Hong Kong Internship Strategy
Hey Guys,
A bit about my background: I'm going to be a Junior next year at HYP, majoring in History with a 3.9 GPA. I've got a strong Math background as well with some Econ courses. I also did a short internship this summer with a real estate PE firm. I have pretty good Chinese, written and spoken, and would like to try and eventually work in Asia.
My question is: I'm looking to find a summer 2011 internship in HK, and I am wondering what the best strategy is, i.e. timing of alumni networking, which firms to apply to, what the competition is like, etc etc. I'm a US citizen, so I'm also curious about Visa issues for working in HK. Any and all comments would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
AFAIK, there are definitely quite a lot more people who get internships through the family than London (and I'd assume US as well). I am from Hong Kong but most of my friends who work in the industry are in London. One of my friend at a non-BB IBD told me that he knows quite a few people there got the job from family, including himself.
I am a British Hong Kong and would love to work in Hong Kong, but I may go for London just because of the 'probably slightly' better odds. In terms of networking, i'd advice you to start now and try to get the alumni to refer you the internships ;)
AFAIK, there are definitely quite a lot more people who get internships through the family than London (and I'd assume US as well). I am from Hong Kong but most of my friends who work in the industry are in London. One of my friend at a non-BB IBD told me that he knows quite a few people there got the job from family, including himself.
I am a British Hong Kong and would love to work in Hong Kong, but I may go for London just because of the 'probably slightly' better odds. In terms of networking, i'd advice you to start now and try to get the alumni to refer you the internships ;)
Got it. Thanks for the advice! I suppose I'll try now to start making connections with alumni and people that I've befriended in my time in Asia and see where that goes. Do you think that, if I want to work in Asia in the long run, it is important to first go to Hong Kong, as opposed to starting out in New York? I'd like to keep improving my language skills if I'm abroad, so that's a factor too.
BB Summer Internship in Hong Kong (Originally Posted: 01/09/2008)
Has anyone heard anything from the BB in Hong Kong regarding the SA positions? So far I've heard back from Lehman, JP, Merrill and UBS. Still haven't heard anything from CS, DB, Goldman, Morgan Stanley, or Citi.
For Lehman - got passed the initial phone screening. 2 rounds back to back on the phone earlier this week with both qualitative and technical questions. Both interviewers were associates. Got invited yesterday to Super Day in NYC later this month.
For JP - 2 rounds of first round phone interviews both scheduled for later this week. One with an associate and another with a supposedly senior banker since it was his assistant that contacted me for an interview.
For Merrill - also 2 rounds of first round phone interviews. Was told by HR that one is "fit" and the other is technical. Had my fit interview yesterday and going to have my technical one later this week. The fit was conducted by a VP and the technical will be conducted by an associate.
For UBS - got an e-mail informing me of a phone interview in mid Jan. but have yet to schedule one.
No news from CS, DB, Goldman, MS, or Citi yet. Application status online still says pending. Has anyone else heard from these banks for SA in Hong Kong?
Can others who are also applying to SA positions in Hong Kong post their interview experiences as well? Much Thanks!
yeah. i heard back from CS for asia
Goldman HK: 15-20 screening interview (tomorrow for me). then the real first round, then super day
Got JPM, should happen today.
Morgan STanley contacted me to do this test, i finished it. they havent got back to me.
Shit, does this mean CS and Lehman ditched me? damn, they should at least send me an email.
hey untilted, dont worry. i just got an email from lehman about my first phone interview... pretty unexpected, i submitted on their websie only.
I also have an interview with Lehman in Houston, will I be dropped from one of them?
Ranger, what questions did u get from Lehman? How techincal did it get for you? thanks buddy, i hope to see u at the superday in NYC.
i did the fit part for ml with a VP, technical next week, gs tmr with HR two calls from DB, one from an analyst, the other from an associate. haven't heard back yet just did UBS today, from an analyst
haven't heard from Lehman, CS, JPM, citi. ditched by MS.
