Applying to Asia Pac

18 January 2008

2 minute read

Haven't been successful in landing an investment traineeship in Europe? There's always Asia Pac.

So far, the Asia Pac (for our purposes, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Australia) market has been less impacted than Europe and the US by the credit crunch, and graduate recruiters in the region say they're open to receiving applications from UK students.

Vincent Chow, vice-president of organizational developments at Citi Markets and Banking's Asia Pacific office, says around 15-20% of its entry-level graduate intake tends to come from UK universities.

"We do not set a target number when hiring students from a particular location. We look at the overall quality of students instead. For instance, if we found the candidates particularly strong in US schools in one particular year, we may end up hiring relatively more from the US," he explains.

Credit Suisse also welcomes overseas applications, says Linda McConnell of its Asia Pacific campus recruiting team. When applying, a candidate should select their preferred business area, along with their preferred office location within Asia Pacific, she advises.

"We offer both analyst and associate positions across all businesses in Asia Pacific, from traditional investment banking roles to the exciting space of private banking," she points out.

First-round interviews are typically done over the phone for overseas candidates but, once a candidate reaches the final stages, they should expect either a video conference or a face-to-face meeting, she says.

The bad news is that, as in the UK, many banks' deadlines for Asia Pac applications have now passed, which means you may need to hold out until next year. The exception appears to be JPMorgan, which also accepts international candidates to its programme in the region, and says applications are ongoing or can be fed into next year's round if they are too late.

AUTHOReFinancialCareers UK

Insider Comment

SW
SW
27 February 2008
for those who may not know, Singapore's first and official language is English, the only asian country ( i believe ).
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Ja
James Canney
24 February 2008
If a British student was applying for positions in HK- what area of the bank would he most likely being in demand for? Trading , Sales?
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AT
AT
12 February 2008
Finally, you made the point that "many people in HK...can't write in English fluently". Presumably, there are "some" who can write English fluently, yes? What is the proportion of people in HK, or in London or NYC for that matter, who work as professionals in IBs and whose roles require extensive writing responsibilities? You don't need most of the population of HK/Singapore/China/etc to be fluent in English.
Again, the tone of your statements smacks of a sense of entitlement. Just because you have an Oxbridge degree, you are entitled to a job in Asia? What makes you think that an inability in language is the sole inadequacy of a failed Oxbridge IB candidate? Have you considered that perhaps technical and interviewing skills were inadequate, relative to other candidates?
Even if language were the sole reason, is it truly trivial? If you cannot even speak the local language well, how are you going to be able to present to local clients whom one should honour by speaking in their language? How would you be able to rise through the ranks if you cannot smooze locals to acquire as clients of the bank? Perhaps you only care about English-speaking clients? Then stay in London.
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AT
AT
12 February 2008
Look, I don't understand why people are gnashing their teeth about the lack of written English ability in Asian IB recruits. To me, it sounds like a red herring.
Fresh grad IB analysts have very little extensive writing responsibilities. In IB, you spend virtually all your working (and waking) hours preparing pitch books and Excel sheets. I've read through hundreds of them, and I can tell you with no exaggeration that the only full sentences you will find in them are the short bios of the respective MDs and VPs in the team. You will not be given much opportunity to showcase your mastery of English literature.
The only people who really need to be fluent in written English in an investment bank are either in publicity/PR roles (and I doubt these are the roles the Oxbridge grads in this forum are applying to), and those in research roles. But most graduates are not recruited into these positions, but are instead destined to the sausage factory that is analyst-pitch-book hell.
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Jo
Jonny
11 February 2008
I would like to pose the following for those who have a problem with candidates who are not 100% fluent in written and spoken English: why do you think the banks are willing to take these candidates? Skills/character/attitude of the candidates/communication? Granted that English is essential in this industry, what are the reasons for banks to sacrifice the slight edge in English fluency?
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