PE London or New York
I would like some input on which city I would have a higher chance of landing a PE gig.
My background: went to one of "posh" boarding schools in the UK e.g. Eton/Harrow/Winchester and then HYPS University in the US. Currently doing an SA in London at a top BB. My end goal is PE but unsure whether I should recruit in NYC or London.
NYC: I would need a H1B visa sponsorship after my OPT ends - I know how hard it is for internationals to land an IB job in US let alone a PE job. Visa is the biggest obstacle for me. Otherwise I have good alumni connection and the path seems more standard -- have bunch of friends who's gone down the path who's willing to guide me.
London: No obstacle of visa and I speak one of French/German/Italian to B2 - C1 level (trying to learn more rn so it becomes business proficient). But the process in London seems more "random" i.e. No clear on-cycle recruiting, less spots available, no alumni connection, and I'm not one of those continental Europeans with 5 previous internships.
Comp, lifestyle etc. aside, where would I have the best shot of getting into PE, relatively speaking? @paneuropeanmonkey would love to hear your thoughts.
You're really going to pick where to live because of PE? Fuck that noise. Pick the city you want to live in. You;ll be fine given your drive, background, and work experience. Live your life dude.
Appreciate the comment. To answer that, I have actually lived in both cities and wouldn't mind living in either. I have friends and connections in both cities. I'm a pretty career-oriented person so yes I would consider moving depending on my job. I didn't know it was so controversial to move based on your job lol... people do that both inside and outside of finance right?
Yea you re right. To me it doesn’t seem controversial at all. Nearly all my old high school and college friends moved away soley, because of an job opportunity. Probably only heard of 1 or 2 of them regretting it, because they are super introverted and don’t really seem to find a connection in the new city the live in, but besides that I think ur good.
are you planning on getting transferred to NY office from your BB?
That would depend on whether I decide to go for PE in New York or not
why did u recruit for London for SA?
Think about 1) where you want to live, 2) where your friends group and connections are and 3) from a top BB you can get to PE easily, question is why do you want to do PE and at what kind of firm.
1) I've lived in both cities and wouldn't mind living in either. I'd be leaning towards London for the long-term, but I think New York provides better opportunities starting out
2) My uni connections are mostly in New York, friends from school in London
3) I could go on about why I want to do PE, but thought it wasn't so relevant for this post as I imagine the actual job is similar in both cities. Short answer is because I want to go into an investing role -- that was the goal for quite some time now. I would be aiming for UMM/MFs though.
"From a top BB you can get to PE easily" -- do you mean PE in general, or is it fairly "easy" to go into UMM/MF as well? Also, when should I start reaching out to HHs? Or would they reach out to me?
Just want to chime in here - you will definitely get into PE (or more generally buyside) if you want to but assuming you can easily land UMM/LC roles is far from true. Recruiting in Europe has gotten ever more competitive given the diversity push - there are many large funds that have a strong preference or are even exclusively hiring female / diversity candidates. Now also consider that funds look for specific languages, sometimes might have a preference for consultants, and you are eligible for maybe 10 spots in the UMM/LC space every year. This is not to discourage at all, you will still have a good shot, but coming from a Top3 BB, strong group, multiple internships incl. PE, desired language, I was still surprised how difficult it is to land a spot as a non-diversity candidate.
Honestly don't really get why you didn't do SA in NY... You won't be able to do PE since if you get transferred to US office your visa will be tied to the company so no PE
NY recruiting was too accelerated and I wasn't prepared enough + the fact that a lot of banks stopped taking in internationals restricted my options.
If I do end up trying for NY again I would do FT on my OPT then hopefully H1B so my visa won't be tied to the bank.
Oh in case that makes sense as long as you start FT and don't get transferred internally after a year or two
Do you have an extended visa? or should it be updated? is the bank verifying it?
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