The lehman questions were really random for me. It jumped from behavioral to technical. As far as technical gets, they asked me for the methods of valuation and the differences between the methods. they also asked for the contents and descriptions of a pitch book. and lastly basic accounting questions with all the accounting statements and how they're related. surprisingly they didn't ask me anything from my resume (even tho i had previous work experience) and the fit questions were mostly why lehman? why hk? and give me some examples of how you follow the market in asia.
As far as the other BB firms in HK, will they contact me if I'm rejected for an interview? cuz i haven't heard anything back from them yet...
JPM people told me this guy was gonna call me from jan 3 to jan 10. today's the last day and i still havent got the call. wtf. should I call HR?
Especially since it's getting close to end of day in HK...
i emailed recruiter. she said the guy is busy and will get to me eventually.
when did you guys submit to Lehman (those who got it) they have no deadlines on their f--g shitty website
if you havent submitted, it's prolly too late.
For those of you who had your JPM HK interviews -- what kind of questions did they ask? Did it include a lot of technical/accounting q's? Thanks!
I did submit, just wondering when other people did. If you submit earlier I think you get called back earlier
For JPM, the screening phone interviews were extremely informal and very conversational. No technical questions for me, all "fit" questions.
Just finished with UBS phone interview. All the typical "fit" questions nothing special.
ranger, you are on a roll!
i dont know wtf is wrong with me. JPM and GS didnt call when they promised to call. damn the delays.
untilted - i had the same problem as you with a BB. they didn't call when they promised to, had to send them an e-mail for an explanation. not much of an apology was received from the BB. in the end, had to reschedule for another time this week.
normally i wouldn't mind a reschedule, but because of the time zone differences between the U.S. and HK, the scheduled interviews are all at very odd times (had one at 5am last week) so a cancelled interview (especially last minute) really sucks. hopefully i won't get stood up again!
that really sucks 5am
did you take tests for UBS? I remember they are the toughest
yes i took the test. i thought it was hard too, didn't finish the last two questions even. but nothing of it was ever mentioned again once the interview process began.
has anybody heard back from any of these banks for second round interviews yet?
hey guys, just want to update on the interview process.
so far i've interviewed with ubs, jpm, lehman, merrill, morgan stanley
got dinged by gs and db
still waiting to hear back from citi and cs (although my hopes are low since it seems like everyone's gone through or got invited to the 1st round interviews already by now)
i will keep keep updating on the results from the banks i've interviewed with when i hear back
Are you guys sophomores or juniors in college rightnow?
did anyone hear back from citi?
does anyone want to work for citi? haha
Obviously you do, as you applied to the program.
Claiming that no one wants to work for Citi after you applied and got dinged by the firm shows some real class...
my friends who applied have not heard from citi
no i applied but haven't heard back. has anyone else heard back from citi hk?
and b, my comment on citi was obviously a joke refering to the today's reuters article
http://www.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUSN1430457220080114
anyone heard back from GS after the first phone interview?
Ranger, still waiting for Lehman to call... I must say, this 8PM-12AM timeframe is keeping me from having beers or even shower... they should call either today or tomorrow. how did u cope with this?
haha i had the same problem with another bb. except 10x worse. it was on a weekend from 7am-10am so basically that meant no going out for me on friday, sat night. basically, wherever i went i just took my cell with me. i was just going to say "sorry but can you please hold for a minute while i get back into my room" if they called while i was not in my room. luckily the call came when i was sitting at my desk. good luck to you with lehman. is your interview a back to back one with two associates?
i got a superday with BB HK IBD
it says on the email that I will have 4 interviews of half hour
and also a "case study session"
what is that?
hey kb81 i have the same bb hk idb superday as you haha. i have no idea what the case study is either
Ranger and KKB, which BB r u guys having superday with?
still havent heard back from GS or JPM after first rounds. they say they'd get back to me shortly.
untitled, GS just sent me an email for 2nd round. let me know about ur status, my 2nd round is in Boston.
2nd round in NYC, what day is your Boston interview txlnghrns?
I just got an email from JPM with the subject: "JPMorgan ranks first as the best investment bank". I'm sure that many of you also got this same email.
