Finance Job Market in India / Job Search

TraderJoe1976 · Post by **TraderJoe1976** » Wed Oct 13, 2010 2:03 am

Hi folks,

My first post here even though I have been browsing this forum for a few months. I am planning to return to India in 2011 after spending 13 years in USA.

I graduated from IIT-Bombay and IIM-Bangalore in mid-90s. Since then I have been in USA. Did my PhD in Finance from University of Texas at Austin and have been working in New York City in Investment Banking for past seven years. I intend to return to India in early 2011 for family reasons. I wanted to find out if anyone can provide some information about the Finance Job Market in India and how to get a job in Finance sector in India. I have PGDM (MBA) in Finance from IIM-Bangalore and PhD in Finance from University of Texas at Austin.

Should I go through a recruiter? Who are the reliable recruiters in Finance sector? What is the proper procedure to get a job, preferably in Mumbai or in Bangalore? I know Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, Bank of America, Morgan Stanley. Blackstone, Carlyle, etc. have operations in India. Should I apply directly to them?

Will they give credit for Finance PhD or is the main requirement for the IIM degree? What compensation to expect for IIM-Bangalore degree and seven years work experience in New York City? Also, I have taken a USA passport. Will that cause problems in getting a job? My intention is to return permanently to India.

One of my batchmates from University of Texas at Austin returned to India and they made him Director of PGPX program at IIM-Ahmedabad (he had PGDM from IIM-Ahmedabad). So I can also join there if I cannot get a industry job.

Your advice is much appreciated.

Many Thanks.

gurusw · Post by **gurusw** » Wed Oct 13, 2010 6:51 am

I am not sure what is the best way for you to apply at these companies. But carefully choose your mode of applying so as to maximize your chances, and (preferably) apply only once at each company. Almost all the companies in India keep track of who applied and when. They do not interview the same candidate again for next 6 to 24 months.

roxstar · Post by **roxstar** » Wed Oct 13, 2010 8:56 am

Cant you tap into your IIM network or IIT network. I bet that network is floating in the highest of places in corporate India. One tool to use could be Linkedin and to locate people of power and influence in the organizations you want to work for and then contact them directly. Some may be more helpful than you can imagine and some others may not be so helpful. Also you may want to talk to some key contacts in these companies here in the US and see if they know people in the India office who you could get in touch with. Either ways its worth the chance. Recruiters may help but I dont know enough about that channel in India or how professional that channel is.

mithin2006 · Post by **mithin2006** » Thu Oct 14, 2010 8:37 pm

Best will be to tap into your IIM alumni network. Going through recruiters is not easy as many are reluctant to engage the overseas candidates unless you have some niche skill. Other alternative is to get in touch with leadership team in India and write directly to them - these individuals are usually excited to have a volunteer who has worked in US for years and is willing to bring new skills/perspectives to local team.

RajanS · Post by **RajanS** » Fri Oct 15, 2010 10:43 am

OP

Your profile is impressive. There are quite a few AMCs in India in mutual fund business. Number of funds and number of companies are only growing each year.

"I know Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, Bank of America, Morgan Stanley. Blackstone, Carlyle, etc. have operations in India."

Instead of working in the back office operations of US Companies, you may find better quality of work if you work directly for their India business. Just my thought.

-Rajan

HarryPotter · Post by **HarryPotter** » Sat Oct 16, 2010 7:42 am

TraderJoe -

Which are of Investment Banking do you work in ? Corporate Finance, Trading, Research, Structured Products, Technology ? Most of the Bulge Bracket banks that you mentioned (except PE firms) are focussed mainly on IT and Operations, and have some amount of local business.

Depending on what you do, and want to do, one could access if there will be any value given to PhD. Lets say you are in Derivatives Trading. Since most of the Associate level positions require only MBA, you may not get some credit. If you have spent 7 years, I would assume you are a VP level or above. Sometimes, making a switch at Associate or MD level is easier, than at Principal or VP. If India experience is a must for your role, then it becomes harder for banks to recruit someone with US experience at senior positions.

Compensation varies on what you are doing. Except few PE firms, and fee bulge brackets, which will pay you at par with US salary, most have salaries pegged with local pay levels. Indian firms like Kotak Mahindra, Religare are starting to get competitive, but typically pay slightly below US banks.

