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That really sucks, but unfortunately verbal offers are not binding. Always get it in writing if possible.
Sorry man there's nothing binding about a verbal offer. This sucks, but the best thing to do is move on and go for plan b.
Very sorry that happened to you. Something similar happened to me.
that sucks, sorry to hear
even a written offer isn’t binding on them. nature of at will employment sadly
Damn... I appreciate the support though
I’ve had something where I got a verbal offer from a BB but they need to circle back to headquarters to confirm bandwidth budget and timing, and they couldn’t get it so the offer didn’t go through.
Actually, this happened twice - two different BBs.
Though, have never had something where they gave a verbal indication and then went with someone else. That seems pretty unprofessional.
Same thing happened to me a while back. Got a verbal offer and they said that their budget would be finalized within a week. Two weeks passed, I reached back out to them....budget was still in the works and they asked me to be patient. Reached back out a few weeks later and they never even responded....ultimately, no one was hired for the position.
There really is no lesson here for the new recruit; it just sucks and you can't do anything about it. The real lesson should be for hiring teams. Don't say anything until you're sure this is the candidate or you have the budget. No need to even mention the budget if it isn't finalized.
What you described was very similar to one of the times that it happened to me. And what sucked was it was an incredibly arduous process - had multiple interviews/calls with MDs/EDs/Group heads in multiple regions (NY, HK, London, etc) and had a case presentation as well.
What ultimately happened was the hiring MD (after 1-2+ months after the verbal offer) telling me it’s probably not going to happen because of group restructuring. He was actually a really nice guy, but the process was a huge time commitment with no payoff. That said, it was probably for the best (getting hired into a group going through restructuring is risky business).
The other one was for a more standard IB role. Was told by HR everyone liked me and want to make the offer, but they need to circle back with HQ. Then week later told me they couldn’t get the go-ahead and hired no one.
My guess is, in situations like this, the group themselves didn’t get clarity on hiring (or are also given more positive signals than in actuality), but know they need to do it ahead of time given need and time commitment to find good people. And then when they still haven’t gotten clarity but found someone, they want to hang on to them and hope they can bridge the gap on budget with HQ. It definitely sucks for the candidate, but I suppose at times it can turn out well.
Interesting scenario and I'm sorry that happened to you. I just finished a hiring cycle not all that long ago and I would be all kinds of disappointed if that had happened to me.
Will you consider naming the BB?
First suspicious sign would have been them saying it would take a week to get the documents together. For a bulge bracket, it takes hours....
Not necessarily, for my BB offer took them 2 weeks to get me the documents after verbal offer. My other EB offer also took about a week. Perhaps I'm an outlier but doesn't seem to be a red flag
Yeah ditto. Had BB/EB take 1-2 weeks to send over documentation, both electronically and by mail.
Sorry to hear this. Best rule of thumb is to never let your guard down and keep recruiting until you sign the final offer.
It seems like there are a lot of posts of “should I keep recruiting after I have accepted an offer?” On here. This signals to me like you should not feel bad at all abou5 continuing to recruit even after you accept an offer because it can go away at any time.
OP, if you are a student and go to a target school, I’d tell your school’s career services so the bank potentially gets blackballed by your school. That is awful awful behavior on their part, totally unacceptable
OP don't let this get you down. Take the motivation and run with it. I was told 3 weeks before graduating my entire department, for the company I had a written offer with for 4 months, would be closing. Network like a madman and people will also sympathize with your situation (but don't present it as feeling sorry for yourself).
This sucks man, do you mind sharing if your BB is a European one? I am in similar shoes.
sorry to hear that man, this happened to me too at a mm
do you mind sharing which BB and what city?
That's really shitty dude. Just try and take it as a lesson and to never treat anything as a sure thing from employers unless its on a contract. Somewhat similar situation to you, I have a friend who signed an SA offer at a slightly lowered tier BB over a mid-tier BB because he was verbally guaranteed M&A (it would be coverage at the mid-tier BB). Ended up being shafted into DCM unfortunately
The banks and recruiters do not give a **** about you, treat whatever they say with a grain of salt until its in writing
I guess he should be glad it happened to a beta-male like yourself.
Real men don't take bullshit from others. An eye for an eye, that's the reason why (we're all here).
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