International Student recruiting London, HK, Singapore

Title says it all. I'm a target school international student planning to recruit for BB at offices in London, HK, and Singapore or anywhere abroad. I'm sure there are many in my boat. With H1-B and highly skilled immigration regulations getting tougher everyday in the US. The Senate just approved a bill that raises H1-B fees from $500 to $2500 and just speaking with recruiters and also looking at it from a Financial reform perspective, even if you are a US citizen, it just seems like opportunities are much better abroad. What do you guys think?

Where would your office of choice be and why?

Do you think compensation would be in terms of US$ or local standards?

There is this notion that most Asian offices tend to be doing Back office work, is this true? One would think that there are ton of emerging market opportunities in Asia, there would be heavy deal flow from a PE, IPO perspective.

How is it recruiting from a target US school into a foreign office? Anyone been throught it? Please share your experience

London would probably be closest in terms of work culture to the US, but how different is it in Asia Pacific?

7 Comments
 

I wouldn't really call Stern a target school...it's a semi-target at best and the name recognition isn't that high outside of the USA

 
chubbybunnyuhhh lol?

Don't listen to liverp00l. He's an idiot.

NYU Stern is definitely a target and is heavily recruited in the sell side.

I'm an idiot? Your birthday is in fucking 1992. Fucking freshmen... I actually work in banking so I think you should stfu.

 
Best Response

I'm not from the US, but I am an international student in London, going to be joining a BB for an internship, and I've faced quite a few problems with my status. It's only the largest banks that will sponsor any sort of work permit, and with the cap coming in, it's going to be even worse. I think you'll have a tougher time coming from the US into London straight out of university, I've seen a few Americans at my assessment centres, but they all seem to the same top 3 Ivy League type. You have the option to apply here of course, but bear in mind that you're competing not only with Brits, but with Europeans and the international students here as well. And the internationals already studying here, have a leg up as they can get a 2 year visa once they've graduated.

And as for Stern, I wouldn't know much about it, I suppose it would be like Imperial, where I study, which is a target here, but virtually unknown outside the UK.

tl;dr, it's going to be quite difficult if you aren't a Harvard guy.

 

spetznas316,

If you are at a target school in the US and are open to IB my advice would be to shoot for a job in the U.S.

Banks are hiring more now and having a few years of BB experience in NYC as an analyst is a very solid asset on your resume. After couple years (or even sooner) you will always have an option of transferring internally within a bank to a different office, or getting another job with a another bank (or other financial institution) in a different location. Also BB have the H1-B process very streamlined and the H1-B fees hike is really insignificant given the overall recruiting and labor cost in this industry.

We discuss career options for international students on our blog: http://www.F1toH1.com

Best of luck!

 
spetznas316 There is this notion that most Asian offices tend to be doing Back office work, is this true?

don't know where you got that from.. but that is very wrong. theres the exact same front office positions like ibd and markets in asia, specifically hk/china/singapore. Pay is normally the same as with US, or sometimes better with housing stipend etc. (coupled with low tax if youre not a US citizen, you can cash in big time)

for hk, recruiting is just applying on their website or through your career website where they normally might have postings too. then youll normally have a few phone interviews before they fly you in to nyc for superdays. Culture is slightly different and depends on which bank but hours are same if not longer.

 

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