Hi looking for some advise:
I’m pursuing full time opportunities in London and wanted to ask if people have insight into which banks IBD have the best culture (work/life, collegiality, etc). I am from US but applying to London offices due to language skills. I’m particularly interested in LevFin and DCM but happy to hear other insights.
What should I anticipate in terms of hours and vacation? (I have a partner who’s not super into long work hours)
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As london is not NYC where networking is necessary you wont find banks with a set culture. You pretty much apply everywhere online, and see where you get interviews/offers and take the best. If you speak European languages good for you, can always help if you are fluent, will especially help for buy-side recruiting. Strong banks in LevFin/DCM are the same as in the US, hence BAML/JPM/CS Citi (?) and DB (not sure if you want to work there).
Hours will be long but certainly not as bad as the US. You can expect to be in the office 30% of the time at 1am+
"you wont find banks with a set culture."
Definitely not true, different banks have different cultural environments.
Absolutely agree. For starters, there's a very marked difference between US and European franchises.
I feel like the US banks are more competitive than EU banks but thats about it. There are no Athlete/Frat/nerds banks/teams as in the US.
Would you say cold-calls/emails in the London/UK is regarded as a faux pas? Are people there less likely to be receptive to invitations for coffees, etc?
Definitely not a faux pas but people won't be as responsive if at all to cold networking. Once I got my offer with a BB and got invited to a dinner to network with people from the firm, one of the Alumni was like 'oh I saw your message', 'did you reach out to me on LinkedIn/Email' although he never responded. Then had a great chat with the guy as I had an offer and he knew I was proactive and specifically interested in his group.
I feel like in the UK the networking happens in between the first round of interviews up to your internship/placement day.
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This mainly depends on the bank. I have friends in DCM (BNP, MS) that work 9am-10pm with Saturday/Sunday off (sometimes), friends in CS's LevFin that work 9am-midnight everyday.. But it mainly depends on your seniority, your department, the bank and of course the project(s) you're working on
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