international student from dubai
hi, i am currently a junior - will be a senior this coming fall - studying finance at OSU and have a 3.2 gpa. I have previous experience with KPMG - corporate finance 2 yrs ago in Dubai. I have also been accepted for a month long asset management training program at Merrill Lynch in Dubai this summer.
i am involved in various organizations which include the finance association and a couple of social work organizations. i am also in a business fraternity.
i am simply trying to gauge between going back to dubai for this month-long program or stay back and knock off some courses/improve my gpa. i am due for graduation in june 2008 but i can extend that till december 2008 if i get good internship opportunities.
i am looking to get into i-banking here in the united states .if anyone could advise/help/comment on my position i would appreciate it.
are you an actual Emirate? If so, work for a BB in Dubai for like a year because I know the BB companies have to give priority to Emirates than anyone else. You wanna hook me up with an IB job in Dubai? Your GPA kind of sucks though. 3.2 is okay from a target, not from a non-target. 3.5 is recommended.
nope i am an indian. and there arent that many emaratis available for the positions there. moreover, merrill lynch, kpmg among others are equal opportunity employers..its the local companies that want arabs rather than expatriates..n i heard tht hsbc also is doing the same..
i do have intermediate ability in arabic and will be taking conversation classes this summer so hopefully that shld give me an edge when i come back to dubai...but right now my priority is to get a good job here for a couple of yrs..then an mba..n then lets see
as for the gpa..i have about 3 quarters to improve it..but i obviously wont reach the 3.5 mark...how about a 3.3 - 3.4 with a high major gpa say above 3.75
Well, I am a student too and have been told 3.5 overall isn't the exact minimum but recommended to just get an interview. I do recommend just to network. It is true that networking can land you jobs. Talk with other Indians that are already in IB, and believe me there are a lot of them. Not sure if an Indian likes to help a fellow Indian out though.
Also, HSBC does that sort of thing. They pretty much advertise for an award received by the government for hiring many Emirates on their UAE company site.
not worth worrying about the GPA, what's done is done, you've already had an internship and you should have plenty of room to network. why not work in dubai? 0% tax, not bad...
the money in dubai is not going to be great. theyre looking for people with foreign experience preferably US, Europe. if you have that foreign experience you can expect atleast 50% higher pay.
therefore it only makes sense to get a job here, work a couple of yrs, get a good MBA and then go back
Aditya...
I would play things by ear more. Stay flexible, hedge your bets both ways. Be the international badazz you are, it sounds like you've got great experience so I'm sure you're interesting and obviously an A- or B+ student. You're not doing too bad.
In other words, you're going to get a job somewhere, it just may not be bulge.
not sure what the recruiting scene is like at OSU, but I'd imagine a 3.2 is a bit on the low side for a BB. But nothing that a little networking can't negate. Leverage as many of your dad's friends in the industry to get a foot in the door, and use these forums to prepare well for interviews.
In any case, MM banks love zealous finance kids willing to beaver away till the wee hours of the morning. My advice would be to nudge the GPA up as much as you can and continue padding that resume with brand-names --> ML and KPMG are good starts. The work that you'll do will mostly likely be crap at these internships (I know firsthand what internships are like in the GCC) so you need to find a way to make your experience sound infinitely better than it is. Even if you don't do certain things on the job, learn about how others do it, so you can talk about it during your interview.
Honestly don't think there's any reason you won't land SOME type of IB gig, provided you work your ass off from now onwards.
One more thing - don't discount the opportunities in Dubai. Dubai International Capital (DIC) do some pretty good PE work, and the majority of their portfolio is international (stakes in Daimler-Chrysler, Tussauds Group).
Admittedly, they outsource most of their due diligence to Morgan Stanley, and they're a little weak on the modeling. But good int'l exposure nonetheless(you get to tour around Europe /North America with seniors, meeting with execs in the pre acq phase). They're small too, so you can establish a footing and scale up quicker if you prove your worth.
Istithmar is great as well. Also v. international in their outlook. They own a pretty large stake in Perella Weinberg. Good, tax free money in all PE shops in Dubai once you get past analyst - but thats the same in NY too.
network and make friends. My emirate friend here, failed first year math, switched to economics, got suspended for cheating. Went home and worked at HSBC for the term, dubai is all connections, either that or you gotta be a genuis and work your butt off.
thanks for your input guys..but the main dilemma am facing right now goes like this..
i can stay back here all summer and knock some major core courses...as of now i dont have many..i still have atleast 3 quarters before i graduate and thats about 12 courses atleast
either that or as i told u this merrill opportunity is just a month long program wher they have about 10 kids...they said there will be training on asset management for 1-2 hrs every morning..n ther will be a lot of research and presentations and case studies..what do u think?
n after this i will be free july and august..so am going to try and find another good opportunity that will keep me busy for 2 months
now some ppl say tht a dubai internship is useless...now thats if ur doing all the filing n printing n typing n shit..i am definitely not doing this kind of work
and some ppl say that any kind of work experience puts you a step ahead of the rest
so yeah i hardly have a couple of days on hand to make my decision
again, i appreciate your input guys
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