Leveraging international work experience?
Hey guys, I had a view questions regarding international work experience.
Just some background
3.4 GPA Econ at top public (umich, berk, uva)
2400 SAT
Internship at Bain (Seoul), China Unicom and tiny local start up
Active in 1-2 clubs
Fluent in chinese, korean, japanese
I've been networking and it's been decently successful. Some alumni have contacted me back, but the only "tangible" success that I've gotten were from Tokyo/Seoul/HK.
I wouldn't mind working abroad for a few years at all, but nearly everyone that I've talked to strongly suggested that I start in NY/America for banking. My eventual goal is an MBA and then working in the states long term.
I'm not too optimistic for FT recruitment given my low GPA, so there's a very good chance that I'd start my career overseas at a multinational.
I guess my question is...how do NY banks view overseas work experience? Is it really viewed that badly? Would it be better to take a job at a MM/Corp Fin here in the states vs BB bank/Equity research in Tokyo/HK?
Thanks





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I dont think its viewed
I dont think its viewed badly at all. As long as it is at a legitimate institution that can be verified and you do have proper work experience (not photo copying etc.)....you should be fine.
In fact...it might actually give you the leg up if trying to choose between you and another equally qualified candidate with local work experience.
I'll preface by saying I work
I'll preface by saying I work in the energy industry and not finance, so this may not be relevant at all. However, in my industry the international experience thing is a huge benefit. People like to talk about being able to work with diverse teams; what better way to prove it than by actually doing it? If you have worked in different countries you have that nailed down.
Also, this can be seen as proof you are a team player. Company tells you to go to some outback hellhole... no problem I'm your guy. When the next business cycle downturn comes guess who has a better chance of sticking around... yep the guy in the place no one else wanted to go to.
Back in late 2008 I was working in Sakhalin Island. No one likes working there, we just put up with it. When sh!t hit the fan my job was one of the safest positions in the company. It didn't hurt matters that Shell just got their first production on-line about that same time and their Sakhalin II project ran $10 bln over budget. They weren't going to stop drilling for sure.