We’ve covered investment banking recruitment in different regions in previous articles, but there’s one problem with that topic: things change over time. For example, I wrote many regional articles on this site pre-Brexit, pre-pandemic, and pre-“political tensions in Hong Kong.” While those events do not directly affect interview questions, they do affect the recruiting process […]

If you work in finance in Canada, do you have to be in Toronto? It’s like asking whether you need to be in New York in the U.S.: No, but you’ll probably have to go there at some point, especially if you want to reach the top ranks. But there are advantages to regional offices. […]

Should you go straight to the source? In other words, if you cover emerging markets such as Latin America or Africa, is it better to be based in those regions, or to work in the nearest financial center, such as New York or London? You might think it pays to be local, but that’s not […]

Just how different are the regional offices and headquarters of a large bank? In some cases, not very. But in others, they’re more like different planets. Houston falls somewhere in between these two extremes. There are similarities to New York, especially if you’re in the natural resources group, but the recruiting process, pool of candidates, […]

Does it ever make sense to accept a back-office role over a front-office one? In 99% of cases, no. But one market where candidates often think otherwise is India. Banks there try to ‘sell’ you on back and middle-office roles by offering higher base salaries and claiming that these roles lead to solid exit opportunities. But […]

If you want to work with tech startups in the finance industry, you might assume that you have to be in venture capital. After all, technology investment banking groups work with larger, more established companies… right? That might be true in developed markets, but in some emerging markets, such as India, investment banks dedicated to […]

This one is the interview that I could never quite lock down – until now. We’ve managed to cover almost every emerging and frontier market, but my attempts at featuring Brazil kept falling through. But when I sent out an announcement asking for interviews last year, I received over 200 responses, with quite a few […]

Have emerging markets lived up to the hype? Back in 2005 or 2010, the answer seemed to be “Of course! They are growing quickly,” or “Well, they made it through the financial crisis in one piece.” But what a difference a few years can make. These days, the question is more like: “Can emerging markets […]

Do you believe the league tables? In other words, if one country or industry has a lot of deal activity, does that mean there are substantial M&A deals there? You might say, “Yes,” or, perhaps, “They’re not perfect, but the league tables are roughly correct.” But there are always exceptions. One big example is Ireland, where […]

Ever wish you had a “do-over?” Extra lives in a video game when you die for the final time? So do I. Especially when it comes to articles on this site written very early on that weren’t quite as thorough as more recent content. But unlike a character in a game, I have unlimited “do-overs” since I […]

If you want to work in finance and never get bored, there’s a simple solution: go to Latin America. Or at the very least, work in a US-based coverage team for Latin America. You’ll get to deal with stubborn business owners with delusions of grandeur, unreliable information, and even the occasional sovereign default. On the other […]

If you want to work on energy deals, Canada is a good place to start. And within Canada, most of the action is in Calgary – from both the Big 5 Canadian banks and the bulge bracket banks. Sure, energy deals do take place in other locations, but it’s hard to beat Calgary for the […]

If you could drink wine while working on a pitch book, would you actually want to work on the pitch book? Maybe, maybe not… but to answer that question, you’d have to work in France and advise on a few vineyard M&A deals. There’s a lot more to the industry than that, but it is […]

So, should you work in Asia? Or is it better to work in a major financial center in a developed country? The debate rages among university students, MBA students, and anonymous people online, so there’s only one way to settle this question: ask someone who’s had experience doing both. Our reader today worked across the […]

If you go into investment banking, do you have to deal with crazy people? If you’ve watched any finance-related movies or TV shows, the answer seems to be “probably.” And if you’ve read stories online, in the comments section of this site, or on forums, the answer seems to be “always.” But that’s not true […]

The finance industry in developed markets hasn’t exactly made a strong “recovery” post-financial crisis (if you want to be bold and label it a “recovery”). Sure, hiring is up and more deals are getting done… but most teams have not expanded quickly in major markets like the US and UK. But banks have been growing […]

We’ve covered a surprising amount on finance in mainland China over the years, from foreigners getting into the industry against all odds to foreigners getting forced out of the industry, to undergraduates randomly getting month-long internships… But one common scenario is missing: what it’s like to grow up in China, work at a local Chinese […]

If there’s one profession that bankers don’t respect, it’s the poor accountant. Sure, consultants also get a lot of hate … but hey, at least top management consulting firms recruit at the same universities and MBA programs that bankers flock to. For some reason, though, accountants always seem to attract skepticism and scorn from financiers. […]

