Entering IB As A Third Culture Kid - Thoughts On Which Group To Join

I'm half Asian and I had spent quite some time living in Asia before college, so last year when I got an offer to work for a Japanese IB firm at their headquarters I gladly accepted it, thought it would be a cool experience - new country / culture but familiar enough for me to navigate. However, I'm conflicted over which group I should pursue for placement: because of the pandemic the firm's cancelling the 1 month rotation program so I can't get a hold of each team's culture; purely thinking from an exit perspective I want to say that industry coverage group seems like the solid choice but 1) I have limited info on which industry team has the best reputation & 2) my command of Japanese is still not on par with a native speaker's and it could really work against me as a junior employee. The other choice is DCM, of which so far I had neither exposure nor interest. The upside about DCM is that they handle a lot of English speaking clients, therefore my background and language skills are likely to be well received. One thing to add is that internal transfer is common but there isn't a guaranteed mobility program. I know my situation is quite unusual but would deeply appreciate any insights given.

1 Comments
 

Odit modi illo ab voluptas deleniti. Iusto distinctio quidem consequatur sint unde. Iure vel adipisci sunt ad occaecati placeat qui.

Array

Career Advancement Opportunities

October 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.5%
  • Moelis & Company 01 99.0%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.4%
  • Guggenheim Partners 02 97.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 06 97.4%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

October 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.5%
  • Morgan Stanley 02 99.0%
  • Evercore 01 98.4%
  • Banco Santander 02 97.9%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.4%

Professional Growth Opportunities

October 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.5%
  • Moelis & Company 01 99.0%
  • Morgan Stanley 05 98.4%
  • Goldman Sachs 01 97.9%
  • JPMorgan No 97.4%

Total Avg Compensation

October 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (16) $429
  • Associates (57) $264
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (28) $184
  • Intern/Summer Associate (16) $161
  • 1st Year Analyst (84) $151
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (76) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
3
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
4
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
5
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
6
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
7
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
8
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
9
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
10
numi's picture
numi
98.8
success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”