Tips for an Aussie
Hi everyone, I understand that many people have posted similar questions, and I have read what many of you have said. But I was wondering if you have any advice for a recent off-cycle university Graduate (this July) from Australia, looking to break into the USA/British finance sector, ideally in IB (the Australian industry is small due to the country mainly focusing on resource extraction). I know I'm not from a target school, and I doubt many of you have even heard of RMIT, but I would love to listen to any advice. Also, any networking tips would be greatly appreciated, as it isn't common in Australia and isn't common practice.
Thank you again for taking the time to read and provide your advice.
Quit while ur ahead this shit is ass :(
Look, I am well aware that this is going to be an uphill battle, even a vertical one.
I was at RMIT and am now at a rx consulting firm, went into rx due to having several contacts and a strong interest - had a very bad experience at RMIT, culture wise, from my cohort maybe 1-2 got offers better than mid-tier accounting firms, and didn't know any that even got even big4 offers, and a miniscule amount got ib/mbb offers. It's definitely possible to go into ib but your gpa will need to be flawless and you'll need several internships across corporate finance, ib before even getting considered. Unfortunately, people don't really hire from RMIT, Everyone at my firm is melb uni/monash. I am not in ib but i do know a few people who are, and most did it through working in a big4 deals team (mainly vals/ some ts) > MM IB or corp finance at a mid-tier accounting firm > very small boutique ib. I recieved a few ib interviews but my interest didn't really allign (didnt really want to work 80 hour weeks - when firms like FTI and A&M offered slightly less comp and much better hours, just my personal preference), I'd say network through linkedin pretty heavily to find fellow allumni who have made the move (if you have a somewhat cookie cutter resume that stands a chance of being considered), if you don't have a good resume I'd say i wouldn't bother trying, go straight to corp finance/vals teams across anything from mid-tier to big4 which also has some strong competition given how small the industry is in Australia - hope that is some what helpful
I'd echo the above comment. If you want to work abroad, it's easiest if you have a bit of experience under your belt first. IB is so small in Australia you really need a superstar profile (perfect grades, great ECs, internships) to have a shot. Assuming you don't have a superstar profile for Aus IB recruiting, the alternative is you get a place in big4 deals, do an internal move to London/US, then switch to IB. Because IB/other front office stuff has such a small recruiting pool Vs the size of the application pool, even the people who are successful for big4 deals have very strong profiles. Gotta put your head down and work for the outcome you want, first and foremost. Secondly though don't ever lose your sense of self, what makes 'you' you. Because noone wants to work with an uninteresting hardo.
I've been working towards getting an offer from an Australian-based firm, but like you mentioned, it requires perfect academics, internships and ECs, which is nearly impossible to obtain.
Thank you for the advice, I will take it to heart and focus primarily on the Australian job market
This was helpful, thank you. RMIT does seem to be underrepresented, despite its size. It's honestly been a rough few years, no one I know at university managed to land an internship, after speaking to the careers team last year, they told me they've seen a reduction in internship positions to about half of what they were pre-pandemic. But yeah, it really doesn't help with how small the sector is here in Australia.
But thank you for your insight, I'll take it under advisement, this is definitely going to be a vertical clime
I was in a similar and a bit worse situation a few years ago. Didmy undergrad in Africa, no IB in my home country and my school wasn't a target. What I did was get into VC first (an opportunity came) to build CV, then applied to a target masters in UK and then secured a summer internship at a BB.
I could also have gone the path of big 4, then transfer geo, then firm but didn't want to spend years doing a job I didn't like just to get into IB and not have the biggest benefit (exits) anyway because I entered as an associate at a small firm or as 28ys analyst (which I have seen).
Try seeing what options you have and thinking outside the box. Another pro of trying this unconventional path is that you might even find something better than IB along the way.
Thank you for the advice, i have been actively looking for an alternative entry ways, thank u
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