I applied to a FT M&A role in a niche industry at a T1 BB some months ago. Build great connections with the interviewers but unfortunately came in 2nd because they decided to take someone who already had FT experience in that industry.
However, the senior banker seemed impressed and apparently reached out to other teams on his own as I received a surprised phone call from a senior in DCM, asking whether I was interested in working in DCM, which then turned into a 45 minutes interview.
Within days I was invited back for another round of 7 interviews, spread across 2 days. I interviewed mostly with heads of certain teams. All interviews went extremely well. Some senior interviewers even gave me feedback midway through the interview, saying they were impressed with my markets/industry knowledge and would give their approval.
The day after, I got an email to schedule another phone call (read: not interview) again with the senior DCM banker that had originally contacted me out of the blue. While the invite didn't say 'interview' it nevertheless turned out to be one. I was mostly questioned about my motivation for working in DCM vs. M&A but I also got technicals thrown at me, which I think I handled well given that I've never done DCM, never covered that industry, and never worked full time. This is not to say that this interview didn't caught me off guard, which it did, and my motivational answers could have been more thought out, but I still said the right things. The senior banker then gave a description of the role and what I would be doing for the first few months (names of people I would work with and from whom I would learn) and when I could start. The interview ended with "you'll hear from us soon." That was 2 days ago. Also, the role wasn't advertised anywhere online.
I don't get it. All interviews went really great and I was able to show more relevant knowledge than could be expected given my prior M&A experience.
Should I follow up on Monday or write it off?
Two days? I thought you were gonna say it's been two months.
Sounds like you probably have the job. But if you don't hear, I'd wait until a week from Monday to contact them.10 days is reasonable amount to wait before contacting them again.
Other opinions from more experienced bankers?
You have the best answer already. Wait 1-2 weeks and chil out.
FWIW I had an interview Thursday and received the offer early the following week. Hope this extra data point helps.
Chase a check, never chase a bitch.
Give them till week’s end. HR is pretty slow-moving.
You probably have the job and they need HR authorization.
That said any process conducted like this with multiple random, unscheduled technical phone calls, and 7 additional interviews, would be a huge red flag for me as someone who has worked with this type of senior and team.
Update:
One of the Heads I interviewed with called me yesterday to extend me an offer; also received congratulatory emails from some other team members. However, I had to go through another interview, this time with HR, which was today. They said I'd be given a verbal offer around Friday and the offer in writing by the end of next week at the earliest.
Is this normal? Head extends offer, HR says verbal offer is incoming, soon. I know that things are only set in stone once it's done in writing. Perhaps I'm a little paranoid here.
Sounds like there's just an internal process to go through and you should give it some time. My lateral timeline, from verbal offer to receiving the written one from HR took about 1 week and a half. Congrats on making it to the end - just wait it out until Friday and head into the weekend feeling like a million bucks once you get that call!
I'm just being a little anxious to be honest. I have some reports where applicants were hung out to dry despite having received verbal offers, only to get rejected at the end
time to celebrate!
Hearing later than 1-1.5 weeks is usually a bad sign but trust your gut
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