Turn down FT BB offer for MBB recruiting??
Hi all,
Let me preface this by saying how I realize how fortunate I am to be in this situation at all. I know there are scores of kids who would think I'm being a fool for even considering this, especially during COVID, but as this is a big decision I figured it'd be worth asking here.
I recently interned at a "top" BB this summer in a product group. While I liked the people I worked with, I generally found the work less interesting than I had expected and the hours a bit more brutal than expected (staffed on live deals, working 90-110 hours a few weeks). Previously, I had been interested in consulting because I imagine based on my interests that the work would appeal to me slightly more, but had elected to focus my recruiting efforts on IB due to the early deadlines and pervasive groupthink that exists at the school I attend, which could be considered a target for both consulting and IB. To boot, from conversations with people in the industry I gather that the work life balance is generally better (traveling sounds brutal and hours are still tough but weekends sound generally more protected), which I believe I'd value a lot. Also for what it's worth, I believe traveling wouldn't be a huge consideration considering I genuinely love traveling and bumping shoulders with new people.
In short: as someone who cherishes time with family and friends, I really could see myself enjoying the slightly reduced workload of consulting. However, with COVID making recruiting a virtual nightmare and with many consulting firms giving auto-offers to their summer interns, I'm not sure how likely it would be to receive an offer from an "equal" firm in the consulting space as where I interned this summer. On paper at least, I feel as though I would only really be happy with my decision to switch roles if I was able to land a FT offer at MBB. Though I realize how privileged this sounds, I feel as though this would be the only type of trade-off worth the risk and uncertainty of rejecting my current offer.
Any advice or opinions would really be appreciated. Thanks!
More or less in the exact same boat here. Feel free to PM if you'd like to discuss but would really like to hear any other thoughts/opinions so commenting so I can stay in the loop!
Not sure what exactly your question is. Yes, turning down an offer right now is very risky, and you could end up with no offers. But it's entirely up to you if it's worth taking that risk or to instead be miserable for 2 years doing something you dont enjoy. You could also just accept and renege later, but that's controversial to say here. Though, I would rethink on whether you would turn down a non-MBB consulting gig just because of prestige if consulting is truly where your heart is and if you really did not enjoy your experience at your current IB role.
Thanks so much for your input here! To clarify, I guess my point in the post was just to hear if it would really be foolish to renege on such an amazing opportunity that I'm truly lucky to have.
In terms of MBB vs non-MBB, you definitely make a fair point. I guess my line of thinking was more-so along the lines of since I don't have any experience in Consulting I'm not certain I would actually enjoy the work or life more and it could definitely just be a grass is greener scenario. For me, I think the risk of switching would only be worth it if I worked at MBB because at least if I hate it then the exit opportunities/resume outlook would be similar to if I accept the offer for the BB (if that makes sense).
yolo
i think it's best to accept and renege if you don't hear back anywhere before the BB offer expires. in this economy, it's especially difficult to say no to an offer and I'd have to think reneging is a little more acceptable now. would love to hear others' input however
True...my only concern is that everyone mentions how finance is a small world and how reneging is so poorly looked upon. Would really love to hear from the perspective of someone who did it or maybe even from a recruiter at either firm as to what their thoughts/opinions are on the candidate that did so or was looking to do so.
curious as well
i mean i don't think any consulting firm will care either way if you renege lol... if it's finance maybe, but that wasn't your question
I don't get these questions. They are completely different industires with completely different career paths. Enter an industry you are interested in. I don't think anyone can answer this question for you...
Sorry, I should've clarified: both of these industries interest me as potential stepping stones towards mutually common career paths/exits, such as PE, corporate strategy, MBA, etc. I know it's relatively common for both industries to place well into these, so that's a large reason why I'm interested.
If you're really interested in consulting, try to leverage your offer. Have a friend who had a FT offer from GS/MS/JPM that got the process accelerated for MBB and ended up with an offer before his FT offer exploded.
Thanks this is helpful! Quick question if I can ask it: what type of school does/did your friend go to? Just wondering because I know OCR is a large determinant for these companies for pushing deadlines or not. Also, was this this year or a previous year? Thanks!
