Opinions needed! IB/PB intern in Europe, but from non-target in SEA.
I'm gonna need all the opinions I can get about this one, since I'm clueless about it from a real-life perspective.
Okay here's the scoop: I'm a finance sophomore in a non-target business school in Asia, and I'm heading to France for a student exchange program at the end of February. I'm currently doing a local internship in an MM, and my boss has kindly offered to get in touch with his banking networks over there to see if I can get a spring week attachment or even an internship. Needless to say, if that goes through, it'll be a great opportunity for me to learn and network.
Thing is, it got me wondering if it'd be too long a shot to apply for a summer internship in IB in Europe (possibly London or France) at the end of my exchange program in June/July, in terms of feasibility. Would there be any obstacles to this? Working Visa, local internship restrictions, etc.
I would really want to undertake an internship in Europe over the summer, and I'm prepared to take a semester off to pursue it, if that helps. If there are any out there who can shed more light on this, please do offer help!





You need to be eligible to
You need to be eligible to work in Europe (visa) and it is already late to apply for summer internships. The only way I can see is trying to use your boss' network or look for some random internship once you are in France and using your exchange school career page.
SocGen and Mediobanca sometimes drop some internship openings on efinancialcareer so you may keep a look on it.
Actually, if you are in
Actually, if you are in France/UK on a student visa, you are allowed to work as an intern. You should not have any restrictions. You can actually work full-time after you graduate on your student visa so long that it has not expired (they will put you on a CDD/contract with a determined duration in France).
It is probably too late to apply for 2013 summer internships at the bulge brackets and top indepedent banks/elite boutiques, but the MM and other boutiques will be more flexible.
Most of the internships in France are 6-month long term positions with primary start dates in January and September, along with many ad-hoc start dates (in order to make sure there are somewhat experienced interns available all year round). You will find more 3-4 month internships available in London.
In terms of whether or not it is a long shot.. well if you are on exchange at one of the top grande écoles or universities (HEC, ESSEC, ESCP, Polytechnique, SciencesPo), you should have on campus recruitment or decent access to HR through career services. The banks here will not put much weight on your Asian non-target school if you are going to a top school here, especially if you bring a desired language skill (i.e. Mandarin Chinese).
PM me if you have more specific questions.