I am a student from India looking to make a career on Wall Street. I have been accepted into the MSAFA program at Columbia University. I want to take up the course. However, I have heard from a lot of people that international students are not being hired by Wall Street Firms as they are not willing to sponsor the H1-B Visa a few years down the line. In light of this, I have the following questions:
1. Is the above situation true? Are employers in Investment Banks not willing to hire non-American citizens?
2. The course I will attend is a STEM degree. Will employers be more open to hiring an immigrant if he/she is willing to transfer internally to another country after the OPT period is over? This basically means that my employer would not have to sponsor my H1B-Visa.
3. Is there any other general advice you would give me?
Thanks for taking the time out to read these questions!
In my former group (Tier 1 BB, M&A, NY) there were several first year analysts from other countries but educated in the US (mainly China and India, plus one Italian and one Turkish). They all did their bachelor in the US and then joined the bank. There was also another Italian, US educated. If you don't win the lottery the following year, they just send you to another country. This happened quite regularly.
They do not hire "immigrants" from abroad because they can't do it on a visa perspective, but clearly they do hire US educated foreigners, although, to be honest, I am not sure if doing 1 master (your case) vs. bachelor changes anything. They do hire international MBAs and then ship them somewhere else if they don't win the lottery the following year. Then these people come back to 'merica with a L1 visa in a year or so.
Thanks for clarifying about this. My follow up question is along the lines of the 1 year Master vs MBA. Do Investment Banks completely ignore the 1 year Masters students and only go for MBA graduates? The course that I will be attending has a specific focus on valuation and fundamental analysis. Also, it is from Columbia and is in New York. Given all these factors, would I be able to network my way through to a good IB role?
Will be very tough for a reputable shop and even harder for a no name shop given they don’t sponsor.
you might be able to network your way in but theres certainly no well trodden path.
also with it being your first year in US (and all the ajdustments etc that come wiht it) the likelihood youll network succesfully are slim
What is your profile ?
International here who was on H1b once.
more than sponsorship (which is a huge issue even if other things sorted); your degree might hold you back. I’ve legit never heard of it
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