Why should they hire a SIM-UOL grad if they have ivies and oxbridge grads applying for the position? The only advantage you have over these ivies would be relevant deal experiences esp in Asia given your basic grounding in English and Mandarin through previous hires/internships.
This is what I recommend:
Start from regional boutiques as a summer analyst, get deal experience from mid-market banks and eventually move laterally to BBs as an associate.
Keep in mind a lot of hard work is required - knowledge on valuations models, proficiency in Excel - as in being able to use Visual Basic to program marcos, familiarity with Bloomberg/CapitalIQ/Thomson, familiarity with financials etc etc. You will learn most of the concepts in school (precedent transactions, comparable multiples, CAPM, DCF, Gordon's growth etc) BUT learning how to apply them in rl (Excel modelling, explaining to your MD etc) is on a wholly different league.
You NEED to do well academically. SIM-UOL is fine, but at least a high 2nd upper/1st class degree. Anything lower is a no-go as you'll be pigeonholed into the 'dumb' applicant pool. Also, you NEED to brush up on your industry basics (who are the BBs, who is KKR, Blackrock, Carlyle Group) as well as your overall presentation/interview skills.
Google wallstreetoasis.com to see your competition. S'pore kids are nowhere near that level. Try if possible, crash
NTU/
NUS/
SMU networking fairs and introduce urself to recruiters/bankers. of course some might get annoyed but you'll make a good impression as u're from a different school who bothered to attend. Get their business cards as well and follow up.
For interviews, assuming u've done well enough to land one, expect tough local competition from
ntu/
smu/
nus kids who know their pitchbook/valuation stuff. (Some are as clueless as the guy next door though, and get kicked out early)
Oh and for regional boutiques dun expect a high pay. The most important takeaway is the deal experience. Dun complain about the working hours too. 2-3am workdays are common. Sometimes u'll even end up pulling all-nighters and surviving on Starbucks just to get the pitchbook out.
Oh and don't listen to some of the bs that the people here are spouting. Horizontal xfer from BO/MO is almost impossible. Dun count on it. Only way into FO is not to end up in MO/BO in the 1st place.
Seems tough? Well if you are hungry enough you will get there, no matter how high the mountains are or how deep the sea.
Study hard, work hard and enjoy life.