London vs Frankfurt (2019)
Guys, I would like to hear your opinion on:
Internship/analyst experience? Pay/savings (COL)? PE recruiting? Nightlife? Girls?
My options: T1 BB in Frankfurt vs T2-3 BB in London
What is essential for me: culture and PE recruiting
I am very curious about how do you see the culture in Frankfurt. I did an internship at T2 there (not BB) and these 3 months were by far the worst experience ever. Even though I speak good German, for me, a Southern European, it was very hard to fit into local culture. Stiff people who don't want to have any social interaction, less international, hard to make friends/meet girls, social life incomparable to London... was it just wrong place at the wrong time or is this a standard in Frankfurt?
Here you are:
Internship/analyst experience?: it really depends on the bank more than the market (the group within the bank). Go with the one you felt more "at home" with and it'll be a good summer. In both cities you'll find legend MDs or Associates which will work you to the bone. It's partly luck I guess.
Pay/savings (COL)?: Frankfurt. Generally in Germany, the CoL:Pay ratio is way out of wack with CoL being very low compared to the monster salaries you get in IB or MC. From a purely financial standpoint, Frankfurt is your best bet.
PE recruiting?: It depends. Many PE firms have German offices so that'll help if you want to stay in Germany (but the language requirements may be stricter in PE). Any PE firm with 2 guys and pulse tries to set up in London so I would dare say London for PE.
Nightlife?: London and it's not even close. Frankfurt has some life but it is minimal. In London you can pretty much do and find anything you want. From super cool underground speakeasy bars to live sex shows on Wednesday night at The Box.
Girls?: Depends on what you like my man. You can find babes or baboons in both cities. I guess from a pure "diversity" standpoint you have get more types in London but it just depends on what you like. In both cases though, if you have IB hours the only action you'll be getting is some "alone time" ;)
LDN pays less and has higher average living expenses
That's true.
But in Frankfurt I would have to live with people like you.