA FIG/Regal) groups. Assume end goal is PE exit, which would you recommend?
Ut adipisci et adipisci cum consequatur voluptatem. Velit vel veritatis nostrum fugit nulla voluptatem perspiciatis aliquid.
See All Comments - 100% Free
WSO depends on everyone being able to pitch in when they know something. Unlock with your email and get bonus: 6 financial modeling lessons free ($199 value)
or Unlock with your social account...