From London to the Middle East: How to Break Into Investment Banking in Dubai

While you’ve learned all about working in Dubai and other parts of the Middle East from previous interviews, we haven’t focused on recruiting much – until now.

The interviewee you’re about to hear from went from spotty A-Level performance and low first-year university grades to multiple bulge bracket offers.

And if you think that’s impressive, you’ll also learn all about:

• How to apply to both London and Dubai, and how different banks recruit in both places.
• The key differences in the recruiting timeline and interviews.
• Whether or not networking “works” – and the best way to break into Dubai if you live halfway around the world.
• What to do if you’re already working full-time and want to move to the Middle East.

Let’s get started.

Investment Banking Recruiting in the UK: All About Competency Questions, Assessment Centers and More

While we’ve had some good stories from readers in London recently, there hasn’t been a solid overview of recruiting in the UK – until now.

It would be easy to dismiss this and say, “Banking recruiting and interviews are the same everywhere!” – but that’s just not true.

There are huge differences in Europe and Australia compared to the US (Asia, the Middle East, South Africa, and so on are somewhere in between), and you’re going to learn how to approach everything from competency questions to assessment centers and numerical tests in this interview with a reader who just won an IB offer in London.

How to Answer the “Greatest Weakness” Question in Interviews Without Getting Dinged

“Katie Couric: What one personal flaw do you think might hinder your ability to be president?

Barack Obama: I don’t think there’s… a flaw that would hinder my ability to function as president. I think that all of us have things we need to improve. You know, I said during the primary that my management of paper can sometimes be a problem.”

-Pre-Election Interview Between Barack Obama and Katie Couric

Ah, the “greatest weakness” interview question.

If even Barack Obama – one of the world’s greatest masters of spin – can’t even come up with a good answer to this one, what hope do you have?

It’s one of the most difficult and controversial questions in interviews, but if you follow the guidelines here you’ll at least be able to give a better response than Obama – and you’ll land an offer or 2 in the process.