Breaking into the US IB from an international college?

Hi, I’m a student at top college in Asia (think HKU, U of Tokyo, Fudan U, NUS etc.)

I have a green card but have never lived in the US.

How likely is it for me to break into the US IB directly?

I have 10> alums who joined the banks after graduating from M7, and couple of my best friends work at MM IBs in NYC.

My goal here is to skip MBA.

Would I be considered a non target at recruiting or should I work for a designation like CFA to even be at that level?

Thanks in advance.

Most Helpful

Do you need sponsorship or can you work in US/EU/UK without a visa?  If you need the bank/firm to sponsor you, it is going to be a tough, uphill battle.

Given you are looking at a very coveted role, but you are coming from a less advantageous place, I would recommend doing whatever you can to make it as easy on the potential hiring firm as possible. Figure out how you can get resident status, figure out how you won't need a sponsorship, etc. If you need them to do all of the work to hire you, they are going to just pick someone else who already has the geographic/legal criteria.

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