Regards

ps: And like several folks said, the best bet is to leverage IIT/IIM network

TraderJoe1976 · Post by **TraderJoe1976** » Sat Oct 16, 2010 9:20 am

Thanks for all the input. I have been working in Fundamental Research Group, primarily doing Design and Development of Quant Trading Strategies. In USA, this position requires a Finance PhD. Almost all the members of our group have PhD in Finance or Economics. I was able to locate two of my IIM classmates using Linkedin. One guy is working as MD in Bank of America in New Delhi. Another guy is working with Goldman Sachs. It seems that the banks are mostly doing BO/MO work in India. I may have to transition to Risk because most of the Risk and IT work is being outsourced to India. Maybe after a few years, the banks will set up Research desks in India. I heard that Blackstone and Carlyle are doing cutting edge work in India. There are quite a large number of qualified people in India. One of my friends left his faculty position at London Business School to join IIM-Ahmedabad. I guess the reverse flow has started and the main problem is in trying to find a good fit.

vin_hyd2000 · Post by **vin_hyd2000** » Sun Oct 17, 2010 11:31 pm

BofA does some Quant work from its Mumbai office, high freq trading & algos. Same I guess Morgan Stanley as well in Mumbai. Not sure of GS, I think its mainly IT.

cabo · Post by **cabo** » Mon Oct 18, 2010 1:41 am

OP

My husband has a BTech in CS and MTech in Industrial mangement - both from IIT Bombay. Though, he started his career in IT, he transitioned into finance and worked for major banks . When we returned to India in 2006, he was at the director level - did quant work- at a major NYC Financial org. Most of his colleagues had Phd's in math/finance and economics as well.
He failed to find satisfactory positions in India...but we were constrained by location and also his lack of a IIM MBA/ Phd may have been a factor. But again, that was 2006. he is now self employed.

Have you ever considered consulting positions in Singapore/Hong kong/ London etc- with easy access to India and pay structure equivalent to US( Having a US passport will work very well in these countries)- could give you more time off to travel to India.

one of our friends with a phd in finance, was a faculty at Tulane, is now at ISB. But, the pay in industry and academics could be a big mismatch .

PS- I know nothing about finance or the kind of work that you guys do!! Good luck with your search!

namchaar · Post by **namchaar** » Mon Oct 18, 2010 3:14 am

Hi, I am in a very similar state (background and current quant career) and with similar time lines (careerwise and returning timeline). Have also been frustrated to the point of giving up on a similar career in India - except that my family has already moved with my wife starting a job on the 25th!! Would be great if we could chat sometime on phone/email (namchaar@gmail). It may be useful to both of us !! Thanks

TraderJoe1976;339226Hi folks,

My first post here even though I have been browsing this forum for a few months. I am planning to return to India in 2011 after spending 13 years in USA.

I graduated from IIT-Bombay and IIM-Bangalore in mid-90s. Since then I have been in USA. Did my PhD in Finance from University of Texas at Austin and have been working in New York City in Investment Banking for past seven years. I intend to return to India in early 2011 for family reasons. I wanted to find out if anyone can provide some information about the Finance Job Market in India and how to get a job in Finance sector in India. I have PGDM (MBA) in Finance from IIM-Bangalore and PhD in Finance from University of Texas at Austin.

Should I go through a recruiter? Who are the reliable recruiters in Finance sector? What is the proper procedure to get a job, preferably in Mumbai or in Bangalore? I know Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs, Bank of America, Morgan Stanley. Blackstone, Carlyle, etc. have operations in India. Should I apply directly to them?

Will they give credit for Finance PhD or is the main requirement for the IIM degree? What compensation to expect for IIM-Bangalore degree and seven years work experience in New York City? Also, I have taken a USA passport. Will that cause problems in getting a job? My intention is to return permanently to India.

One of my batchmates from University of Texas at Austin returned to India and they made him Director of PGPX program at IIM-Ahmedabad (he had PGDM from IIM-Ahmedabad). So I can also join there if I cannot get a industry job.

Your advice is much appreciated.

Many Thanks.