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Offers & first 90 days
The honest playbook for the end of recruiting: handling deadlines, knowing what's actually negotiable, picking between offers — and the habits that build a first-year reputation.
The offer
Banks put short fuses on offers (sometimes 1–2 weeks) precisely because their offer is strongest before competitors respond. You have more room than the deadline implies — if you handle it professionally.
“I'm thrilled about this offer and {Bank} is a top choice. I have final rounds scheduled with two other firms in the next two weeks — could I have until {date} so I can make a fully informed decision?” Most banks grant 1–2 weeks when asked this way. Recruiters expect the question.
An exploding offer is leverage. Email every bank where you're in process: “I've received an offer with a deadline of {date}. {Bank} remains my first choice — is there any way to accelerate my process?” Banks routinely compress three rounds into one week for offer-holders.
On-campus/accelerated offers at schools with recruiting guidelines often carry protected decision windows — check your career office's policy before assuming the deadline is real. Off-cycle and lateral offers have less protection.
Reneging on a signed IB offer can burn a bank, an alumni network, and sometimes your school's relationship with the firm. People move desks and remember names. If you truly must, do it as early as possible, by phone, with an apology — and expect the bridge to stay burned.
At the analyst level, almost nothing — and pushing on the wrong things marks you as naive. Salary, signing bonus, and title are lockstep across a class. Here's where flexibility genuinely exists.
Analyst classes are paid on a published lockstep scale. Asking for more base at a bulge bracket signals you don't understand the industry. Save negotiation capital for when you're a lateral hire with a competing offer — that's when comp actually moves.
Need six weeks after graduation instead of two, or a deferred start for a visa or family reason? Banks accommodate reasonable start-date requests routinely. Ask HR, not the group.
For generalist offers, your placement is worth more than any signing bonus. Lobby for it like a deal: talk to people in the target group, have them advocate internally, and rank preferences with specific reasons (“I want {group} because of {deal flow / sector interest / people I've met}”).
If the bank has multiple offices running the same program, a well-reasoned office preference (family, partner, language) raised early with HR often works. Raised after signing, it rarely does.
When you're lucky enough to choose, optimize for the seat, not the logo — with one exception.
A busy group at a slightly less prestigious bank teaches you more (and exits fine) versus a sleepy group at a bigger name. Ask analysts directly: “how many live deals have you worked in the last year?”
Between adjacent tiers, pick the seat. Between a bulge bracket / elite boutique and a no-name regional, the brand's option value on exits and laterals is real — take it.
You will spend 80 hours a week with these humans. If every analyst you met seemed miserable or checked out, believe them over the pitch deck.
Look at where the group's analysts actually went (LinkedIn, two clicks). Groups have exit grooves — PE-heavy, corp-dev-heavy, stay-and-promote — and you'll likely follow the groove.
On the desk
The gap between signing and starting is where good first impressions are quietly built.
You passed the interview; now the job is speed. Excel shortcuts (no mouse), PowerPoint alignment, and formatting conventions matter more day-to-day than another DCF theory question. Keep drilling — but drill mechanics.
Read the last few months of deal announcements in your group's sector. Know the 10 biggest players, the multiples people quote, and the acronyms. Day-one context compounds.
Live close to the office if you can afford it — commute minutes are sleep minutes. Automate everything automatable (bills, laundry, groceries) before the job starts, not during week three.
Analysts get typed fast — usually within the first two or three staffings — and the label sticks. Everything below serves one goal: be the analyst seniors ask for.
Your only job at first is error-free output. Print your work and check it on paper before sending. Tie every number to a source. One clean month builds more trust than ten flashy decks with one wrong number.
Keep a running doc of every process, template path, and preference each senior has. Asking twice signals you don't listen; asking once, writing it down, and never asking again signals the opposite.
Short unprompted updates (“Comps are done through page 12, on track for 6pm”) calm seniors and buy you slack when something slips. Silence until the deadline is how juniors get micromanaged.
One associate or VP who rates you changes your staffings, your reviews, and eventually your exits. Earn it with reliability, then keep them close — coffee, questions, volunteering for their deals.
Sleep when you can, exercise in the morning (evenings will be taken), and keep one non-negotiable personal ritual a week. Burnout in month two helps no one — pace like it's a two-year run, because it is.
Early on, take everything. Once you've banked credibility, learn the polite deflect (“happy to — I'm staffed on {deal} until Thursday, does Friday work?”). Analysts who never push back get staffed into the ground.
Not there yet? The offer starts with the interview — and the interview starts with reps.
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