Chinese agencies are charging students more than $12,000 to land coveted Wall Street banking internships

• Career coaching firms are helping Chinese students secure coveted Wall Street internships and graduate jobs, Bloomberg reported.
• Third-party agencies charge $12,000 or more for access to industry mentors and internal referrals.
• Revenue for career counseling services in the US was valued at $16 billion in 2020.

Chinese students looking to land prestigious internships at investment banks and consulting firms are paying $12,000 or more for services offered by career coaching agencies, according to a Bloomberg report.

Companies typically pair students with finance professionals to provide support with cover letter drafting, networking and, in some cases, internal referrals at top-tier firms such as Goldman Sachs. However the bank denied any relationship with agencies, to Bloomberg.

Beijing-based agency Breadoffer said it charges students $12,000 to land a job at Goldman and $9,000 for a shot at Chinese investment bank Citic Securities.

Chengdu-based DreambigCareer has more than 3,000 finance and consulting professionals on its books and said it has helped Chinese students studying overseas secure more than 6000 coveted roles. The agency charges up to $10,000.

This comes at a time when the pandemic has contracted the Chinese job market. Finance vacancies declined 12% in the country in 2020, according to recruitment website Zhaopin.com. The programs can give ambitious students a leg up when competing against their peers, raising ethical concerns for students, agencies, and the bankers enlisted to provide their services.

Sean Wang, banker and author of "How to Make it as an Investment Banker" told Bloomberg the number of career consultancy programs has ballooned in recent years.

"It opens wide the question of fairness," he told the publication. "If you pay to have someone else write your cover letter, or get a first round interview, is it fair to those job seekers who don't have or can't afford such packages?"

China is expected to produce 9.1 million graduates this year. The annual number of graduates from Chinese colleges has increased by one-third since 2012, a result of the country's education drive, and more are expected to return from overseas as the pandemic continues to overwhelm many nations.

In an already competitive job market, rocketing numbers of young job-seekers will likely only increase the demand for third-party agencies.

The practice is not specific to China; revenue for US job training and career consultancy firms, such as Wall Street Oasis, was valued at $16 billion in 2020, according to market research firm IBISWorld.