HK IBD SA 2010 Thread

Hi college juniors,

I thought it'd be helpful if we all compiled out status in this thread for our HK IBD SA applications, as I think it was practiced last year and the year before.

So let me just start:
CS: 1st round invite
Citi: pending
JPM: pending

Best of luck to all of you!

 

My Chinese is useless and I stated that on my application as well.

Depends on the college, we have a resume drop for most banks but they tell you to apply online in addition to that. Good luck with UBS and GS in HK, I heard the interviews are intense!

 
  1. Yes, APAC SA recruiting (S&T/IBD) both start and end earlier than US recruiting. Deadline is either today, or a week from now for basically all the BB firms.

  2. Depending on bank, yes you can apply for both. But there's an unspoken understanding you're supposed to decide which you would prefer (cause they're gonna ask you "why Asia?"). If you end up getting an offer say from JPM NYC and JPM HK, someone is not going to be too happy.

  3. No, it's not too late. The HK process, unlike the NY yone, is stretched over 1.5 months. In New York, first rounds - superdays happen in like a week.

 

I applied for a position in Global Markets with Citi and received a rejection today. Did other people receive a similar email? I'm thinking it might have something to do with the fact that I'm a sophomore. On the application, there was an option to select student status, and the only choices were “penultimate year” or “ultimate year” of study. I selected penultimate year but then to be completely upfront, I noted in “additional information” that I was only in my second year..

Didn't even bother applying to CS because I talked to a recruiter who said that they wouldn't accept sophomores for any positions this year (besides through their minority program, which is only for the US anyway).

 

BofA-ML: didn't apply BarCap: haven't submitted app yet Citi: no news CS: just had 1st rounds even though I haven't finished the numerical reasoning test, weird. GS: no news JPM: no news Laz: sent in resume+cov letter. my friend had his 1st rounds recently, not sure about me. MS: no news Nomura: no news UBS: no news

This is going pretty slowly. I'm a sophomore but graduating 1 year early if that helps. Tuition fee hike sucks

 
vjunreal:
BofA-ML: didn't apply BarCap: haven't submitted app yet Citi: no news CS: just had 1st rounds even though I haven't finished the numerical reasoning test, weird. GS: no news JPM: no news Laz: sent in resume+cov letter. my friend had his 1st rounds recently, not sure about me. MS: no news Nomura: no news UBS: no news

This is going pretty slowly. I'm a sophomore but graduating 1 year early if that helps. Tuition fee hike sucks

Lazard takes HK SA's?

 

Hey vjunreal, where did you get the email address for lazard asia recruitment? I cold-called them a couple of times during office hours but couldn't get through past HR... I'm more interested in the Seoul office if you have the contact info handy.

Meanwhile, for me: BarCap initial interview, didn't bother applying online, only applied through networking

 

Got an email yesterday from MS that my application was under review and that they would contact people for first rounds in January. Kinda weird that it was from a specific HR person’s email and not just some generic campus recruiting address.

I agree, this is going rather slowly..

 
deutschlandfb:
Got an email yesterday from MS that my application was under review and that they would contact people for first rounds in January. Kinda weird that it was from a specific HR person’s email and not just some generic campus recruiting address.

I agree, this is going rather slowly..

I know and the guy forgot to put a subject for the email... linkedin show he's based out of india

 

yes apparently. my friend sent a cold email to the asia pacific recruiting address. i was surprised too. go look it up

edit: maybe the recruiting is rather informal for SA's. i honestly am not really sure myself so i sent in a cov letter and resume. can't hurt to try because they never said that they don't hire SAs for asia pacific offices

 

there is no reason to go to Lazard APAC.

M&A is very weak in Asia. Most deals are equity/follow-ons. In Asia, especially on China team, industry groups > product groups. in fact, Financial sponsors sees the LEAST deal flow. I was at a BB the past summer in HK discussed here, and our Financial Sponsors team (all 4 of them), left 5pm everyday with 0 live deals.

