Need Advice on London and Paris IB!!
Hello everyone,
I have just graduated from BSc. Econ program a couple months ago, from southeastern Europe (non-EU). I am having a difficult time choosing a master's program. I got accepted to Master in Quantative Economics Digital Economics Track with a specialization in Finance at Universite Paris-Dauphine, here; https://dauphine.psl.eu/en/training/masters-degre…
I also applied to bunch of other target and semi target programs in UK and FRA but didn't receive lots of offers probably due to low GPA of mine (health reasons) and no gmat as well. But I have good internships (MM (Barclays/HSBC type) digital finance, big four audit, global well-known firm financial analyst), 4 languages and a couple of research papers on macroecon and finance.
My goal is to land an IB or Consulting job after graduation in London or Paris (I have an intermediate French, can bring it up to working fluency I think). I am kinda aiming for well-known places with good reputation regardless of market size.I know it is not the perfect place to be for the goal. However, I am ready to do whatever it takes such as networking very strong etc. What do you think about my situation? Is it possible to land IB/Consult with serious work and networking or is it just impossible to make it? And do you have any recommendations for me at this point? Any sort of advice is appreciated. Thank you very much!
Btw even though I will probably attend Dauphine, I am still waiting for the admission results from these schools in US and UK; University of Manchester Msc Financial Economics (Received Offer) City, University of London Msc Financial Economics Boston College Applied Econ
In order to work in Paris you will almost need to be Native. Being fluent is not enough, so if that's your wish start putting the effort asap, that's my best advice
Yeah I know that, that’s why I am studying it on a daily basis and just practicing with people as much as possible,
however, for example when I was in France as an exchange student, I had an interview with a big four for a corp. finance internship. When I asked them specifically about this, they told me that they want %100 fluency but nativeness is not required though still my French wasn’t good enough as an upper-intermediate level, but I see your point. thanks for the reply
Any other advice on London and Paris IB?
Trying to have some boutique internship would be great to position yourself.
Also having the CVs prepared early on and applying soon after opening would be a good thing to do. If you can join investment clubs would be nice.
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Dauphine is not a target for consulting firms in Paris. They almost only interview people from the top 4 eng/bus schools (X, Mines, Centrale, Ponts, HEC, ESSEC, ESCP, Sciences-Po). Plus they would highly favour someone who followed the "Grande Ecole" program rather than an Msc.
Well that’s bad news then. However, I know that there are a lot small boutique consultancies like very small teams around 10-20 I can try for them along with T2 ones. You think networking my way into would be unlikely then?
Btw I have just received offers from these two programmes as well;
University of Manchester Msc Financial Economics; not a London IB target or even a good semi target it seems but I am guessing better for London IB compared to Dauphine, however I have heard that London IB HR likes good European unis more compared to average UK schools, masters. Anyone can confirm this about Manchester vs Dauphine for London IB??
Paris School of Economics with École des Ponts ParisTech MSc Economic Decision and Cost Benefit Analysis; (I think better for Consulting but would lower my chances for IB which is my priority but still undecided, any advices??
Manchester isn't going to get you to any decent IB role in LDN. Have you looked at Cass? The school has it's pluses and minuses, but better than Manchester. Would also put Imperial/Kings above Manchester, as well as Edinburgh and Saint Andrews.
If you're looking at US programs, I would put MIT/Vandy on your must apply list instead of BC.
Regarding Paris placement, as another said, being a "fluent" foreigner isn't going to cut it. Unless you grew up with the language, it's going to be near impossible. Instead of studying French daily, I would focus on getting into a sem-target if not target school in the UK (i.e. crush the gmat / pass CFA I in Dec).
I just don't see placement from a non-target French school to an American who needs a visa and didn't grew up with the language working out. The EU periphery has plenty of native French speakers with EU passports that go to target schools that would be much easier hires.
If you really want to live in Europe, focus on the UK and take wknd trips to Paris for all the ou-la-la time you want.
Thank you for the comments. Yeah, I applied to Cass and other target and semi target schools in UK but received no offer probably due to low GPA of mine (health reasons) and no gmat as well.
I also thought of crush the gmat / pass CFA I in Dec plan which might work for me for the next application year for US and UK targets but until then I have to use what I got right now. If I feel like I am getting nothing at the job market then I might go there.
Well I know Dauphine is not HEC, ESSEC or ESCP. But I would have to disagree that it is a complete non-target. It is still a well-known good respected school in France. It is the only Paris Uni with Grande Ecole status and strong alumni. But I know that it is not a top target of course.
So that’s why I am thinking if the things go bad in Paris IB/Conslt. market How much shot I would have with Dauphine for London IB/Conslt. Maybe through summer or off cycle internship and serious networking. I saw some people from Dauphine who work there thought mostly from their Financial Markets masters. And I have heard that London HRs prefers European schools over below average UK schools in screenings.
But I mean I must work something out here one way or another. Because Manchester, Dauphine and PSE with Ecole des Ponts are all I got at the moment.
As a Foreigner in France, they wll be glad to give you an internship or CDD (fixed term contracT), promise you the moon and then not renew you. University Paris - Dauphine isn't the equivalent of a French target either so getting a good IB/Consulting job out of one of there will be near impossible. It is better for you to go to the UK. Paris School of Economics is also an University-level school in France, which is a big strike against it. Almost all of the IB/Consulting jobs recruit from Grandes Ecoles in France, so this isn't a good option. I doubt that they will let you use the Ecole de Mines or Ecole des Ponts network or recruiting events which is really where their value is.
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