Chinese student has a shot?
Hi, I am a graduate student with a Master Degree in Applied Math from Columbia and a bachelor degree in finance from Hong Kong. Did a summer analyst program in equity research with a hong kong local investment bank. Now I've graduated from Columbia.
You guys think I have a shot with US consulting firms?
Just to clarify: I'm guessing you want to work in the American offices if US consulting firms? (Instead of Chinese offices.)
And do you need visa sponsorship? (Makes a huge difference.)
definitely change your user name... found you in 5 seconds
The only reason you'd be any less competitive than a "regular" applicant is if your English isn't that good. If you have a good command of the English language (an accent is fine - I'm talking about just being able to express yourself well verbally and in writing), you'll be as competitive as an American kid doing his Masters at Columbia (at least MBB don't discriminate against internationals who need visa sponsorship - AFAIK the Big 4 don't either).
Also, it depends on whether the firms recruit "on-campus" from your program. In any case, Columbia is a target for both undergrad and MBA recruiting, so you should be able to at least network and get an interview or two.
I agree with everything that consulting boi said. If english (particularly spoken) is suffering, hone it. Good luck.
And based on your LinkedIn profile (you REALLY should change your username), I'd say you're in pretty good shape (at least for tier 2 shops) on paper. A little more work experience would have been nice though (perhaps consider a F500/banking/lower tier consulting internship here or in China before you apply full-time?)
Well, if you already have GRE: 1570/1600; Passed CFA Level I & II, Level III Candidate and - 75th among over 300, 000 candidates in National College Entrance Test, 2007 - 2nd prize in National Physics Competition, China, 2007 - 2nd prize in National Mathematics Competition, China, 2006.
I think that's a good start to get consulting interview in US?
Partially not true. Just being a foreigner makes it a lot harder to get an interview in general.
It will be harder to target second tier consulting firms because they might not want to spend the resources on a foreigner and would rather hire a domestic worker.
I mean lots of companies now sponsor visas, but usually for unusual people/super stars and the like.
He just graduated so it might be too late for OCR, but he could network. Network. Network.
OP, you are pretty late to the game if you just started thinking about this NOW.
As far as I know, at least MBB do not care about your citizenship. What you're saying might be true for second tiers (not the Big 4 though).
Source: Interviewed with and had offers from 3/3 MBB. Most didn't even ask about my citizenship (my school had OCR).
See, that's the thing. It is a very different story if you are going through OCR (imo). Anyway, I think we have too little info about the OP to make any speculations about which companies he/she should target.
Large consulting firms do not care about citizenship/visa issues at all. They usually outsource their work visa application process to a law firm, and the total cost for each visa is negligible to them.
However, there is still some bias against international students (those from non-english speaking countries), especially during resume screening. There are many international students with poor command of the english language, so giving an interview spot to an international student carries some inherent risk. A way to work around this is to network and speak with many employees/recruiters (e.g. during info sessions or through cold calls/emails). That way, they'll know that a client will be able to understand what you say (if that's not actually the case, then I'm sorry...you don't really have a chance).
After that, it all depends on how well you do during the case interviews and how much they like you.
Every single consulting firm (and bank, BTW) asks whether you're authorized to work in the US permanently, including MBB and all of Big 4. (There's usually a question in the online app on their website, "Will you need sponsorship to work legally in the US on a permanent basis?" or something like that.) So, they won't exactly know in which country you have citizenship, but they'll know you need H-1B sponsorship. To me, that means that they do care (however little they may.)
That's not necessarily true. Some large firms, as a policy, don't sponsor H-1B's at all. Accenture and Roland Berger both don't. Although they're not considered "large," L.E.K. doesn't either. I've been through this song and dance, and you need to be really careful to check what firm policies are before accepting interviews.
And the reason H-1B's are a pain in the *** isn't just because of the application. That can be outsourced. But each international student they hire is a risk, as getting H-1B's has become a complete lottery. I've seen several MBB consultants and BB analysts get denied this year and subsequently reassigned to other offices. Firms probably want to avoid that.
My class at an MBB is 30% non-US citizens. Make what you will of it.
Went to the sell weekend for the other two as well and again - a lot of internationals.
Not doubting that MBB hire internationals. My class at an MBB has internationals too, although not nearly as much as 30%. (More like 10%.) Went to sell weekend for one of the other two and saw internationals here and there. The lower number is probably due to location. (Sorry, wasn't awesome enough to get all three.)
But I'm telling the OP, as he probably already knows, that he needs check with each of the firms before applying. I just went through all of this months ago and saw friends who had to turn down offers because the firm doesn't sponsor H-1B. (Yes, it was a big firm.)
MBBs don't care about citizenship. period. Didn't when I joined, doesn't now when I am doing recruiting. Office is at least 30% international, not counting transfers. Everyone has law firms on retainer for this kind of stuff. A consulting firm has to be crazy to limit to domestic applicants only, when at the end of the day, most of the assets a firm has is in its people.
Jake, you have a decent shot at an interview. Just make sure you initiate at least one or two informational interviews. So that when your résumé comes up, no one will question your ability to conduct business in English.
Gosh, do people not read what's actually written? Yes, all MBB sponsor. But not all big firms do. (Don't care why people think that's a bad policy or not.) So, if you're applying beyond MBB, refer to the thread below when applying. It was updated last recruiting season (Sep 12), so it should be pretty up-to-date.
//www.wallstreetoasis.com/forums/consulting-firms-that-accept-internation…
Some of them are left as question marks, but I'm pretty sure OW and ATK sponsor while Roland Berger and Parthenon doesn't. Not sure about Mercer.
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