Roles in Finance with International Mobility?

What roles in finance would give you good international mobility? Im talking the opportunity to move around on a semi-permanent basis?

I've seen the HSBC IM programme, and I think Standard Chartered have a similar one. Are there any others?

As a sub question, how are the two programmes above rated vs. a typical BB FO career path? Would they give you opps into top MBAs and PE/HF?

21 Comments
 

Accountants have pretty decent mobility particularly with solid Big 4 experience.

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i feel like you have to be super outgoing to have that whole "pack up and go" mentality to work. Like I'm only good at meeting people when I already know people (if that makes sense). Like if I go somewhere with a crew I'll talk to everyone, but the mere thought of moving to a state (country) where I dont have a starting base of ppl I know makes me cringe. If this wasn't the case I'd of been out months ago...not a big fan of where I am. As to your question- business owner. Just sell the business everytime you're ready to move again and find a new one at the new spot (this obviously assumes you have saved $ to start)

GBS
 
GoldmanBallSachsi feel like you have to be super outgoing to have that whole "pack up and go" mentality to work. Like I'm only good at meeting people when I already know people (if that makes sense). Like if I go somewhere with a crew I'll talk to everyone, but the mere thought of moving to a state (country) where I dont have a starting base of ppl I know makes me cringe. If this wasn't the case I'd of been out months ago...not a big fan of where I am. As to your question- business owner. Just sell the business everytime you're ready to move again and find a new one at the new spot (this obviously assumes you have saved $ to start)

you don't realize it til you're actually living here but in certain hubs i've lived/spent time (buenos aires, shanghai, thailand) it is EXTREMELY easy to meet/network/make friends with like-minded expats who are entrepreneurs / remote-workers / life-style designers in every possible career/business realm.

Definitely a bond forms here that wouldn't in the states, most everyone is happy to help out others, you immediately have something in common with many of these other expats so there's always something to talk about ("what is 28c in Fahrenheit??"), and for the most part people are pretty happy overseas (at least the people I surround myself with) because they're choosing to be here rather than forced to because of x reason.

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and UFO if you're not overseas by this time next year, i'm going to hunt you down and pull out you out of the country myself, and i'm not kidding. it'll kinda be like this scene in fight club (

- bad reenactment sorry but you get the point) "Raymond WHAT did you want to be?"
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SC911What's a CPA?

GTFO

Would trading or ER be a good mobile profession? I feel like anything stock market related is a global affair which gives you the opportunity to get experience no matter where you are.

Did you fly over my helmet?
 

I can't comment on the specific jobs that enable you to be mobile, but I wholeheartedly agree with AndyLouis' advice that you just need to go ahead and do it rather than wait for the opportune moment. The reality is that there will never be an opportune moment to pack up your life and move abroad.

I've had the desire to leave the US and work abroad for about four years now. Every time I've planned my career, my next step was to move to another country or at least a warmer climate. However, when it came time to transition, it was easy to find an excuse for why I needed to delay. It was always "I'll wait til after b-school" or "They don't invest in the industries I'm interested in." One excuse after another. Now here I am 5+ years into my career and it is getting harder and harder to transition. If this is truly what you want in life, don't be like me and put it off, start working towards your goal TODAY.

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One needs to define "geographic mobility." If you're talking about NYC to Chicago to London to Paris to Madrid, then sure, there is a ton of geographic mobility if you have some language skills. If you're talking about NYC to Wichita to Birmingham to Fort Worth to Eugene then high finance is a highly "non-mobile" field. The vast majority of towns have a few investment banking firms, some commercial real estate businesses, financial advisory, municipal bond underwriting, etc. but what I found in some of these towns was a complete lack of interest in hiring even more qualified outsiders. If you're not part of the old boys club then I'd imagine it being very difficult to land one of the few dozen high finance jobs in, say, Kansas City unless you went to KU, Missouri, K-State, etc.

Array
 

So if you're interested in global cities, you can move around within finance. That makes sense. I want to stay where I am for a while, just curious about the big picture.

Get busy living
 

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Get busy living
 

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