Yay or Nay--Starting out in an international office?

Hi guys:

Over the years, it's always been a popular question for young graduates to ask whether they might be better off if they started in an international office. From what I've seen and what I've experienced myself, I've gathered some (hopefully useful) things that you can consider before you make the decision. Here, I use the phrase "international office" to refer to major financial hubs outside of New York and London . My own knowledge mostly pertains to Asian and Latin American hubs--I've worked in one, and have several friends who have started out in the others.

I'd break the decision down to 4 parts: 1) training/education, 2) do you have a competitive advantage, 3) exposure/opportunities, 4) personal compatibility. I'll write about the first 2 this week, and the remaining 2 next week (sorry, the post's a bit long, so I want to split it into 2 parts to structure my own thinking better).

Off we go:

Part 1--Training/education

If you work in a field that is somewhat technical (investment banking, equity/credit research, investment), the training you get is likely to be less structured than your peers in New York/London, for the following reasons--1) not all international firms are committed to training local employees, 2) some locations have never had very established structures in your field, and "teaching young people" might not be a popular concept (ie, you might be expected to shut up and put in your time before your managers will even consider teaching you anything). Breaking it down:

1) Commitment to training local employees

If you join an international office on your own rather than as part of an analyst program, this can be a very big challenge for you. (It's always easier to have an HR personnel dedicated to one whole class of people's development, rather than having an HR personnel who's dedicated to one single person's development). Unfortunately, from what I've seen, not all multi-national companies dedicate the same level of commitment to talent development in every region. Before you decide to start your career in a location, it might be good to reach out to people who already work in that office, and ask them about the kind of work they do and the kind of training they receive. If you don't know anyone who currently works there, an alternative would be to find people on linkedin who had worked in that office before, and see how they've fared. You can even reach out to them and ask them about their opinions--in many cases, they are more willing to be open since they are no longer working there.

I've never asked anyone in corporate development/HR why international offices don't always receive the same quality of training, but my guess would be it's because they are not as important to the company in terms of revenue generation yet; therefore, they get less support as well. Just be aware that this is a challenge that you might face if you start out in an international location.

2) Lack of established structure/lack of a teaching culture

"Headquarter locations" like New York and London tend to be more structured--the same thing has been done by many people for several generations, and current "key employees" probably know what they are doing. If you work in an emerging hub, then chances are, your specific industry niche has only been active in that location for 5-10 years. What that means for you is that in your "business chain" (people who support you such as back/middle office, people who work with you such as fellow junior employees who are a few years older, and your managers), there are more likely to be people who follow their own structure (sometimes no structure at all) rather than a uniform, tried-and-proven process, and this can complicate your work for you.

More importantly, not all cultures encourage young people to ask questions. I personally think this is much more problematic than a mere lack of structure, However, if you plan to move to any region for work, you should probably know if the local culture is like that. Some locations expect young employees to shut up and follow instruction; they are only allowed to say anything after they've "put in their time". You need to know if this style is going to work for you.

If you know which team you will be working with in advance, I think it's a good idea to look up the background of your potential bosses. (another thing: when you are a junior, everyone is your boss, unfortunately, haha!) Did he/she come from a location/background whose culture expects junior to "suck it up" with 0 teaching and support? Did he/she have working experience in other locations that might make him/her more open-minded to your learning approach? I never thought about this when I first started working, but knowing these things can really help you to plan and anticipate the challenges you might face.

Part 2--do you have a competitive advantage?

The type of people who tend to do well in interviews and in subsequent job performances tend to be people who have a competitive advantage in working in the specific region. A few things to consider:

1) Do you speak the language, or have any cultural or biological ties?

For example, if you are of Japanese heritage and can speak Japanese, you will do much better in Japan than someone who can't--many Japanese clients still prefer to speak with a Japanese person by a far stretch. However, if you are non-Chinese speaking American (or insert other nationalities) who wants to work in the greater China region, at this point, I think there are still some opportunities for you (depending on your stats, experience, and "story").

In most regions though, one can no longer get by or gain credence just because one is a foreigner. Your competition is greater now--not only will you face foreigners who can speak the local language, you will also face a sea of local candidates who can speak English very well. In the long run, knowing the language and/or having some cultural ties can only help you in making professional connections and establishing a network locally. Knowing the local culture can also help you to anticipate future business developments more readily, though this is something that you can develop after you start working as well.

2）Do you know the professional landscape of the region?

Just like investment banking in New York, finance in other continents tend to be a small circle as well, and very often, you will find that most finance people in your location went to the same high school/college/had parents who are social with each other. Obviously, people who are already tapped into these regional circles tend to do well---for the same reasons that NY bankers who went to Exeter/HYP do--they are already networked in and they know what are the right things to do, and they fit into the culture already.

If you are looking to start out in a new region with no prior experience, try to see if you can understand these social groups. At some point of your career, you might need to connect with them. If you can do so naturally, then great! all the better for you! If you can't, it is okay too--you still have many opportunities in the years ahead. I'd say just be honest with yourself, and try to understand if the professional landscape of the region is one in which you can develop and do well.

End of part 1

I just want to put in a disclaimer here that I can only speak from my own experience and those of my friends who've started their career outside of New York and London. I hope I'm not over-generalizing things in the post above. I wrote this post because I want to be able to share some of my perspectives with other people, and hopefully some bits of information might be helpful to others. If you have any specific questions, please post them in the reply and I will try to see if I can help answer them. If your experience is very different from what I described above, please share them as well--I always look forward to reading different experience and responses, and thank you as well.