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Accepted Deloitte offer but still holding out for i-banks?

Before Christmas, I was recently made an internship offer for the Professional Services Rotation. As the deadline for accepting (or declining) the offer hovered ever closer, I had no reply from the investment banks I've applied to. So I decided to accept the offer.

This deloitte internship lasts seven weeks and there are possible schemes that I can do during the summer:

>London Scheme 1
> Start: Monday 23rd June
> Finish: Friday 8th August
>
> London Scheme 2
> Start: Monday 4th August
> Finish: Friday 19th September

My applications to Goldman, Morgan Stanley, UBS and Lehman are still under review. If I had the choice, I'd rather do any one of those internships rather than Deloitte. However, I am worried that if I am invited to their interviews and they ask me whether I also seek employment elsewhere, I wouldn't really know what to say.

if I am accepted to any one of those internships, I hope that the dates of that intership and the Deloitte internship won't conflict so that I have time to do both the Deloitte (scheme 2, obviously) and the investment banking internship. But if the dates of the interships do conflict, do I simply call Deloitte and say "oh sorry, I accepted your offer at first but now I don't want it"?

any help or advice is appreciated, thanks

Reply 1

tomoli

2

No expert so by all means correct me if I am wrong but I think if you have a contract with Deloitte then you have to honour it. If you have just accepted their offer, but havent signed a contract or anything then you can tell them to buggar off but it wouldn't be adviseable from a future prospects with deloitte point of view.

Reply 2

the corporate raider

OP

Yes I know :frown:

I did sign and post their contract just before christmas. But still, if I was hypothetically accepted by an I-bank, what would be the consequences of me telling Deloitte I don't want to intern for them anymore?

the thing is I applied to the Investment banks ages ago, weeks before I applied to Deloitte. I thought I had no chance of getting through the Deloitte assessment process, but after I was made the offer I literally checked my email every a couple of hours hoping that one of the i-banks would send me an email asking me for an interview. I thought I had an off-chance of having enough time for getting interviewed by an i-bank and them getting back to me before the Deloitte job offer expires. :frown:

Among my applications, I think both Citi and Morgan Stanley hold 10-week interships. So, assuming that I have to honour the Deloitte contract, it is theoretically impossible for me to intern at any of those banks because there is not enough time in the summer. A pity, considering that I'd prefer to be employed for 10 weeks rather than 7 in order to earn some more money.

I am not sure about UBS and Lehman, their websites have no info on dates and I plan on phoning them tomorrow and asking about that. I was wondering if anyone here who was accepted into any of those two could tell me the summer dates?

I think, among all my applications, only Lazard is hypothetically compatible with the Deloitte internship because Lazard internship is 7 weeks: it starts in June and ends August, so that I may finish it in time to start Deloitte scheme 2. I am an optimist, I refuse to give up :smile:

I sleep and I dream "oh please please Lazard accept me, I want to work at you as well this summer"

Reply 3

tomoli

2

For future reference, if you ring someone up and ask them to extend the deadline for your offer they are generally fairly flexible. They understand that you are applying elsewhere.

I suppose they wouldn't make you work there - they don't want somewhere there who doesn't want to be there. I have heard of people doing this before but I think you can get blacklisted. However, if you get a job at an IB, I don't suppose you really care about that.

I would say carry on with the IB application process and just say you have an offer from Deloitte which is exploding so you need a quick decision (again, they are used to this). If you get an offer, go from there, if not you have deloitte to fall back on.

Reply 4

Samoan

1

A contract does not mean that you have sold your life to the company, it is perfectly feasible to renegae (sp?) on your contract as plenty of people will...given the current financial climate a lot of graduates will have accepted two offers with the intention of renegaeing (really not sure how to spell that) at a later date in order to guarantee their position exists in 9 months....

As long as you tell Deloitte in good time it wont be a problem

Reply 5

-pixie-

My contract said that it's legally binding. Think about the impression you'll give if you go back on something you signed. Also, you might actually want to think about doing two internships in the summer when you actually get and IB one! Lastly, it's perfectly normal (in fact I got asked in every interview I had), to ask what other places you have applied to and what divisions in those areas.

Reply 6

Wstroud

1

I hope that the dates of that intership and the Deloitte internship won't conflict

They will conflict - Internships with banks are generally around the 10 week length and the Deloitte one will go right throught it.

