IB Summer Associate @ BB, Emerging Market -> NYC?
Hi all,
I just started a summer associate internship at a BB (read GS, JPM, MS) in an emerging market country (middle east- read tel aviv, riyadh, doha, dubai) in investment banking- all is great so far and looks like I will be able to bag a full time offer. The thing is, I'm planning to stay in the US after graduation and will start doing full time recruitment when I go back this late August.
I have been discussing this with my school's career center and 2nd years as well and they seem to be optimistic about my chances of leveraging the name, and the extensive IB experience (M&A group) that I will be gaining over the summer here. They think that I would be able to turn this experience into a full time job in the US, in a boutique or a mid-market firm- if not in a BB.
I just would like to hear what the honorable community of WSO has to say about this. Do you think there is light at the end of the tunnel? If yes, who do you suggest that I should target? And how? Simple resume dropping, web-site application, or do you think reaching out to people matters a lot again? (as was in the summer internship hunt)
I’m currently attending a Top10-15 B School and I’m not a US citizen. Undergrad Econ in my own country here, 4 years of pre-MBA experience with hedge funds risk management and Asset management at local IB. Athlete, pretty good extracurrics + comm. Involvement at B-School (if anyone cares!)
Let me know what you think- thanks for all the replies- holler if any questions.
WI





what country? i'm working out
what country? i'm working out of Riyadh.
From what I hear, it can be
From what I hear, it can be tough for non-citizens to snag spots at boutiques/MM firms, simply because they might not have the ability or inclination to secure those working visas for you. If you're coming from a top BB's M&A group, though, I don't really see why you wouldn't be able to finagle your way into a spot at a BB IBD spot stateside...
Thanks, Angus. The general
Thanks, Angus. The general concern about BB IBD full time spots is, they usually hire their full times out of their previous summer associates. That was my only concern about this- that summer class might be tough to break into. (Unless some of them change their minds and go elsewhere, e.g. to boutiques!)
You will probably have as
You will probably have as good a chance as any assuming you get an offer from this summer. As the previous poster mentioned, only BB and large MM firms sponsor international candidates. Tough to forecast your chances without knowing the yields and final headcounts.
Keep in mind that there you will be competing against other superstars for these limited number of spots. Someone from HBS may have interned at BCG, got an offer and decided to do IBD instead. Someone from Wharton may have interned at UBS, got an offer and is leveraging up for JPM/GS. Bottom line is that there are not open spots just waiting for you, but it's definitely possible for you if you do well.
Hopefully you will not get an exploding offer from this summer, otherwise this could make things very difficult for you. If it's exploding then the banks will not have their headcounts yet and you will be ahead of the process...
MD8: You will probably have
You will probably have as good a chance as any assuming you get an offer from this summer. As the previous poster mentioned, only BB and large MM firms sponsor international candidates. Tough to forecast your chances without knowing the yields and final headcounts.
Keep in mind that there you will be competing against other superstars for these limited number of spots. Someone from HBS may have interned at BCG, got an offer and decided to do IBD instead. Someone from Wharton may have interned at UBS, got an offer and is leveraging up for JPM/GS. Bottom line is that there are not open spots just waiting for you, but it's definitely possible for you if you do well.
Hopefully you will not get an exploding offer from this summer, otherwise this could make things very difficult for you. If it's exploding then the banks will not have their headcounts yet and you will be ahead of the process...
Thank you, MD8- great points. With regards to your hypothetical example, I would love to get that UBS guy's place if he ever goes to JPM/GS. The thing is, rather than being an associate in this "small BB office" I'd rather be in a "big 2nd tier" office in NYC.