Careers advisor CALLS ME at 8.30 on friday and won't let me off phone for 3 hrs?!

I'm a freshman. I want to get into banking. I have two job offers (HR analyst at big dharma-think Pfizer or work at a small fintech startup -involves some finance) but I also have had an interview at a private equity firm (very recently, like a day ago) and have a few other more finance related interviews lined up.

I am being pressured by my careers center to make a decision between those two i have already now, and not wait for any of the more finance related internships. This is because the careers center has a relationship or something with the employers and want to continue that relationship etc etc.

So the careers person CALLED ME at 8.30 on a friday, and then proceeds to not let me off the phone for 3 hours and, i shit you not, says this line "you have no choice. you have to make a decision.'

she says i must either reject one, or both of the offers by sunday at the latest, or accept one of the two and stop interviewing/resecind my candidacy at the PE firm.

This story gets more bizarre and frustrating, and she says some weird stuff to me, but I am so tired that I will leave it at that--- so guys, what route should i take to get the best result for recruiting next year for banking? a. HR analyst @pharma, b. kind of financ-y role at a start up with a great social impact backstory where I would get to work directly with the CEO or c. reject both and hope for the best with the PE firm and upcoming interviews.

Please keep in mind that I am a freshman. My college also has on campus active recruiting for most if not all the big banks and a few consulting and PE firms.

 

with the fintech one though the job title does not contain the word analyst or finance, so I was wary that it would make me seem like I painted pictures or some shit. the fintech is also linked with the careers center (CEO is alum) and they want a decision on sunday morning.

the quality of the companies is not fabulous; no big names (GS/McKinsey types). the PE firm is in works in 2 continents and is pretty big, the consulting one is global. Then the others are from small ones located in the northeast and also alphasights.

my biggest issue is with the non finance analysis-y title of the startup role. at least at the pharmaceutical company the hr role is analysis of hr strategies and data analysis. Then again the start up is more creative and helps people in developing companies .

 

You don't owe your college's career center anything. I'd accept the FinTech role and keep interviewing with the PE firm and other finance jobs. If you get a better offer, no one's going to stop you from reneging the FinTech role. As a Freshman it's not easy to get a good finance internship, so it would be a bummer if you passed on both with hope of the PE or others panning out, and they did not.

Thanks, let me know if you ever need an introduction in the industry.
 

Some schools ban students from OCR who don't follow the rules. You might want to ask them or older students what the potential ramifications are.

The school absolutely does manage relationships at firms and it does kind of fuck them over to blow them off when they're getting pressured. I'm not sure I'd want to burn those bridges as a freshman. This isn't the last time in life you'll have to make a choice without being able to pursue all your options.

 

This is a fair point. I broke one of my own personal rules above by giving professional advice on something I don't have direct experience with. That being said, it seems like the adviser is putting their interests ahead of OP's. I get why, given they need to maintain the school's relationship with these companies, however from my perspective their primary obligation is to their students. Spending three hours pressuring OP raises some concerns about their motives from my perspective.

Thanks, let me know if you ever need an introduction in the industry.
 
Best Response
Prescott Moncrief lll:

This is a fair point. I broke one of my own personal rules above by giving professional advice on something I don't have direct experience with. That being said, it seems like the adviser is putting their interests ahead of OP's. I get why, given they need to maintain the school's relationship with these companies, however from my perspective their primary obligation is to their students. Spending three hours pressuring OP raises some concerns about their motives from my perspective.

If I were to read between the lines, it's much more likely that one of those two firms is calling career services and pressuring them because they are pissed the OP hasn't given a clear answer and it's probably pushing a deadline the OP was already aware of. I doubt the school is randomly phoning just to wrap up loose ends. Especially if the call went for three hours. Sounds like someone is pretty desperate to get an answer to a firm and is struggling to do so.

There's a reason schools have policies in these regards. Sure, their responsibility is to their student. But they're looking at firm hoping they recruit on campus for 10-20 years or more. They're not going to spoil 20 future students chances so that one student can push a deadline to explore other options. That's how campus recruiting works.

 

You have to remember that in the recruiting process, HR and Career Services don't have your best interests in mind. In fact, they have their best interests in mind, which usually are the complete opposite of what you are searching for. They want traditional candidates who get an offer and accept immediately. You want to get offers as a backup, parlay them into a better offer and twist the arm of everybody involved to behoove yourself.

Pretty standard bird-in-the-hand dilemma. I would say with your age I would hold off for the PE internship chance, or try to get an unpaid boutique internship.

 

OP tread carefully, as others have mentioned you don't want to potentially jeopardize your chances at future OCR by blowing off deadlines or reneging.

One of my friends once accepted a Big-4 offer early in his junior year (back when Big-4 recruited earlier than banking) and then reneged when he got a BB IBD offer -> instant ban from all future OCR once they found out. At the end of the day you are to an extent at the mercy of the career services office because they spend a lot of time and resources getting firms to come to campus and aren't going to jeopardize the future chances of other students for you.

I would just pick one of the two you have (you're already ahead of most other freshman by having a brand name company internship on your resume).

 

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Be excellent to each other, and party on, dudes.

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