 

As far as I know, Lazard does not engage in any kind of capital markets activity (i.e. underwrite securities). It is purely M&A advisory. How it is structured though, is that there is no M&A group. It has a "FIG" team for example--- but that "FIG" team purely does M&A advisory.

 

re: monkeyinasuit

I was at SA at one of the top BB's in HK IBD last year. Your question, i.e. 95% of deals are IPO/Follow-ons/block-trades, is exactly the reason I think there is a tradeoff by beginning to work in HK versus NY.

What you gain by being in an emerging market and a cool city, you also lose in variety of deal exposure and client sophistication. I was on a DD call last summer, and the CEO of a Chinese company we were DD'ing literally couldn't come up with some of the answers we were asking him because he was quote "I'm too hung over from last night".

 

Nah dude, not necessarily. I like the people I met in Hong Kong, I like the city, I grew up in new York so it's rather monotonous by this point. Long term wise, I don't forsee myself pursuing the path of a MD. I still think there are a lot of opportunities in China provided you cultivate a strong network and learn the language/culture. I think there's only one or two firms I'd stay in NYC for, and if I don't get those, I'll head back to HK.

 

anyone know when HK SA recruiting usually gives out first rounds? I got one and then just kept getting emails doing random online assessments up till even this week.... if anyone could give more information on timelines that would be great....

 

Hey guys, good luck with your interviews. I just have a few questions regarding recruiting @HK.

  1. Is mandarin required for IBD & S&T positions in HK? Looks like UBS even has a chinese test. As a native speaker of Korean I am curious if I need to get started on studying mandarin (+ I am interested in chinese culture as well). Just curious if at least being conversational would help since a lot of people seem to say unless it's fluent its useless.

  2. This Sounds like a stupid question but when applying for multiple offices how would you do this? Applying online and also through resume drops?

  3. How is HK office compared to that of Singapore? (Class size, deal flows, exit opps, etc)

Thanks.

 

Venice, the answer to your question is if you know Korean you don't need to know chinese. In fact, honestly, if they like you they wont even look at the Chinese test. The few people I know who don't speak chinese fluently in the office are the korean people. There's a VP @ JPMorgan who doesn't speak a lick of any Chinese/southeast asia language that started as an analyst. He's ABC. But then again, you have your analysts & Directors who are caucasian who will speak flawless mandarin.

 

completely depends on your interviewer. If you get an asshat, yes you will get a ton of technicals. If you get someone chill, he'll understand that as long as you are an intelligent, articulate person, you can learn the "technical" skills of IBD in two weeks.

 
bearcats:
SirBankalot:
You can assume when others post updates about getting interviews on this thread and you didn't get one, because they send them out at the same time. Sorry to the bearer of bad news.

are S&T invites sent out the same time as IBD?

anyone got any S&T SA invites from HK so far?

interested in this as well.

 

Just for future reference: It doesn't matter a whole lot whether someone has had a fit or technical interview. Even if you get the same interviewer, he'll ask you different questions depending on your background, how he feels at that moment, whether or not he likes you, etc...

My classmates and I have interviewed with a lot of the same firms and we couldn't really make out a pattern for any firm, ergo it's probably random. So far, I've had pure fit and 50/50 interviews, so everyone should just be ready for everything.

Also for all the people who haven't heard from MS but from all other firms, don't sweat. If your school has a resume drop, they might look at you later after they've gone through the non-target resume book. Or at least I hope...

 

Does anyone know the exact SA application deadline for Citi Asia/ US?

I went to its website today just to check its US openings, and found that they haven't closed some of its summer internship positions in HK, Singapore, etc etc... but there are obviously some people out there who got the first round interview invitation from Citi HK. So what's going on? Can someone still apply and get the invitation?

Also, if there is anyone applying for Citi US, did you guys choose "summer analyst" in the "vacancy finder," and not "summer internship"? I'm confused because for US, Citi website doesn't have ANY summer internship program, but only summer analyst one.

 

Does anyone know the likelihood usually for a sophomore to get a SA position in HK IBD? I applied this year as a sophomore and got rejected from/haven't heard back from almost every bank I applied to (missed deadlines for CS/UBS and still waiting for DB and GS). Is this normal for sophomores, or have you heard of at least some successful HK IBD sophomore summer analysts?