But if the dates of the interships do conflict, do I simply call Deloitte and say "oh sorry, I accepted your offer at first but now I don't want it"?

Well, you probably could do that, I wouldn't hold out too much hope of them giving you a job in the future though.

Reply 7

t_ucd

Regarding your worry about what to say if they ask about the other companies you've applied to, I'd tell the truth. PWC once said at an interview skills workshop that they want to see that you're serious about working in your chosen field and have therefore applied to as many companies as possible. If you claimed you really, really wanted to work in IB but then went on to say that you've only applied to one company, that just wouldn't sound right. If I were you, I'd reply by saying something like "I really want to work in investment baking, so I've applied to many of the investment banks for an internship".

Reply 8

fblade

14

Just a random stab in the dark, what you said some circumstances came up? (e.g Family problems.)

Reply 9

fredstar

The contract is not legally binding, you don't have to work there. It is more like they guarantee to employ you should you wish to join. Going back on it is not great and will piss them off a bit but they are only 1 firm at the end of the day and if you get an ib offer definitely go for it - that is if you would prefer to do that role.
While the honest or perhaps ethically correct action would be to inform them that you are unlikely to take the role as you really intend to get an ib internship but I wouldn't do this unless you have an ib offer.
At the end of the day the Deloitte rotation programme is an amazing experience and will teach you a lot of skills and will look good on your cv, I did it last summer and had a great time/experience.
SO keep your ib apps going if you really want to do that job over Deloitte, if you get an offer then call up hr and say an alternative opportunity has come up that I feel I would prefer to the position offered to me at Deloitte.
After the programme I was offered a full time position, I kept delaying it as I was looking into ib roles and eventually I had to accept it. But a few weeks later I spoke to hr and was truthful about the situation - they appreciated the honesty. I hope I haven't been blacklisted as Deloitte are an awesome firm and I hope I could come back to a position should the ib route not turn out to be a long term route.

Reply 10

Good bloke

19

Your acceptance of the offer is definitely legally binding. However, Deloitte is unlikely to pursue you for damages. On the other hand they will not be very happy with you and will find it difficult to trust you again (and this in a world where trust is very important) should your paths cross in the future. If any other organisation finds out about what you have done they may well take a simliar attitude.

Reply 11

kalokagathia

Good bloke

Your acceptance of the offer is definitely legally binding. However, Deloitte is unlikely to pursue you for damages.

..not least because Deloitte would be unable to show any actual loss and hence wouldn't be awarded anything greater than nominal anyway..

Reply 12

rich_#123

1

kalokagathia

..not least because Deloitte would be unable to show any actual loss and hence wouldn't be awarded anything greater than nominal anyway..

Recruitment process costs?

Reply 13

the corporate raider

OP

Top class replies, folks! thanks a lot.

I wish I could have asked HR to extend the job offer acceptance deadline: I couldn't do it because I had to leave the country for the holidays about seven days after I got the job offer and didn't return until the second term at Uni started. I cannot stress enough that I thought that the assessment day didn't go so well, I thought I'd messed up both the interview and the E-tray and looked like a total fool when they took us to lunch, but I was still glad to be there because I thought that assessment day would prepare me for I-bank assessment days. I've had a phonecall from Morgan Stanley yesterday, and they invited me to an interview next week. Lets see what happens.

A friend of mine is in the same situation: he applied to Deloitte, was accepted, but actually wants to do IB but neither of the banks he's applied to have gotten back to him yet.

Reply 14

kalokagathia

rich_#123

Recruitment process costs?

Nah, since these would have been incurred anyway irrespective of whether or not he accepted the offer and hence would fail a factual causation test. Suppose they would have a claim for process costs incurred after he accepted his offer, though this would probably amount to the value of a few printed sheets of A4 plus a first class stamp.. No loss-of-a-chance claim either, since they would be required to mitigate by making an offer to someone else (unlike in eg. Anglia Television v Reed, the OP is almost certainly not a uniquely talented individual..)

Reply 15

the corporate raider

OP

kalokagathia

(unlike in eg. Anglia Television v Reed, the OP is almost certainly not a uniquely talented individual..)

