I am an asian with dual citizenship in US and Hong Kong applying for SA positions. I have lived in both places for a huge proportion of my life. I am open to both Asia Pacific and Americas and could care less where I start my career as long as I get a SA position in trading, either FI or equities.
For companies that allow applying to multiple regions/positions, I applied to both regions obviously. However, there are several BBs and other firms that only allow applying one position in one region. I have always heard that NY is the most competitive, then Hong Kong/London. However, I also know that the APAC classes are smaller.
I am an engineering person so I believe in probabilities. I am playing a numbers game here so don't responds with it depends on fit type of answer. Let's say if a firm only allows one position in one region, which one of the following will give me the highest probability of getting an interview?
- NY FI
- NY equities
- HK FI
- HK equities
Additional Info: I go to Cal/Michigan. My resume is as follow, I dont know if qualifications factor in the decision: http://www.razume.com/documents/12743
First experience was a bulge bracket technology business analyst position for the front office at the commodities arm on the trade floor (while typical programmers sit off the trade floor on the floor underneath us)
To be honest, you chances are slim in either office. You're GPA is okay, but there will be many candidates with a better GPA. If I'm flipping through a stack of resume's a 3.5 isn't going to stop be, but a 3.5 with a good story is worth a few moments. You have one finance related internship, that's great, but in a typical resume pack, there are at least 15-20 similar instances with a higher GPA. What makes you a better candidate than everyone else?
My suggestion would be to reach out to as many people as possible and network. If you need to choose one, pick the office where you have the strongest network. Aim for at least 10 people at that bank, and make sure you meet with the senior MD that represents your school.
Tokyo/Hong Kong/Singapore offices are significantly smaller than NY. There are going to be fewer spots. They're going to have less resources to go through stacks of resumes.
In probability terms, the chance of you submitting a resume and hoping for the best depends on how many spots there are, and how many candidates the recruiting team likes and have met face-to-face. If there are more candidates that they have met and like compared with spots, they're not going to go through the stack too carefully.
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Apply to the region where you have the most contacts. Which companies allow applying to multiple regions/positions?
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