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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

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 […]