Your veiled judgemental attitude is not welcome. Because you wrote that, I in turn can infer that your parents almost certainly weren't bothered to impart wisdom in you and that you almost certainly are not a uniquely talented individual.

fredstar

The contract is not legally binding, you don't have to work there. It is more like they guarantee to employ you should you wish to join. Going back on it is not great and will piss them off a bit but they are only 1 firm at the end of the day and if you get an ib offer definitely go for it - that is if you would prefer to do that role.
While the honest or perhaps ethically correct action would be to inform them that you are unlikely to take the role as you really intend to get an ib internship but I wouldn't do this unless you have an ib offer.
At the end of the day the Deloitte rotation programme is an amazing experience and will teach you a lot of skills and will look good on your cv, I did it last summer and had a great time/experience.
SO keep your ib apps going if you really want to do that job over Deloitte, if you get an offer then call up hr and say an alternative opportunity has come up that I feel I would prefer to the position offered to me at Deloitte.
After the programme I was offered a full time position, I kept delaying it as I was looking into ib roles and eventually I had to accept it. But a few weeks later I spoke to hr and was truthful about the situation - they appreciated the honesty. I hope I haven't been blacklisted as Deloitte are an awesome firm and I hope I could come back to a position should the ib route not turn out to be a long term route.

Yes, I was very impressed by the people I've met at Deloitte and overall had an impression that I would certainly enjoy working with them.

fblade

Just a random stab in the dark, what you said some circumstances came up? (e.g Family problems.)

I do not think this is really an option, A) I'm not a good liar, so they'd know something's up B) Bad karma. If, in the end, I am fortunate at Morgan Stanley and they make me a job offer and if I decided to go there, it would probably be better for me to be straight and tell Deloitte that I'd prefer ten weeks of experience rather than seven. Sounds like a valid excuse, since I desperately need to earn more money to pay for bills, university and a medical operation come september. I suppose I could honour Deloitte contract and get a part-time job in the spare weeks, but not a single part-time job would be as enjoyable as Morgan Stanley and there would be added inconvenience of looking for one and the uncertainty associated with success in that. I am more interested in IB than consulting or audit, but financial subsistence is the prime reason why I would consider reneging on Deloitte.

However, if they "blacklist" me for potential employment, I would potentially have a problem if they shared a "blacklist" with HR departments in other companies, which sounds ludicrous.

There's a weird upside to reneging on Deloitte: one extra internship space for someone else who applied.

Reply 16

kalokagathia

the corporate raider

Your veiled judgemental attitude is not welcome. Because you wrote that, I in turn can infer that your parents almost certainly weren't bothered to impart wisdom in you and that you almost certainly are not a uniquely talented individual.

Erm.. As in you are not unique in law as regards a place at Deloitte - in Anglia Television, a TV script was written with the (then) famous actor Mr Reed specifically in mind as the main character. Thus when he breached his contract just before shooting started, the TV company successfully claimed damages before the Court of Appeal in part on the ground that they could not mitigate because there was no-one else suitable and avilable to act in that particular role.

With all due respect, I think that there are probably a few other people out there other than yourself who might be able to do an internship at Deloitte to a sufficient degree of competence.. :rolleyes:

Reply 17

the corporate raider

OP

kalokagathia

With all due respect, I think that there are probably a few other people out there other than yourself who might be able to do an internship at Deloitte to a sufficient degree of competence.. :rolleyes:

Yes that is rather obvious, no need to roll your eyes and sigh at that.

Up to this point, I did not mention the legal side of reneging on Deloitte, because it is rather obvious to me that A) there is a large pool of people they can quickly fill the opening with B) the only "damage" my reneger would bring them is incovenience and the costs of a stamp and a 2 min. phonecall. What I am more worried about are the other, more esoteric implications such as their dissatisfaction, their ill-memory. If I do renege, I hope that they would overcome that and see the rather valid logic behind my reasoning.

Reply 18

Good bloke

19

That would be an interesting discussion.

"But Mr Raider, you went to great lengths to tell us how much you wanted to work for a consultancy".

"Er, yes, but I want ten weeks' work this summer".

"But Morgan Stanley is in banking - quite a different matter".

"Er...".

"So you told us a pack of lies about your career aims?"

"Er...".

"How about if we gave you a ten week internship?"

"Er...".

Reply 19

the corporate raider

OP

"How about if we gave you a ten week internship?"

Then I'd work for Deloitte, of course.

Accepted Deloitte offer but still holding out for i-banks?

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