Most of the time it is really, really, really hard to break into emerging markets if you’re a foreigner with no experience in the country and no language skills. But there are a few exceptions, such as Mexico, India (sometimes), and yes: Singapore. Singapore itself is not an “emerging market,” but when you work there […]

Another month, and another… infographic, it seems. This time around, it’s on everyone’s favorite topic: tax evasion. By “tax evasion,” of course, I mean “working in the finance industry in the Middle East.” We’ve done quite a few interviews with readers who work in Middle Eastern countries and who have recruited successfully in the region, so this […]

When I first started doing interviews about 3 years ago, one question in the comments of an early interview really surprised me… “Long time reader, first time poster, big fan of the site. Question – how do we know that these stories / case studies are true?” I see where he was coming from… many […]

When I was traveling in Europe a few years ago, everyone thought I was either French or Russian. And, of course, I knew neither language so whenever someone attempted to speak to me I stared at them blankly and used hand gestures to explain my ignorance. I have the same reaction when readers ask about […]

If you take a second to look at the demographics for this site (see: right image), it’s no wonder that there’s so much interest in Hong Kong. We’ve featured a few interviews with readers who worked in other areas of finance there, but nothing specifically on investment banking – until today. Continuing our recent trend […]

You might say that working on deals in emerging markets is a little bit… different. Not only do you value and analyze companies differently, but you have to deal with all sorts of other fun: Possible government coups, hostile takeovers (from the government), and general instability. Complicated ownership structures that make the plot of Inception […]

Investors like growth. And now that they aren’t getting it in developed economies, whether they’re looking at industrials, consumer retail, or other sectors, they’re turning their attention south and east – to the BRIC countries and other emerging markets. We’ve been through what to expect in China and India multiple times, but Brazil hasn’t received […]

“Are you guys even in the office past 8 PM? Whenever I call no one’s there.” “New York is hella lame, people are so much better out here.” “If you say ‘hella’ again I’m going to make you pay for the bottles next time – and maybe the models too.” “Fine, I’ll do some research […]

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, […]

While you’ve learned all about recruiting in Europe before in places like the UK, Germany, and Italy, we’ve never done a direct comparison of what to expect in each region. Will you really have to go through assessment centers and similar interviews in each place? Are they only looking for locals or can you break […]

When this interview series started awhile back, I expected most submissions to come from Europe since the UK is the second biggest country in terms of readership. But that didn’t happen – instead, we covered the Middle East (which is awesome) and parts of Asia instead. This time around, though, we move back toward Europe […]

OK, I’ll admit it upfront: while this site has featured lots of interviews from readers in “hot” emerging markets such as China and India, I haven’t gotten too many requests for Pakistan. But this is such a good interview and has such specific information that I wanted to publish it anyway. Plus, the interviewee has […]

“You’ve written so much about networking, but it doesn’t work outside the US. No one in my country responds to cold calls or emails – what do I do?” It’s one of the most common objections I get to the networking advice on M&I. There are dozens of interviews disproving the old complaint that everything […]

Investment banking Canada… it must be pretty much the same as in the U.S., right? How different could recruiting and careers really be? As it turns out, “a lot.” In this interview with a reader who works in investment banking in Canada, you’ll learn: Investment banking networking tactics – who knew the library could be […]

While everyone knows about emerging markets like China, India, and the Middle East, there’s not as much awareness of South Africa. But it would be a mistake to ignore it, because it’s an interesting market in its own right – and it’s quite a bit different from anywhere else in the world. So let’s get […]

What do you think of when you hear “emerging market”? China… India… Russia… Brazil… And then maybe Dubai, Eastern Europe, Southeast Asia, and a couple others. But Saudi Arabia is probably not at the top of your list. That could be a big mistake, as we’ll find out in this wide-ranging interview with a reader […]

Dubai: the hottest emerging market in the world? The best place to work in finance? Or is it all just a mirage in the desert? The truth is somewhere in between, as you’ll find out in this interview with a current investment banking analyst who works in Dubai. We cover this reader’s background, what the […]

Continuing our series on finance in different regions of the world, today we go to Italy and hear from a reader who completed an MBA program there and then had an internship this past summer at a local Italian investment bank. We cover a broad set of topics, including how he decided to study in […]