Vital resources to help re-start your job & internship search!

I had posted this article earlier on how important it is to not give up -to not lose your drive- when looking for jobs and internships. If the On Campus Recruiting (OCR) process hasn’t worked out for you, it may be time to hit the phone book. I personally have had limited success with cold calling and cold emailing, however I have heard from friends who have successfully networked their way in through cold networking. From my anecdotal experience, there is always something unique about the match between the applicant and the firm which explains why their cold approach worked in the first place, however it usually only becomes apparent in hindsight. When making the cold approach, the applicant has little to no idea what it is about his or her profile the hiring firm will find appealing. That is why you have to keep trying. Here are some resources to help you out.

I have found that employers in emerging markets place a higher value on ‘Western’ degrees than local degrees. You will most likely get a better response rate from firms located in emerging markets than in the US or London. I have posted links below to some directories of financial firms located in emerging market financial hubs.

1- This first link is to the directory listing of firms located in the Dubai International Financial Center. Each entry contains the phone number of the firm listed.

Going off that, I am visiting family in Dubai right now. Things have picked up again after the 2009-2010 debt crisis here. Firms are hiring again and the real estate sector has picked up quite a bit. All in all things are almost back to normal. As an example, this article was published recently in a local newspaper on how pay for young bankers in Dubai compares to that of young bankers in London.

2- This is a link to the Singapore Venture Capital and Private Equity Association. Unfortunately, the entries do not contain contact information for the firms listed, but Google is your friend.

3-hk/membership/MembersList.asp>This links to the China Venture Capital and Private Equity Association. Entries contain links to the members websites. Many of the firms in China state that they require Mandarin skills, however I know a couple of kids who got internships in Hong Kong with zero Mandarin or Cantonese skills. Maybe someone with more knowledge and information can comment on this and let us know how important language skills are for landing a gig in China or Hong Kong.

4-For those of you in Canada, or for those looking to move to Canada, here is the public directory from the Canadian Venture Capital and Private Equity Association.

I would suggest using these listings and building up a spreadsheet with the contact details of the firms you want to reach out to. Then use that spreadsheet to keep track of the firms you have contacted and the responses received (or not). If the resources above help you land an offer, let me know- even if it's months down the road! It would make me happy to know that something I did helped you out.

Almost all of the links on here are from the Venture Capital and Private Equity Associations. They are the only ones I have been able to find who keep a public directory of their member firms and would be relevant for WSO members. If you have similar resources or listings, please do share them!