Nice of the bank to sell itsself to me for a change. :)
results for Superdays for UBS, LB, and JPM are out. UBS, and JPM are conducting Superdays in various cities around the U.S. and LB is in NYC with reinbursement for travel. all this is happening next week. still waiting to hear from MS, CS, and ML
what are the cities for ubs? db out as well...just get called from lehman yesterday
no offense, but seriously my interviewer could not even speak english
had a phone interview yesterday that was almost ALL brainteasers. anyone else with similar experience?
what do you guys think of brainteasers?
just me....or do the dates that people are getting interviewed or superday information appear to be wildly different? i just had my LB phone interview yesterday and two friends had it today.....anyone in a similar boat know anything about when superday information comes out for that?
the lb super day is next weekend so results should come out next week at the latest
are any of you getting interviews from targets? I applied close to deadlines. I only got an online reasoning test from one place so far.
txlnghrns, no news from GS yet. :(
Ranger, you have so many interviewers. balling!
Oh and Ranger. which firm asked all brainteasers? my jpmorgan s&t first round was all math+brainteasers. sucked.
it was ms, for corp fin not s&t though. feel free to pm me for more details on the brainteasers =)
Pretty sure all GS decisions are out
finally got an email from GS S&T. second round in NYC next week.
Phoenix I'm with you on this
Boston interviews are for IBD only?
yeah mine is for IBD and GIR... mines in Boston on monday flying out there tomorrow... good luck guys!
Interesting they split Boston for IBD and GCR and NYC for Securities. Last year I think it was all together in the NYC hq
anyone have 2 rds of phone interviews with ms? at first they said it's only 1 rd and then superday but i had 2. just wondering.
got through 1st round phone interview, waiting for 2nd round interviewer to call...and hope to get in superday after that. How come IBD and GIR don't have 2nd round but go directly into superday?
people who had their final rds with jpm, how were your experiences? mine was a combination of fit, technical, case study, and problem solving questions. luckily i had a very friendly group for the case study ie: no fighting to take the spot light and sharing of ideas during the discussion.
the only thing that bothered me was the chinese translation test. the english article had some very technical finance terms and i had to write them out in english instead of chinese during my translation. how much do you think the translation test will affect the results of the offers?
On the topic of JPM, has anyone been invited to the superday in NYC? If so, what day is it on? Thanks.
jonas208, IBD has 2nd and final rounds. Only GIR is 2 rounds only...
waiting to hear back from GS about IBD final round...
thanks txlnghrns. just wonder whether they asked you many technicals in 2nd round for IBD? i am interviewing capital markets, self if non finance background...
anyone heard back from CS?
JPM HK superday in NYC is tomorrow. Why... you plan on crashing it?
got in with ubs and jpm. see you guys in hk this summer!
Congrats... which one are you going to take? UBS clearly has the stronger name in Asia, but I really like JPM more...
You are set Ranger, those are great firms. My best friend interviewed with them both. UBS is top in Asia but the senior bankers at JPM are so chill
Congrats man :) Hopefully I'll be joining you there!
ranger, you are a baller.
seriously. PM me if u get an internship in hk. I'd love to meet up with u guys. it'll be a great summer. and if u guys need any info on any of interviews i'd had so far, please just PM. good luck and i hope to see all of you in hk this summer!
I am curious: are most SAs in HK of Asian descent? What's the % split between Asians and non-asians (whites/blacks/hispanics) among the SA/FT class in HK?
i interviewed with 6 other college juniors in chicago for jpm and ubs. they were all asian descent. HOWEVER, the interviewers from jpm, half of them were of caucasion descent. for UBS all the interviewers were Asian. Hopefully that answers your question.
so... anybody heard back from GS after this past week... my online status changed but still want that email to be sure.
untitled,whats ur status for online app?
any1 based in US that got 1st rounds for ML/CS hear back for 2nd/final?
still wating for ML second round also...
yep. i had my CS first round. still waiting for second round announcement. we were suppossed to get it later part of this week.
i interviewed on wed. they told me they'd get back to me in 3-4 days. the super day is feb 1 or 2 or something.
mine is Securities (S&T).
