London vs Frankfurt (2019)
Guys, I would like to hear your opinion on:
Internship/analyst experience?
Pay/savings (COL)?
PE recruiting?
Nightlife?
Girls?
My options:
T1 BB in Frankfurt vs T2-3 BB in London
What is essential for me: culture and PE recruiting
I am very curious about how do you see the culture in Frankfurt. I did an internship at T2 there (not BB) and these 3 months were by far the worst experience ever. Even though I speak good German, for me, a Southern European, it was very hard to fit into local culture. Stiff people who don't want to have any social interaction, less international, hard to make friends/meet girls, social life incomparable to London... was it just wrong place at the wrong time or is this a standard in Frankfurt?
frankfurt culture is dogshit an glad you can see it. PE spots are also very limited in mainland europe. and social scene is incomparable.go to london and don’t look back - I’d take any BB in london over GS FFM
Current MM ib intern in Frankfurt: don't come, boring af.
Who even does MM in FFM?
Non-Targets?
Actually DB/Roths/BNP are all doing many mm deals since it's a small market and a boring country
Here you are:
Internship/analyst experience?: it really depends on the bank more than the market (the group within the bank). Go with the one you felt more "at home" with and it'll be a good summer. In both cities you'll find legend MDs or Associates which will work you to the bone. It's partly luck I guess.
Pay/savings (COL)?: Frankfurt. Generally in Germany, the CoL:Pay ratio is way out of wack with CoL being very low compared to the monster salaries you get in IB or MC. From a purely financial standpoint, Frankfurt is your best bet.
PE recruiting?: It depends. Many PE firms have German offices so that'll help if you want to stay in Germany (but the language requirements may be stricter in PE). Any PE firm with 2 guys and pulse tries to set up in London so I would dare say London for PE.
Nightlife?: London and it's not even close. Frankfurt has some life but it is minimal. In London you can pretty much do and find anything you want. From super cool underground speakeasy bars to live sex shows on Wednesday night at The Box.
Girls?: Depends on what you like my man. You can find babes or baboons in both cities. I guess from a pure "diversity" standpoint you have get more types in London but it just depends on what you like. In both cases though, if you have IB hours the only action you'll be getting is some "alone time" ;)
Don’t go to mainland Europe if PE recruiting is one of your criteria. Headhunters mostly operate out of London so even for Germany-based roles you will find they will only contact you after they have finished screening their database of London-based German speakers. Also the number of PE positions in Germany is extremely limited.
Given that you aren’t from DACH countries London seems like the pick. You’ll hardly fit as not from the above.
So you had similar experiences as me? Is there any BB in Frankfurt with international atmosphere/British flair? I really missed that.
Regarding Frankfurt, from the first phase (telephone interview) to the last one (final round live) no one asked me almost anything unrelated to IB/business in general. That was first warning signal for me. I tried to ask a few personal questions during the interview to see with which type of personality would I work, a few questions completely normal for London, people who interviewed me were negatively surprised, gave short answers and returned to technical questions. I had interviews with various BB there and it is 5% CV 95% technicals.
Guys only cared about technicals and that was later reflected during (and more important) after the work > extremely boring environment with people that started with preparations to break into IB at the age of 13-14, with 4-5 M&A internships each, very narrow-minded without any other interest in life, only IB and actually only M&A.
Yeah germans care a lot about technicals. Never worked in a Frankfurt office but the guys I’ve met from there from my BB (1VP, 1 Asso, 2interns) were everything but fun and interesting. I guess it was reflected in your experience. Note that you are just expected to come in do your work and that’s it. If you’re looking for more than just a team to work with (ie don’t have friends in Frankfurt) etc don’t work there imo.
Thank you sir!
Why TF would you live in Frankfurt if you can go to London. Everything is better there, culture (talking people and art), nightlife, diversity, etc.
Because of the offer from the top tier IB in Frankfurt.
Just as a consideration.... as I said, culture and PE recruiting are essential for me.
"culture" no
"nightlife" definitely true
"diversity" that is not a good thing...
fkin Germans...
London has better pay
LDN pays less and has higher average living expenses
That's true.
But in Frankfurt I would have to live with people like you.
OP I was wondering what level of German fluency do you have? I am applying for the 2021 off-cycle internship session. My german is not that good, but I hope I get conversationally fluent till next year.
Usually fluency in German is required. However, GS FFM might be worth a try – they have extended offers to non-natives in the last two analyst classes and will continue to do so.
Et amet perferendis numquam eius. Voluptas molestiae earum illo dignissimos sequi veniam. Fuga iste fuga ex sed occaecati odit a.
Nam incidunt neque consequatur impedit totam. Aut dicta nulla dignissimos veritatis numquam soluta esse. Labore non ut voluptatem voluptate vero. Vel dolorem numquam est perferendis qui. Quisquam veniam delectus exercitationem ex. Occaecati officiis et quas.
Dolore accusantium aut minus accusamus facilis consectetur. Harum amet est doloremque iusto libero a. Quia dolores voluptas eum eligendi. Sapiente maiores et enim necessitatibus dolor et optio.
See All Comments - 100% Free
WSO depends on everyone being able to pitch in when they know something. Unlock with your email and get bonus: 6 financial modeling lessons free ($199 value)
or Unlock with your social account...