Australian IB internships and career questions
Hey everyone, I've been lurking around on the forum and looking around at a few Aussie topics, however none of them really answered my questions. Leading me to make a new thread.
A bit of background info on me, I'm a first year Law/Commerce (Finance) student at Monash based in Melbourne and have been looking into getting into IB or any decent finance related role for a while now, however some of the info I've gathered has been pretty vague and contradictory. To be perfectly honest I'm much more interested in an RX / distressed capital role. However I realise that there are very few IB, let alone RX roles in Australia that I would be eligible for without a solid IB background.
1. Should I switch to Melbourne Uni? I've got the requisite ATAR (entry score) needed to switch to Melb Uni Commerce, and I realise that Melb Uni has a stronger finance presence as well as more placements overall, however I enjoy the law side of my degree a lot and wouldn't mind an M&A law position either. Doing so would also mean that I would potentially waste a year of my degree.
2. Internship tips?
I've been building my case comp and DCF skills by watching vids and reading the IB technicals book by Rosenbaum. Is there anyway else I can realistically standout in my application? The major finance clubs in my Uni are very cliquey, so I'm not sure If I'll be able to land a leadership role, however I could potentially gun for non-finance club leadership if it's a deal breaker.
On a side note: I've been thinking of cold calling / emailing small shops and boutique firms in my city and potentially asking for internships, am I just being a nuisance and wasting my time?
3. Is networking supposed to be like this?
Regarding networking, I've attempted to reach out to a few alumni for coffee chats via Linkedin, but I've been getting ghosted left and right -- basically not even getting my connection request w/ a note accepted which is pretty painful...
4. Is the IB scene here as shit as most people I've asked make it out to be?
The few people I've spoken to have all said that the IB scene in Australia is extremely tiny, and the majority of roles are in Syndey rather than Melbourne. Ie: Unless my dad is an MD at GS, im unlikely to get an IB adjacent role.
This alongside the anecdotal stories about the crappy total comp of junior roles even in BB has discouraged me a little bit. I thought IB had decent comp and exit ops? This doesn't really seem like the case in Australia.
5. Alternate career paths to IB?
I've heard about the more common deal-advisory at big4 --> analyst pathway, but I'd really rather not slog away in a big4 firm straight out of uni. Is Top tier commercial law --> Associate a viable path in Australia? I'd be willing to relocate to Sydney once I graduate or land a decent role.
Thanks for reading my wall of text, sorry about any grammatical mistakes as I'm writing this late at night. Feel free to reach out via messages or comments :) .
Based on the most helpful WSO content, here’s a breakdown of advice tailored to your questions:
1. Switching to Melbourne Uni
2. Internship Tips
3. Networking Challenges
4. IB Scene in Australia
5. Alternate Career Paths
Additional Tips:
The Australian IB scene may be smaller, but with persistence, strategic networking, and skill-building, you can carve out a path to your desired role. Keep pushing forward!
Sources: Freshmen: What to do during your freshman year summer, 5 Steps To Becoming A Rockstar Freshman (Undergrad Advice), 7 Tips for the Boutique IB Summer Stint, Liberal Arts Undergrads: A few tips to land THE internship, Advice for summer and return offer rate?
Firstly re your RX point, can confidently say it's almost non-existent in Australia - IB is limited to HL and MA, and equity buyside there are a few (Bain SS / Allegro / Anchorage) but definitely small market here. Probably not much structured equity / distressed debt either. It's not like the US with your PJTs, Apollos and Centerbridges so would say non-RX roles are more feasible.
To answer your questions:
1. I can't confidently give an answer on this, but I think there are definitely quite a few Monash people I've seen around in the Melbourne scene. From experience it's usually the grades, work exp and candidate themselves that's the most important for recruiting. I don't think a bank would take a UMelb student over a Monash student if the Monash student was better, just because they were a Monash student.
2. Your grades and attitude I think is what will make you stand out as a first year, over a leadership position at a society. Staying in the society and being rated by the people there can get you to interviews due to legacy positions being passed down but imo that's about it. You definitely should start cold emailing and reaching out as that's how a lot of off cycle internships are secured in Australia from my observations.
3. You need to start thinking this is the norm not the exception. It's not abnormal to sometimes get ghosted by people you personally know, even after following up. You genuinely are in such a tight mental headspace in IB that you can't relate to it as a uni student, but I guarantee you it's nothing personal and these people probably would be keen to get coffee with you too, it's just they will need to stay until 3am and not 2am whilst also losing social capital with their VP.
4. Majority of roles are definitely in Sydney and not Melbourne, but would not say nepotism is the norm here, rather the exception (saying this as someone with no prior connections in corporate in general). I do think it's harder to break into IB in Australia compared to the US, but I don't think the comp is really that much worse. If you go to NYC or London, your comp might be slightly higher but so are your living costs (as expensive as Australia already is), and tax in London is not better. Reality is if you want to accumulate wealth you will have to go to a lower tax jurisdiction - I've seen people who had the dream pathway (BB IB -> MF PE or equiv pay), and can't buy a house at 30+.
5. M&A Law at big 6 -> Analyst is possible, and have seen people do this before. Doubt you can go straight to Associate unless you were more senior in your law job.
Thanks for the taking the time to respond, your comment was very detailed and insightful. I can't say that I didn't expect the number of RX or equivalent positions would be effectively non-existent considering how small the market here is.
If you don't mind me asking, do most juniors in IB land offers straight out of uni, or do they transfer later down the line?
Cheers,
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