US citizen, uk student, IB transfer to the US

I’m a us citizen curious about locations for applications in the us and uk for investment banking. I’ve always applied to both but I’m curious about where to devote my energy for interviews. My plan was to internally transfer from London to US after getting a full time position hopefully. Is this feasible? Or should I just aim for US? For reference I’m at Oxbridge doing a quantitative finance msc. Any advice from anyone trying/has done the same thing?

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I haven’t been to the UK but based on my recent recruiting efforts there, US is a lot easier to get in.

And by easier I mean if you are prepared, you network, and are sociable, you’ll get in. As long as you do your part, you’ll get in.

I networked and almost got in from a Canadian MFin. HR didn’t want to sponsor visa because I needed lottery visa just to start. But otherwise, cleared interviews at top BB/EB. All purely based on networking (and obv my prep and social skills). 

Whereas, UK has been a total black box. Even with referrals, can’t get an interview. Sometimes HR have taken my call due to referrals but then auto rejected from apps in less than a day because I already graduated or get ghosted because the person who connected me to HR then got poached.

You have a reputable name, so I’d say spend most of your time networking in the US. While just applying to the jobs that open in the UK. Having a backup is always good, especially since you have the top UK uni name. And transferring is indeed possible since you are a US citizen and don’t need any effort on the part of the employer. 

 

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