Also, ibhopeful, what positions did you and your friends take at BB in your sophomore years?

Btw for MS I just checked my application status, which was changed to "Your application was rejected." I guess if your status doesn't say that, you might be in good shape if you're still holding out for a response..

 

Anyone actually had a BAML 1st round phone interview?

I received email that I was selected for the 1st round phone interview for BAML global markets - Asia. I got the email on 23rd Dec, and the interviewers haven't contacted me yet. (they were supposed to according the email)

Did anyone actually did a phone inteview for BAML global markets? or are you guys still just waiting?

 

Applied to MS HK S&T, still no further notification. I applied through both online and campus resume drop. Vjunreal, If you don't mind me asking, how were you notified of your 1st round?

 

Email, and I just received it couple of hours ago. It even had "Happy New Year" too. Actually, I'm abroad right now so if they tried to contact me through my US phone, I wouldn't have known. Actually I'm pretty surprised I got picked since Nomura HK never got back to me. Btw, I'm pretty sure I put down "basic Mandarin Chinese writing/speaking" and no Cantonese at all. If they start asking me questions in Mandarin/Canto, I'm screwed so hopefully they picked me for some other reason. My background is semi-target/top public with 3.9 in quant major.

 
Best Response

I also had that on my resume, and depending on the interviewer they MIGHT start off with mandarin. Luckily my interviewer started with English and then entire interview was based on English and later she asked me to speak to them in mandarin, but my mandarin is VERY basic. My Cantonese is quite on point though, but according to my interviewer it's not as useful but shouldn't be a problem because jumping from Cantonese to Mandarin is not too difficult.

There are 2 1st round phone interviews from what the interviewer told me. One with someone in the lower positions analyst/senior analyst and then one with the higher VP/MD. Mine was a technical but it somehow got completely off topic, good sign perhaps? I feel like I got along with the interviewer. Since this first interview was focused on being technical, I think it's safe to assume the 2nd one will be fit, which shouldn't be difficult.

Does anybody know how Morgan Stanley HK is doing in the Asia Pacific region, I tried to research a little but all I could find are the articles on the insider trading scams conducted by some higher ups and how they're going to sell a stake but I can't find much information on their deals.

 

They do give notifications but this usually comes after all interview slots have been allocated. Hence until you haven't got any mail, you're still in. And nomura europe is definitely not out yet in europe. couple of friends from top schools and high credentials have not been called yet

"What we can, we must; and because we can, we must"
 

just did my citi 1st round... all technical... couldnt answer qutie a few but the interview said i did good and would get another banker to speak to me.

On the initial email, it mentioned that I MAY receive two calls from two seperate bankers,

Is this just standard procedure that I will get the second one or is that I "passed" the first one to get onto the second?

Also, anyone know whats GS first round will be like??

 
SirBakealot:
honga:
yes all out.

would it be slower for for non-targets? My friend goes to a non-target and has only heard back from 1 or 2 BBs.

I think this year's process is delayed?

I'm like your friend and I was wondering the same, but I guess if 2 -3 banks process non-targets & targets together, most likely other banks are doing the same. We are just giving ourselves false hope that there are still chances instead of admitting the ugly truth that we are not selected.

No point speculating their recruiting process, I'd rather focus on whatever interview left and nail it.

 
SirBakealot:
pink_elephant:
hope u're right Sirbakealot.

I am not sure. I was in the same process last year and it was a bit earlier. I am just surprised b/c my friend has strong credentials (extremely high GPA, fluent in Mandarin, MM internship last summer) yet he only heard back from 2

Just curious, are the 2 Citi and BAML?

 

I'm still waiting for my second UBS phone interview, so I hope the invites to Superday aren't out yet!

Anyone knows how the travel costs will be reimbursed, if at all? I am totally clueless about this, and my mind boggles cos I'm in Asia now!

