London/Sydney/Tokyo

<p>I am interested in a career in IB to eventually transfer to VC or PE firms, but I will NOT live in NYC.</p>

<p>So here is my question:</p>

<p>How tough is it to get hired by an international firm with a degree from the USA? </p>

<p>Also would it be much easier to just get a graduate degree and then try to break in to IB? </p>

<p>The reason I ask is because I want to use my gi bill benefits as effectively as possible, so if necessary I can just like bartend or something until I am done with my bachelors and then use my benefits for my masters.</p>

<p>Thank you.</p>

<p>Hi Trones</p>

<p>I can tell you a bit because I’ve actually been involved in hiring people for London! Degrees from the US are fine, and there are many Americans working in banks in London. Which school you’re at (or were at) matters of course, but usually not in the same way as in the US. In London the target vs non-target distinction is <em>on the whole</em> far less binary than on Wall Street and some banks actually tell their staff not to discriminate. It’s more of a gradual decline in probability of getting hired as you go from top to mediocre schools, than a sudden drop once you get outside the targets. (To be clear, this is a generalization and there are always exceptions).</p>

<p>Whether you apply using the application site for the US (as you’re studying there) or the country you want to apply to may vary from bank to bank.</p>

<p>Tokyo is different, from what colleagues posted out there have told me, they tend to be internal transfers (the grads are typically locals). Sydney doesn’t have that problem, but it’s pretty small. Aside from the Australian banks, most offices there will be relatively small. Not sure about how their visa situation compares with London.</p>

<p>Hope this helps
Stan</p>

<p>Thank You, that helps alot, now the only issue is the path to take.</p>

<p>On the one hand I could just test out of the majority of the rest of my undergrad (I have a bunch of credits that are not necessarily the best combination for IB, probably will be a social science degree), take the GRE, and then do a graduate program that is specifically useful in IB.</p>

<p>On the other I could just start fresh in a top undergrad school.</p>

<p>Any recommendations?</p>

<p>If you want to get into IB, you should do so as an undergrad. In terms of international firms, regardless of post #2, it’s very hard to get hired. Even kids out of St. Andrews are having a very hard time, and they have the leg up. Since the US stopped hiring from overseas, those countries “reciprocated”. Do not expect to be hired by an international firm for an overseas position, unless you get hired by a firm that does business internationally, specifically into the international training program, but even then, you don’t know what will happen in a year or two and where they may send you.</p>