Hey guys, I am applying from London and so far have Citigroup and JPMorgan final round next Monday, Merrill Lynch final round on 4th of Feb, Credit Suisse final round in NY on 1st of Feb (not sure if I am flying over for that one though) and am still waiting to hear back from GS after my 2nd round and MS after my 1st round this week.
Good luck everyone!!
Nowadays it's pretty much all Asian. There's just a massive supply in China, HK, Singapore, Taiwan. In HK, everyone's talking about working in an investment bank. Not to mention all the 2nd generation overseas Chinese from US, UK, Canada etc.
GS final round invitation is out btw..
CS is thursday, any one heard back from hsbc?
any heard from ML global markets for 2nd round?
heard from 2 people that CS is having superdays Thurs, Fri, Sat, and Sun GS is having superdays Fri, Sat, Sun JPM is having superdays Sat only
there must be so many people applying for these internships
GS for fri sat and sun? do you mean for the whole HK team? or for a specific group? I guess it's for everything that includes IBD research PWM Securities, right?
Anyone for GS HK IBD?
anyone here for GS HK Financing group capital markets superday this weekend in NYC?
PM me. Thx.
anyone? this sunday.....pm me please
jpm's given out their offers already for ibd? haven't heard anything yet
It depends on at what location you interviewed and how badly they actually want you.
hey anyone heard back for GS Asia GIR?
i havent received any status email on it and its been a week or so. thx guys!
Back from the superday. Thought everything went well but have not heard a decision yet, which is quite a negative signal. Any news?
me too! back from super day (saturday). S&T
got an email from HR, saying they are making the final decisions and i'm on hold and they'll get to me as soon as the decision gets made (middle of this week).
GS HK S&T offer is already out, frd of mine got it
GIR is out as well
JPM IBD has postponed decisions for yet another week -- got the msg from HR today
unct91 - how you know?
^ got the msg from HR today
GS S&T already out?
so i'm waitlisted. damn it.
I actually already have an offer from JPM Asia IBD. I also know that many people (at least those who interviewed with me) are getting calls today. I think you're probably on the waitlist if they told you that they were pushing it back another week... they probably want to test the yield of this round of offers. Nonetheless, I'm considering turning down the offer, so that might open up a spot for you.
Yep. Got a call from JP today but too bad that I just accepted an offer from ML. =( Which bank are u turning down JP for?
haha thanks b--best news i've heard all day
just got a call from JPM from one of my VP interviewers, and he gave me a verbal offer over the phone
so yea, im pretty sure they've called the people that they really want already. a couple of friends of mine who interviewed with jpm ibd hk have not heard back yet, so i'm guessing they've been put on waiting list?
what do you guys think the odds are of applying to one bank, getting one first round interviews, and getting into superday, and landing an offer?
i think i was very lucky because the only HK BB IBD i applied for was jpm, and i got an offer without interviewing with any other banks. i think i screwed up my london apps because i left all the online numerical tests to the date of the deadlines, as i have not heard back from any others.
and also, how hard is it to land an offer from JPM? the interviewer told me over the phone he thought i 'was one of the top candidates,' but i'm sure they say that to all the people they offer a place to. i'm thinking maybe i should have cast my net wider and applied HK IBD at MS, GS, UBS, CS, LB, so i could have more options open. but i have no regrets - i loved the JPM interviewers and think they are building up a signficant presence in Asia
finally, who has decided to take the JPM offer?
Hey, so u had your superday with JPM in London? I was there on the 1st day of the interviews. So I guess it was John Wang who called you and gave you the offer. =D I loved them as well and actually thought I screwed up one of my interviews and would never hear back from them. So accpeted an offer from ML just hours before he called.
he1c14h10, I PMed you.
