Took a non-finance role after visa killed every opportunity — where can this realistically lead?

Looking for genuine perspectives from people who've been in similar situations.

Some background: early 20s, international student from Europe, the University of Melbourne finance and economics grad (Dec 2025). Just finished up a special sits analyst fixed contract at a well-known Australian boutique fund. Unlike the big banks, they typically hire from experienced finance backgrounds rather than training up fresh grads, so conversion was always unlikely regardless of performance.

Over the past 1.5 years, I've thrown everything at breaking into IB (from Summer Analyst/Intern to FT Analyst) — networking, technical prep, building models, covering sectors I'm genuinely interested in (tech, infrastructure), and widening my search to wealth management, stockbroking, and the Big 4 just to keep a foot in the door. Warm referrals have converted into interviews, and feedback on my candidacy has been consistently positive.

The wall I keep hitting has nothing to do with capability — it's my visa. Had a role lined up that was rescinded purely on residency grounds. Even after successful interviews, HR screens me out at a later stage on residency grounds.

Through my network, I've landed a commercial role (like a hybrid of corporate development, FP&A and internal consulting) at a specialist modular infrastructure manufacturer — they design and supply critical infrastructure to data centres. Reporting directly to the CEO. Interesting role which allows me to do some cool stuff and support myself. 

Given the data centre supply chain is one of the hottest infrastructure themes in PE and IB globally right now, is deep operational and commercial experience in this space a viable path into infra finance?

Has anyone successfully pivoted from an operational role in a hot sector into infrastructure PE, corporate finance or IB? What worked and what didn't?

Does this role permanently close the door to specialist PE, infra funds or IB — or is there a realistic path back in?

Cheers