Zurich IB Job

Question

Hello!

I'm new in the forum and I've been getting really interested in Investment banking.
I am currently ending the senior year, about to get into an Economics or Math degree, not really sure which. I'll probably choose in August.

Well, my question is:
What should I try to do to land a job in Zurich? I'd like (obviously) to get a job at a big bank, like GS or JPM and I want Zurich since the salary is pretty high. I know the cost of living is high, but I come from a very frugal family and I intend to keep it that way.

The Pharma Guy · Accepted Answer

FO IB roles for highly sought after groups such as M&A are much fewer in Zurich than in London or even other European cities such as Frankfurt. You have fewer candidates applying, but proportionally competition is very high due to reduced spots.

For Zurich 90%+ of roles will require B2/C1 German. If you don't have that, forget about it at the Junior level. An exception could be made if you're 3-4 years into the job and are a beast but this is not the case yet.

As for frugality, the COL:salary ratio is pretty proportional to London to be honest.

petight · Answer

Would second what many other comments have said. I am currently in Frankfurt and was looking at opportunities in Zürich, it is pretty much impossible to get ANY job without an extremely lucky profile match. Eg in your case working on a PWM desk that covers Portuguese clients. For any FO job you are competing with Swiss students with masters from St Gallen. You've got no chance as a foreigner to put it bluntly.

Definitely agree with the poster who said the best savings can be made in Germany. You can be frugal on rent, groceries, not eat out, and easily save >50% of your net salary.

DCC · Answer

Very accurate. TBH, assuming you do not speak German yet, I would aim for London.

If you are really set on Zürich, I would start learning German asap and aim for a Master at HSG (assuming UG in Portugal), as they recruit heavily from this school and the rest of the spots are filled from other Swiss schools mostly.

Also in Zürich CS and UBS are the only BBs with sizeable IBD operations, they are really top choices if you want to stay longterm (which would not necessarily be the case in other markets).

Best of luck!

Pan European Monkey · Answer

I was in Zurich for business few months back - I do speak German but I am by no means Native few remarks:

German speaking Swiss folks will make it clear that you are not welcome (forcing their accents)
You need to speak C1 level - I do speak a good B2, but no way I could work or enjoy working (ie know what is going on) with my current level.
You need to go to a targetted school (HSG preferably, maybe UZH),
some folks from Nova may go work in Switzerland but from what I've seen and with a quick Linkedin browse, it's mostly for PWM types of roles not IB.
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Zurich IB Job

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