Hello monkeys,
I am enrolling a M7 MBA program in August and thinking about a Investment Banking Summer Associate in the NYC next year. After talking with several alums, here are what I found about the IB recruitment about international students.
1) Generally, banks prefer local students to internationals. 2) There are certain BB banks, however, "relatively more friendly" to internationals. Names I heard include UBS, Barclays, BAML and JPM. 3) There are some groups that are "relatively more friendly" to internationals. e.g. FIG 4) EBs are extremely hard for internationals, mainly due to visa reasons.
Can anyone shed some light on this? Please correct me if what I heard is wrong or inaccurate.
Thanks
Actually GS and CS are more friendly to international students than the ones you mentioned. Also, you are at a M7 program, so banks are more willing to sponsor you as long as you’re qualified. From what I’ve seen, almost all BBs and EBs sponsor at associate level.
Thanks, Formaldehyde41. That was helpful.
From what I've learned recently, big banks are less willing to hire international students in recent years due to the change in visa policy. They do want diversity, but can't beat the visa problem. Even quants are getting rejected in H1B after winning the lottery.
Yeah, that is exactly what I heard as well.
I'd say keep up the good work and don't lose hope. Neither Trump nor Republicans will ruin the country forever, things can still change. Maybe go to Singapore or Hong Kong for a couple of years and wait for an opportunity to transfer back to US.
Even under the depressing circumstances right now, I know people who still get amazing offers at NYC. There's this girl I know who never worked in finance before, she majored in literature in a Chinese college and worked in marketing after graduation. She got into Stern and she made amazing efforts to prepare for the job hunting in US. She could literally recite the everything from Break Into Wall Street. She ended up achieving better modelling skills then the IBD guys. She networked all around the country and beat every tech interviews. In November, after only three months since she set her foot on US soil for the first time of her life, she secured an offer from Deutsche at NYC.
Everything can happen if you put enough efforts on it.
I'm curious on what exact change you're referring too. If I'm not wrong, there has been no real policy change regarding the H1B.
There wasn't any change on the law, but in reality more and more H1B lottery winner are getting rejected.
Bump!
I didn't recruit for IB, but at the M7 I attended it seemed like a lot of internationals ended up at BAML
This is true. Most international students I've known personally (2-3) have all ended up at BAML, and one was an M7 grad
BAML Our class had like 6 people go to BAML and all but one were internationals. No other bank came close.
Thanks. That is also what I heard. So how about UBS and Barclays? I've heard that they are also relatively friendly to internationals.
My mentee got H1B sponsored at Capital One Bank in 2017.
Not to derail the thread, but what about Canadians attending an M7 MBA? Can anyone speak from experience, as to how the process has been, getting sponsorship from Banks/Consulting firms post-MBA OPT? Could be wrong, but my understanding was that the process was a little smoother for Canadians, as compared to other internationals.
Investment banking recruitment for internationals (Originally Posted: 03/20/2017)
Hi all,
I am not an American and I hope to work in the US, in finance. I will be at a US college this coming year, starting my freshman year.
I hope to attend a US graduate school, possibly for MS in Finance, or MS in Financial Mathematics, or a similar degree. I was wondering whether it is possible / common to be hired as an international student, out of graduate school into US investment banks? I understand that many banks prefer to hire out of college, but is this possible? I understand that I would need to secure numerous internships, build a good resume and be able to show that I can add true value to the team in which I am placed, if I were to be. But is it impossible for an international student to work in the US after graduating with a Masters degree?
I hope to do a Masters because I genuinely like education and learning. Also, a Masters degree is a fairly reliable way of improving chances of securing a job in the US and obtaining approval for the relevant H-1B Visa.
Thank you!
If you decide to go for a degree stateside you'd have CPT, OPT and, if timed correctly, two shots at H1-B while or during graduation. If you can get the right paperwork sorted out you could also get additional internships in between (if program allows this from a time-perspective). OPT can be extended for STEM subjects, it is otherwise limited to 1 year. Assuming you focus all of your efforts on getting into a good program and do enough networking locally you should at least be able to interview at employers who are willing to sponsor you. There are no guarantees in life, however. h1b is currently a lottery.
a US Masters degree should also count towards the extra 20,000 visas cap under H1b.
Thank you for your reply!
Do you think that it is more likely that large, international investment banks would hire internationals, or is it equally likely that boutiques would too?
Thanks again!
Bulge brackets, well-regarded middle markets and elite boutiques all take internationals. International students from my college were massively overrepresented in investment banking, consulting, sales and trading, and equity research.
You haven't started freshman year! Keep an open mind - there are so many interesting options outside of investment banking that you haven't been exposed to yet.
An international trying to break into IB looking for some advice (Originally Posted: 06/21/2013)
Hi everyone,
I've been working for around a year in a no-name valuation shop since graduation in a small country in the EMEA region. My goal is to break into HF in the US, and I've decided that the best way to get there would be through IB.
I've been through few interviews in IB in my country and didn't get through since they didn't like that it took me another year to finish college and that I'm currently doing accounting work, but it doesn't count as experience for a CPA license (A lot of bankers here are coming from the big 4 and I'm constantly asked why didn't I go to work at the big 4).
I thought to get into IB through a top MBA in the US and I'm debating between two different options:
Apply for the MBA now and stay at my current job (so I'll have experience of one and a half years in business valuation until I'll actually start the MBA)
Find a job in the TAS division of a big 4 for the next two years, get my CPA, sit for the CFA level 1+2, and only then do the MBA.
If prefer to get into IB as soon as possible, but my concern is that I won't be a competitive candidate for recruiting because of the same reasons that are preventing me from getting into IB as an analyst in my home county, so I'm wondering if it's a better idea to wait and improve my credentials first.
Which option do you think I should go for?
Thanks for the input
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