So I've been reading this forum for a few months now, and being based in the UK, its given me a very good perspective of the industry in the US.
The most pointed cultural difference I have seen from this board between UK and US bankers/students is the competetiveness and focus/drive of the US guys. There's a lot more awareness from a younger age about the recruitment process, about the various firms, their divisions and groups, individual leaders in firms etc, and of course a desire to trump the next guy and achieve career progression.
Would those who have worked/studied in both locations agree with this? Could anyone give examples or anecdotes of their experiences in this regard?
I agree with that, investment banking and private equity are definitely more instituationalized in the U.S than in say London.
I generally find, on average people come from New York are more aggressive (not in a bad way) and are better than people from London in terms of investment banking skills....
Working at a BB in London, I note that there's less of a focus on degree level or uni, in the UK, than there is on GPA and target schools in the US. Networking and internships are far more important (in my experience). Friends who simply got a 2.1 as their degree were eligable to put in a credible application to any bank, and the sense of a target university is mitigated by experience - I know people working for Ibanks from obscure universities, and doing obscure degrees (met a guy who did BA in Art History a while back) - the common factor seems to be the key placement (or two) that they did during a summer.
Hope this helps. I find the issue interesting as well.
Bb.
Definitely agree that internship experience is a more significant factor than which uni you are from when it comes to BB recruiting in the UK, however I thought this was the case in the U.S as well? can someone confirm that?
I still think going to a target uni is very important in London, you might come across afew people coming from odd unis, however majority of the analysts pool comes from oxbridge, imperial and LSE. There just not that many target unis in the UK compare to the U.S
although I work in a BB in London as well, and I hate to say it, but I generally find U.S analyst more knowledgeable and more technical...
that's cause the average US analyst did lots of finance/accounting courses in college. in UK, there are plenty of econ grads but they lack the finance/accounting knowledge simply because these courses are pretty much non-existent in UK unis. The system is not as liberal as in the US.
Entirely agree about the IB and private equity (as well as the career path to get to PE) being more institutionalised in the US.
Could we apply to the UK ibanks then?
I don't think it's all that feasible to apply directly for London positions coming out of school, unless you're already in London. My British cousin once connected me with HR at her bank in London. HR told me, I need to apply through the New York office.
from talking to analysts in the U.S, it seems that there is a step by step guide on how you life will be when you join the finance industry,
ivy school->BB->PE-->MBA-->PE-->Cars and Houses-->blond wives (lol) -->white kids-->ivy school-->the cycle continues....lol lol
In london, things are more flexible, i think you can move into PE after BB any time between when you are second year analyst all the way to VP..
The UK's not 'easier' to get into, it's just less rigid.
London-based Investment Banks aren't easy at all to get in. There are lots of stages in the application process and by no means is it less 'intensive'. The only difference is in how they recruit. Numerical and verbal tests play a large role in 'weeding' out the weaker students. I know some really strong students at the LSE who didn't get any Spring weeks at banks because they failed to get past the tests. With the type of CVs they had they would have gotten interviews in the US.
They're not strong if they couldnt even get pass the tests.
OP, there are 113 universities in the UK, and 5000+ in the US. Do the math.
You may want to consider the fact that London applicants come from all Europe and not only the UK. And the fact that each European country has its own standards and higher education schemes force UK banks to be less rigid I suppose.
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