What Is an Exploding Offer?
An exploding offer is a job or internship offer that expires quickly, often within 48 hours to a week. The point is to force a decision before the candidate can hear back from other firms. They are most common early in the summer analyst cycle, when elite boutiques and some bulge brackets extend offers months before the rest of the market has finished interviewing.
Why Banks Use Them
A bank that interviews early takes on risk: its best candidates might hold the offer and keep interviewing. The deadline converts that risk into a yes or a no. Since the recruiting timeline has crept earlier every year, exploding offers have become more common, and the pressure they create is a known part of the process.
What to Do With One
Ask for an extension the same day you receive the offer. Most banks will grant a week, and many will grant more if you have a specific reason such as a superday already scheduled elsewhere. Frame it as wanting to make a decision you will keep, which is what they want too. Reneging on an accepted offer later is possible, but it damages your name at that bank and often at your school's career office, so the extension request is worth the awkwardness.
If the extension is refused and the offer is one you would be happy with, accept it. A guaranteed seat at a good bank beats an interview at a slightly better one.