This was last year at a target with OCR for MBB. Honestly not sure how that'll affect you, but I hope it works out.
I've worked in both - top consulting and top tier BB. They are essentially the same job lol
Consulting is 65 hours plus 10 hours per week of travel. IB averages 75 hours. You are doing insanely boring work in both (it is a fantasy that in consulting you are doing anything strategic, you are working with middle management 90% of the time and updating slides for 60 hours a week on the road). I loved travel too, but consulting travel is more or less just an extra long commute... there is zero glamor in it and zero "interesting perchance meetings that you might have." Just a super long bus ride to work.
If you want a top tier career, your 20s are a grind.. just pick the grind you want. As far as I'm concerned, one in the hand is better than two in the bush. Also the one in your hand is 2x the pay.
What does MBB compensation look like?
I am in a similar position to OP as well(return offer for IB but thought consulting would be a better fit). Also not sure if I'm having a "grass is greener" outlook on consulting, but would you say its true that the generally more predictability of the hours with an intense M-Th, lighter Friday and minimal weekends is much more sustainable than the unpredictability of banking? I think that is my biggest worry is not just the number of hours in banking, which is a lot, but just the general sense of never being able to plan anything else or constantly worried about getting staffed and a night being ruined which I feel is less likely than consulting. I can see how travel could be brutal in the longer term too though. Also, isn't pay at MBB not that far off from banking at least at the junior levels anymore?
MBB analysts get paid around $95-100k. BB first-year analysts get paid around $130-140k. EB first-year analysts get paid more than that ($160-190k). Got these numbers from WSO database.
Reading your post, I can't help but see the next 10-15 years of your life. I've seen it happen so often. Here's how it plays out:
College kid doesn't have Job #1 (banking) but glamorizes it due to "grass is greener" syndrome
College kid gets Job #1
College kid doesn't have Job #2 (consulting) but glamorizes it EVEN MORE because of "grass is greener" syndrome
<<His future>>
College kid gets Job #2, but glamorizes MBA because of "grass is greener" syndrome and because he hasn't figured how to choose a job
College kid gets MBA
College kid chooses Job #3 (Product Manager) realizing it's the Perfect Job. He works for Amazon given the high odds they give for PM roles to MBAs vs. others.
College kid realizes Job #1-3 all suck. He then realizes that all jobs suck and are a means to an end, nothing more except for a very select few who are workaholics or start their own companies.
College kid gets a corporate role somewhere with easy hours and starts a family. He stops living his life based on expectations of others.
College kid lives happily ever after.
i am college kid
Not OP but can relate pretty hard with this. Have a return offer for banking and considering consulting for the "grass is greener" thinking. However, I do plan on going the corporate route or at least something with more predicability/less hours later on, so I'm not sure if banking is worth it if I'm not dead set on the PE/HF path.
Feel this... Just accepted BB offer and started reading about MBB
You could get mostly similar exit opps out of BB IBD, so you could play the long game if you're interested in corp strategy, biz ops, or product
OP here.
Not that it matters at all, but for anyone who contributed to this thread who might be interested I actually recently accepted the offer. My main motivations for accepting were 1) economic/recruiting prospects in the next year, 2) conversations with analysts in the group, and 3) after doing some research with MBB and reaching out I found that they were unable to expedite interviews.
Anon. Associate 2's comment above might've been intended as a joke, but truthfully it did help with the realization that this first job does not have to be my career. I think we get so caught up in the short term that it's easy to forget that more often than not the first job for most people won't be too indicative of future success or even career path to some extent (though it certainly has influence). Thank you to everyone who contributed to this post; hope you all are safe and well and that everyone who was in a similar position is able to come to happy terms with whatever they decide on!
-Inc Analyst in IBD
Anon. Associate 2 here...some of the situations that folks face can be simply solved by zooming wayyyy out (which is what I tried to do) and seeing if it really matters.
Think you're making the right choice - a bird in the hand is worth a lot, and if you're smart, hungry and resourceful enough (with a dash of luck) you can optimize down the road while avoiding undue risk right now.
Best of luck!
Much much appreciated for your perspective as someone who's been in the industry for a bit! Thanks once again and wishing you the best!
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