Should I Renege?

I'm a junior at a small/medium nontarget school who has already signed for SA 2021. I signed for a sales/product role at a top AM. The position is in one of the firm's secondary offices (not NYC or another finance hub). Recently I was offered (off the waitlist) an IB position at a BB in NYC that more aligns with my career interests.

If I stick with the marketing/sales role I would 100% participate in full-time recruiting, where I'd hope to land a FO position similar to the BB SA offer. I really want to take the IB position with the BB, but I'm worried about the consequences of reneging. I'm primarily worried about the BB reneging my offer and according to my school's career center if I renege I will be banned from OCR, Handshake, and all other professional events. Does have any experience reneging a SA position and does anyone have any advice on what I should do? I'd appreciate all the help.

 

Obviously the AM will not be pleased that you reneg on their offer, and I know everyone likes to throw around "finance is a small world", but if having one firm mad at you is the cost of opening the door to a career you're more interested in, I'd say reneg and take the IB offer. Of course make sure you have an offer letter first and crush the internship so you'll get a return offer.

 

If you really want to do IB/PE/Corp Dev down the road take the IB offer, the fact that you're a nontarget makes the decision that much easier. If you have the offer, who cares what the school does. I doubt they even have IB OCR, so it really doesn't matter.  You can spin your story to the AM firm about life things coming up etc..., instead of being direct.

Array
 

Renege. I'd say be careful if you were reneging one bank for another, but since these firms are in different industries, go for it. Also, the value you get from accepting this BB offer is a lot more than the value you'd lose from the career center. If you do well in your SA gig, you won't need the career center anyway. 

"Markets can stay irrational longer than you can stay solvent."
 

Gotcha, that makes sense. The possibility of the BB reneging on you would be higher if you were reneging on a BB, but you're not. Additionally, some banks don't really care if you renege, e.g., JPM (There were a couple of threads last year, and it says on their website subtly). Lastly, there is a smart and stupid way to renege. A stupid way would be to let the AM firm know what firm you're heading to and then making a huge announcement on LinkedIn. The smart way is exactly the opposite - lay low, don't let the AM firm know where you're going, and don't update your LinkedIn until you start at the BB next summer. 

"Markets can stay irrational longer than you can stay solvent."
 

I'd echo the above, but maybe frame with a white lie about covid. Would the AM job require you to relocate? Just say you aren't comfortable with X location due to Y and Z; they will probably know it's bullshit, but at least it's something.

 

I reneged and haven't gotten screwed yet at least. I recommend being candid, your career goals have shifted and you aren't interested in doing a sales-oriented role anymore and would like to move into a more analytical role. It's the truth, it's understandable, but you don't give specifics. Have spoken to former recruiters at megafund PE shops and they said no one really cares if you renege as long as you aren't an ass. They get a call, candidate says they're reneging for another megafund, they say thanks for letting us know and extend an offer to the next person on the list.

 

Hijacking this renege thread. Has anyone had problems reneging going onto sophomore summer. When I talk about problems, I refer to ocr getting mad

 

I just reneged my SA 2021 offer with a top BB (BO position) for a FO IBD position. I think you should do it; just make sure when you make the call to the recruiter (rather than email), be sincere, thank them for all the efforts and resources going into your recruitment process. The recruiter I spoke with was super understanding. Assuming this is not OCR, you should be absolutely fine. 

 

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