 

Monosierra, they will pay for your airfare, hotel, and any associated costs. However, if you are in Asia, it might be more convenient for you (and them as well) if you just flew to HK and did the interview in their offices.

 
caeruleus:
GS - 1st round MS - 1st round CS - 1st round JPM - pending DB - pending BOAML - pending BARCAP - pending NMR - pending CITI - pending UBS- pending
Must be a set of shittier baboons doing this year's resume screening. How can you get 1st rounds at MS and GS, and not at Nomura and DB?

Just wondering: Do you have a high GPA? Seems to be the trend for GS.

 
SirBankalot:
caeruleus:
GS - 1st round MS - 1st round CS - 1st round JPM - pending DB - pending BOAML - pending BARCAP - pending NMR - pending CITI - pending UBS- pending
Must be a set of shittier baboons doing this year's resume screening. How can you get 1st rounds at MS and GS, and not at Nomura and DB?

Just wondering: Do you have a high GPA? Seems to be the trend for GS.

Well actually, I was still in the military compound until early December, so I applied way late for SA except for GS, MS, CS, JPM because they were my priorities. Seems like that's the case, especially for rolling base companies like Barcap

and yes I have GPA of higher than 3.8

 

for GS and MS, as long as you go to a target, maintain a high GPA, and have some leadership activities, u should have a first round, whereas the european banks value work experience more...

i have many friends who had first round interviews for every single firm listed above, so process is not that random

ubs and cs final rounds are definitely out

 

solars321, do you think this applies to other parts of ib, such as S&T? I don't think that going to a target, having a high GPA (3.8+), and have a few leadership positions is enough for certain areas. There a few people who i know who have all of these, and decent work experience that didn't land a first interview for s&t hk sa.

 

disclosure: all my info are for IBD... every division operates differently so dont worry about it

but if you haven't received anything for banking, then you are cut.

i think gpa >3.8, strong leadership opp, and target should be enough for first round... and by target, i mean real targets... the hk banks seem to be obsessed with the name of your university

 

Got this from Credit Suisse HR:

Thank you for your interest in applying for Asia Summer internship opportunities with Credit Suisse Investment Banking Department and for taking the time to participate in the phone interviews.

Our interviewers enjoyed speaking with you and we are in the process of finalizing our candidate shortlist for final round interviews. Please kindly note that your application is still under consideration. We will get in touch with you before the first week of February with an update of your application status.

Sounds like waitlist? I interviewed for the Singapore office btw. They initially told me in an email that there'd be second rounds and final rounds but looks like they skipped on the second rounds and went straight to finals. Weird, last year recruiting didn't seem like this.

 
vjunreal:
Got this from Credit Suisse HR:

Thank you for your interest in applying for Asia Summer internship opportunities with Credit Suisse Investment Banking Department and for taking the time to participate in the phone interviews.

Our interviewers enjoyed speaking with you and we are in the process of finalizing our candidate shortlist for final round interviews. Please kindly note that your application is still under consideration. We will get in touch with you before the first week of February with an update of your application status.

Sounds like waitlist? I interviewed for the Singapore office btw. They initially told me in an email that there'd be second rounds and final rounds but looks like they skipped on the second rounds and went straight to finals. Weird, last year recruiting didn't seem like this.

Well I got the same message, but mine said it will be end of January. Since there's a guy in this thread who got finals for CS, I guess we're kind of waitlisted

 

do you mean second rounds or finals? i just had my nomura 2nd round today and was told that finals invites would be out in a week or two. as for db (uk recruitment), finals on friday, right after thursday's 2nd round.

 

dang solars321, u just collecting offers or what. banks don't like that.

the component is canto, mand, and eng.

========================================= We are excited to formally extend to you an offer to join Bank of Ameria
 
PiperJaffrayChiang:
dang solars321, u just collecting offers or what. banks don't like that.

the component is canto, mand, and eng.

not collecting offers... just mass applying like everyone else

 

indonzrule, also got jpm invite a day after solar's. perhaps we got invited bc some people from the first batch withdrew? other jpm final invitees - when did u guys get ur invites?

 

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