Q&A: Non-Target International Student to BB IB Internship

Question

Background:

Moved to the U.S. in 2013 to pursue my undergraduate degree in finance (non-target). I was fortunate enough to secure an IB internship at a BB bank through their non-target recruiting program (NY location). I also had no prior internship experience and had no pre-established contacts working in finance prior to moving to the U.S. Finding a company to sponsor my visa after graduating was challenging, so I was tossing up moving to Canada / Australia / England / Hong Kong etc.

Landshark17 · Accepted Answer

Networking struggles were typical of any non-target (no real base of folks to connect with that would help create a path). What I leveraged was looking for people that were from the same country as I am working in finance in the U.S. regardless of where they went to school. I would say you just have to be relentless and just keep pushing until you break in and make progress. I used to give my self daily / weekly goals of how many networking calls I would do (I think I used to target like 3 a day in my peak recruiting efforts).

Landshark17 · Answer

I am fortunate enough to hold a Canadian passport, so directly after college I transitioned to a TN-1 (visa under NAFTA). The last company I worked for didn't really want to try for the H-1B. I ended up switching jobs, getting a new TN-1, and then my new employer just got me a H-1B. I applied earlier this year, and won the lottery in April and just moved onto it as of 10/1.

Honestly, if I didn't get the H-1B, I would have left the U.S. In my mind, doing a masters here would have been expensive just to try for the H-1B again.

Landshark17 · Answer

For what it's worth, I was a finance major. The H-1B is incredibly stressful (most of my foreign friends weren't able to stay in the U.S. after graduation). When I first came to the U.S. the path was easier as more companies were willing to sponsor the visa, but as it has become more competitive to get selected as well as the govt's stance towards immigration, it has become more difficult for sure. The old way was to go work for a big bank, large tech firm or big 4 accounting firm - but many of them no longer sponsor for the H-1B at the entry level.

Landshark17 · Answer

It is difficult to say. I thought I would join the bank I interned FT, but they lost a handful of analysts that didn't get their H-1B visa, and although they sent them to other international offices, it was still a loss to their NY team, so their appetite for international students wasn't as high. It really depends a lot, like do they know the sponsorship process (timeline and costs) have they gone through it recently with an employee etc.

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Q&A: Non-Target International Student to BB IB Internship

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Q&A: Non-Target International Student to BB IB Internship

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