(JW also told me that I was one of the "top candidates, out of over 150 that they saw." generic line. =/)
From the sample size of "this forum", it seems like yield for JPM is not very good this year. At least 3 people have turned down a JPM Asia offer (Ranger, he1c14h10, and myself) and they usually have a class size around 20 (I believe).
anyone committing to UBS?
was told that JPM's retention rate for FT offer was 100% last year from direct hiring (excluding the SEO interns who did not get an offer). this feeling of safety for a FT offer is tempting no? haha
What are the offer rates for CS S&T, JPM S&T, GS S&T?
Haha... stupid SEO. I made another post about how I was not impressed by the SEO kids interviewing for JPM HK and some people seemed to get upset (people who, I assume, have never interacted with the awkwardness that is an SEO intern). I think there are various sources and posts on this msg board that affirm that SEO kids really are not up to snuff.
Someone else said it best: "I've personally had poor experiences with SEO interns. Not very impressed by them, but your mileage may vary."
SEO thinks they're the shit. and they are...shit (or at least some of their attitudes are shitty)
I was very surprised to hear JPM still involved with SEO in HK (with LEH and ML) since all of the interns SEO gave JPM last summer did not get FT offers.
To Ratatouille: I always ask the person who gave me the offer how big their summer class is going to be, and what was the retention rate last year. Or you can go around this subject by asking "if all the interns performs well, will everyone be offered a FT position?"
Didn't realize that MER was also involved with SEO. From the SEO kids with whom I spoke, I was under the impression that it was strictly LEH and JPM. LEH sucks (esp. in HK) so I'm not surprised that they scrounged on. JPM could easily do better.
heard back from hsbc ibd hk?
does any one know the retention rate of GS PWM Asia?
i heard that out of all the SA last year they kept 2 FT
Congrats everyone, I heard the Asia apps this year were brutal
Where'd you hear that? Seems that many people on this board got Asia offers (and many got Asia offers but no NY offers). Also seems like Asia yield is going suck (but maybe that happens every year).
Heard from HR I am working for this year who maanges Asia and NY apps
i guess wso really prepares you well for interviews then haha. cuz it does seem like almost everyone on this thread has offers in asia with a BB
not me, yet.
ranger where did you hear that the retention rate at JPM was 100%? that's very very interesting to know... glad i'm going to be doing my SA there!
Credit Suisse anyone? S&T
JPM - I have a man crush on John W
heard about the 100% retention from john w. i asked him over the phone about it. he did make it clear it was 100% retention only from direct hires (aka excluding the SEO interns who did not get offers)
any heard from ML HK for Global Markets? It's been three weeks since I last interviewed with them..
Internship in Hong Kong (Originally Posted: 06/16/2014)
Any advice on affordable and good housing? good hourly pay rates to ask for (if in a position to do so) ? Any other advice?
I am starting my recruiting drive for it from now even though this is for next summer's internship to get as maximum traction as possible.
Yes - avoid the midlevels like the plague. Overpriced and not convenient for public transport. Every single expat and most in finance/law for some reason move to the midlevels. I almost made the same mistake. I would have except I could not afford it. Wanchai and Sheung Wan (close to Central) are also getting incredibly expensive. If you are on HK Island side, you can live in a number of places as long as its near the Island line so consider options say in Tin Hau, North Point etc. It's only about a 15ish minute subway ride to work and can save a lot of money.
I know for less about living on the Kowloon side (ie. if you work in ICC at Kowloon station) but housing is much more reasonable in parts of Kowloon such as Hung Hom. I think TST is quite pricy, and places like Mongkok/Jordan/Yau Ma Tei may be a bit noisy for your liking but a true HK experience and very convenient. Public transport if awesome in HK so if you live near the MTR (subway) you should be fine in general.
For short stays, ask around. Look at airbnb as well as asiaxpat... Don't know about internships or pay, sadly.
Good Luck
Kennedy Town is a good place to look. There's busses, siu ba and cabs to get you to work (siu ba for me to ifc in less than 10 minutes most mornings), increasing number of Western places to eat, local Cantonese food and a wet market if you're inclined that way. Big public pool to cool off in on weekends.
...And K Town is supposed to have MTR in 2015 (sometime...)
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