Need advice for BB IBD Summer Analyst position in HK/Singapore: No Chinese + Non-US School?
As a lurker of these forums over the past year who is extremely grateful for all the useful information, I just wanted to reach out to all the HK/Singapore-based WSO users for some help.
I'm currently aiming for an IBD SA position in HK or Singapore and had a couple of quick questions. (I've done some basic research and reached out to the few people I know in HK, but would appreciate more diverse perspectives.)
Quick Profile:
- ex-Japan/China/HK Asian country national
- Native in English (spent majority of life abroad) and home country language with very limited/basic Mandarin
- Top university in home country (Business Administration major, 4.0+/4.3 GPA)
- Just finished BB IBD SA program in home country (good final evaluation but no return offer--none of the very few SAs got one due to lack of headcount/TO and expected future downsizing)
- Have also done a six-month internship at home country office of a large Japanese PEF (received a return offer) and an off-cycle internship at another BB IBD in home country.
Due to the difficult IBD market conditions in my home country (extremely competitive with very few positions available; no guarantee that another SA next year will net me a return offer regardless of performance), I've decided to also try for a SA program in HK/Singapore.
In short, what I'm curious about is the following:
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How realistic is it for a person of my background (no Chinese, non-US school) to nab a BB IBD in HK/Singapore? To be blunt, I'm more-or-less quite confident in my abilities with regards to the work/interviews, but my lack of HK/Singapore network as well as my age (I'm a senior with an additional two years spent in the military) make me wonder if I'm a viable candidate. I understand the Chinese is less of a factor in Singapore, so I guess I'm more hopeful there.
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How much will my inability to get a return offer this summer affect my chances? While I can better explain the circumstances if it comes up in a full-on interview, it'd be hard to do so in my resume; thus, I'm considering actually removing the experience from my resume altogether (if it comes to that).
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For the more experienced folk, do you have any career advice/suggestions for what else I could aim for given my current profile/past experiences, be it other firms (non-BBs) or other regions (perhaps outside of Asia, if that would be feasible at all)?
Needless to say, I really want to make it in a BB IBD and frankly, being unable to get an offer this summer was extremely frustrating (especially considering how many of the HK SAs in my SA class were able to--nothing against them, just two completely different market/industry environments; hope that doesn't come off as too presumptuous). I just really, really want a shot at a SA program and a shot to prove myself (I'm confident in my abilities to do well once there).
Any help/advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance, and apologies for the long post.
Bump, anyone?
Bump
As someone who just summered in a top BB SA program in HK, I can say that not being able to speak Mandarin well / use Mandarin in a professional setting is a big negative for BBs in HK (and my BB already is probably the most international out of all of them). Even the white people at my BB are able to use Mandarin professionally.
Can't speak to whether or not that is true for SG, but your chances will definitely be better there vs HK.
Thanks for your comment. Was that for IBD?
Yes. GCM is more international friendly
Depends on what the "home country language" is. If it's something useful like say Korean (the military service makes me think you might know it) or Japanese its definitely a big plus even if you don't know any Mandarin.
Yes, that would be correct.
So what you're saying is that you've seen cases or heard about foreigners from non-US schools in BB IBDs in HK/Singapore?
Thanks.
Why not target Korean companies like, say Mirae Asset? Many of them have offices in Hong Kong (and Singapore most likely as well)
No I have not (at least not personally). There are a ton of highly qualified HK graduates of Ivy league/Oxbridge universities who don't need a Visa. It's difficult to get a HK Visa unless you have some special skill (e.g Korean or some other language people in HK don't commonly speak, professional basketball skills, etc)
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