u/Background_Demand273

I’m currently in New York making 70k while finishing my grad degree, but I have a prospective offer for a pure originations role at 100k plus bonus from the bank where I worked as a grad. The massive catch is that I’m on a student visa, and the bank won’t sponsor me beyond the 2.5 years of work auth I have left. It feels like I'm grinding toward a dead end, especially since I'm paying for school out of pocket right now which is a huge financial drain.

On the other hand, I’ve got an offer in London for a PF Associate role doing a mix of origination and portfolio management. The visa situation there is a non-issue since I already have limited rights and they’re open to sponsorship. I’m leaning toward London just for the long-term sanity and career stability, but I’m worried about leaving the NYC market too early and losing out on the intensity of the deal flow here, especially in the renewables and energy space.

For anyone who’s made the move from NYC to London, I’m curious if you felt the learning curve or the "competitiveness" of the deals dropped off significantly. Is the London ecosystem as robust when it comes to deal flow, or would I be cooling off my career by moving now? I’m also trying to figure out if it’s worth slogging it out in NYC for another two years just for the resume stamp, or if that’s just a waste of time given how volatile the US visa situation is right now. Any advice from people who have navigated the London PF market after working in the US would be great.

I have an offer from a bank in London (project finance associate - mix of origination and portfolio management) with no visa concerns (have limited working rights + open to sponsorship).

On the other hand, I'm in NYC with - a low paying job (70k) and a prospective offer from the same bank in NYC (pure originations) where I worked as a grad earlier (100k+bonus). The only catch is I am in school with work auth and neither roles will sponsor beyond the 2.5 years in school, essentially a dead end.

I'm kind of torn between choosing London for certainty and long term sanity, and NYC where I have worked with the same bank team in the past. Not to mention that with NYC i'll also have to pay for school, which is not too expensive but certaintly a drain on finances.

For people who moved to London from NYC - have you managed to integrate in the ecosystem? Is it as competitive in terms of learning in your earlier years, and exposure to deal flow in the project finance/energy space? Is it worth it to move due to visa constraints, or should I slog here for two years before thinking of a move? Given how volatile the visa regime is here in the US, I'm actually concerned if this is the right time/opportunity to make the move.

I have accepted an offer with a company in a HCOL in the US. It's a small firm, not a lot of experience still trying to expand. I've aceepted their offer since I strung them along for a bit to explore other options - which have been taking some time to materialize, and the small firm is being a bit pushy.

The main concern is - i) pay is really low for the city, think 70k for a role in NY, and ii) not a lot of deal flow to work on, and not a lot of mentorship since its a small office (less than 3 people with no business roots in the US).

I'm supposed to start with them very soon, but am expecting my former employer to give me an offer. Not only from the same branch, but also a different overseas branch. I worked as a grad role in this place (bank with a very strong reputation). However, both of these offers are in final stages of interviews and acceptance. I'd jump over to either branches in a min if I could. I'm also interviewing in a final stage with another very large reputed firm that might make an offer but visa concerns are not resolved with them yet.

I'm concerned that if I jump so soon (think 2 to 4 weeks or so) from the small firm then that might not have a good impact. But, the salary difference is more than 40%, and with bonuses included might be more than 60% or so. Luckily I do not have a notice period with the small firm and can leave anytime. However, I'm scared that it might make a permanent damage to my CV. They are also not willing to wait around any longer, and i do not want to let them go in case i don't end up with either offers from my former employers.

What would you recommend?