Nailing a HF job in US as a foreigner
Background:
I'll be graduating with a MSc in Finance in 6 months from a top University in Northern Europe. Barring any worst case scenarios, I'll be graduating with a GPA that'll put me in top 3%, and I'll graduate 2 years early (5 year target of getting BSc&MSc, I took 3). I'll be working the summer in my home country (trading), and will complete CFA level I exam in summer. Thing is, staying in Europe doesn't interest me one bit - for personal reasons, I want to live and work in USA, and I'm now trying to build a solid plan that I can follow to make my dream become a reality.
Buy-side is my ultimate end goal, although I'm willing to pay my dues on sell-side if this is the best way to go. As a foreigner, my biggest challenge will obviously be Visa related. I am very confident that I will have a leg up on the B.Sc students in US (I have studied in a top US school as well for a brief period of time, hence my understanding on the level of competition).
The way I see it, I have a couple of options:
1. Start applying for jobs here and hope I find a company that believes in me and is willing to sponsor H1B, and then hope I get lucky with the lottery. Long shot?
2. Get some degree in USA, e.g something related to programming, that I can complete within a year, and use that to get me a Visa. I won't be able to afford a top school for this, so I have no idea how prospective employers would view a move like this? This would carry the advantage that I would have 1 year in US to actually do some networking, attend interviews in person and I could also get CFA II while doing all this.
3. Internship in a US company with J-1 Visa. No idea how practical solution this would be for the employer, but at least the company would have time to sponsor me for H1B for more than 1 round.
What do you guys recon is my best bet of making this happen? Did I miss any options?
Fellow European here.
I'd say all your options could work, here are my thoughts:
If you work for a larger firm with US operations (and you nail it) sooner or later they will transfer you somewhere else. This of course will be where they see fit but there's a good chance for it being the US. If you are working for a hedge fund in continental Europe chances for this happening may be smaller.
Risky. Although I have not fallen into the prestige trap, going to a worse school might not be worth it. As I've heard from others as well OCR is really important in the US. I assume you have no or little debt, you could go to a top 1 year program, I've this move done before.
You'd have to find a firm in the US to hire you as an intern, which could be difficult as well.
Do you have any contacts in the US? Have you considered London?
Thank you for you comment Friend!
Like you mentioned, transferring internally might be a bit trickier on buy side, especially hedge funds.
It seems like many top programs also give very generous scholarships that would make it a lot more feasible to do this in a top school, if I'd go with M.Sc that is. Another option of course would be to apply for PhD and try to go to industry ABD. I might eventually want to do PhD anyways, but putting in 5 more years in school before going to industry doesn't sound all that appealing... I wonder how much value e.g. MFE would add after already having M.Sc in Finance - I could use it to prop up my math and programming skills a fair bit so it would be useful, but I wonder how easily I could sell this decision vs. just getting more work experience in Europe? Given my options, this one might be the best though, as it would also send much stronger signal to employers than my European degree from a school that few people in US have even heard of.
True, but probably still easier than nailing a FT offer straight away - how easily the internship could be turned into FT offer might be debatable though, considering the uncertainty of H1B lottery.
I have considered London, career wise it would probably be better than US (considering that making US Visa my #1 goal will limit my options when it comes to finding a job). However, there are personal reasons why I prefer USA, and I am willing to prioritize this goal over career development if need be. I do have some contacts in US, but unfortunately none that would be too useful for nailing a job in markets.
And yes, I had the same issue. I don't recall anybody knowing about my school either, not that it really matters once you're in but it's something to consider whilst applying.
These are just some thoughts of mine. I wish you the best of luck!
Thank you once again for you reply!
Most well ranked PhD programs give out scholarships to top applicants AFAIK, but you still have to get by with very little money and put in lots of hours. Like I said, might not be what I want to do for the next 4-5 years. I'm starting to lean towards maybe getting that Master's in Econ/Accounting/something stats or math related. All of there could be somewhat justified in terms of learning, and if I try to nail internship and get some work experience in Europe during 2015-2016, it would also give me enough time to finish all 3 CFA exams, as long as I pass them on the first go. In terms of degrees and qualifications, this would be kinda hard to top (probably more like a bit excessive).
Are you currently working in a HF in US, and if so, how did you fight your way in? I would be really interested in hearing from other people who have done the same - not a lot of this kind of stories out there.
An international trying to break into a value HF looking for advice (Originally Posted: 05/25/2013)
Hello fellow monkeys,
This is my first post. Any help would be much appreciated!
I graduated from college a year ago, and worked since in a boutique valuation shop in a small country in the EMEA region. In the course of my studies I got passionate about value investing and decided that my ultimate goal is to work at a value oriented HF in the US (I'm not American, so I'll have get the H1B).
What do you think will be a better way to go?
1) look for a job in IBD in my home country for the next year and if I can find one then work for 2 years - MBA (US) - HF.
2) another year in the valuation shop - MBA (US) - HF.
3) another year in the valuation shop - MBA (US) - IBD (as an Associate for 2 years) - HF.
Thanks a lot!
Number 1) look for a job in IBD in my home country for the next year and if I can find one then work for 2 years - MBA (US) - HF. Sounds like a good idea. Why not look for an American IB first?
1)
Forgot to mention, but since my country is quite small, the number of people that all the BB recruit altogether for an analyst/intern position during one year is very low, might even be around 15.
I'm 27 years old and I feel that I can't afford to spend another year waiting for an opening.
Given that info, do you think that scenario (1) [look for a job in finance in my home country] is always better than (2) and (3) even if i'll find myself working at a local boutique IB or even ER and not BB IBD?
Thanks!
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