u/EconomyEntertainer85

What happens when the target is missed with priority apps?

What if no answer after the 5-days target?

Do you lose completely track of when the answer might arrive? Do you get any email telling you anything?

Does it become a standard application?

Throwaway for obvious reasons. Applying for a UK Skilled Worker visa and super anxious.

About a month ago I was caught speeding in France (~40 km/h over the limit). It was dealt with by a fixed fine, which I paid — no court hearing, no conviction, and nothing on my criminal record. Separately, the French prefecture imposed a 4-month administrative suspension of my licence (not a court ban), which is still ongoing. No alcohol, no accident, and it’s my first and only offence of any kind.

I’m disclosing it fully on the application, with a solicitor. Realistically, how would you rate the odds of refusal on suitability/criminality grounds — or am I overthinking this?

This is how I was advised to disclosed this by my solicitor

The Applicant was disqualified from driving on [date] for 4 months due to excessive speeding.
In addition to the disqualification, the Applicant received a fine of €90 which has been paid. To be clear, this is not recorded on the applicant's criminal record and the suspension is purely administrative.

Also, they are suggesting not to attach any document as it’s unlikely they will be requested since in French.

What do you think?

EDIT: I just received approval on the 5th WD!

Successfully completed and converted a summer internship last year at a BB IB (JPM/GS/MS), and I felt like sharing some tips with people currently interning or about to start.

Take everything with a pinch of salt of course. Some things might apply at certain places but not at others.

1. Nothing special, but be the first to arrive and the last to leave. People say face time doesn’t matter much, but I feel like that’s quite bs. It’s a 3 month stint, people expect you to give your absolute best. You’re not even an analyst.

2. Never be a brown noser. People can feel it. Just be normal. Nobody likes weirdos. Be likeable, make jokes (careful!!!) but don’t overdo it. Also, it’s fucking cringe.

3. Print stuff out. 90% of what you’ll do will be brain dead work. But it’ll be time consuming and will actually require some good attention to (stupid) detail. It’s 10x easier to spot a misalignment or a typo on paper than on a screen (especially after you’ve been staring at it for 12 hours straight).

4. Ask questions, but not too many. I 100% agree with people who say to ask as many questions as possible. But never ask the same question twice. Take notes. And please, make your neurons work. Before going to the associate crying, try to spend more than 20 seconds using your brain.

5. Shock news: you can use GOOGLE. Yes, GOOGLE. Not Claude, not GPT. Good old Google. A lot of the time it’s way faster (and more accurate) to find answers there.

6. Best advice I was given: you’ll be judged on how much time you save other people. So if you have to take 10 minutes of an associate’s time but it saves them 2 hours, that’s a win. Behave accordingly.

7. Read the room. If you’re working with someone laid back, match their vibe. If you’re working with someone who’s stressed and a bit anxious, it might sound counterintuitive, but MATCH THEIR VIBE. I don’t mean create a spiral of anxiety and stress, but try to show that you feel their pressure.

8. Don’t stab people (other interns) in the back. It always ends up badly. Try to cooperate as much as possible. It shows maturity. And at the end of the day, if they take your spot, it’s just because they were slightly better. Surely not because they stabbed you in the back.

9. Keep in touch with peers. Staying up to date with the vibe at other offices in terms of best practices, best behavior and similar stuff pays off. Always look for peers or mentors.

Hey guys, I just wanted to check if even tho I applied with priority service, the decision might still come after 5 days and, in that case, if I will receive a communication.

Throwaway for obvious reasons. Applying for a UK Skilled Worker visa and super anxious.

About a month ago I was caught speeding in France (~40 km/h over the limit). It was dealt with by a fixed fine, which I paid — no court hearing, no conviction, and nothing on my criminal record. Separately, the French prefecture imposed a 4-month administrative suspension of my licence (not a court ban), which is still ongoing. No alcohol, no accident, and it’s my first and only offence of any kind.

I’m disclosing it fully on the application, with a solicitor. Realistically, how would you rate the odds of refusal on suitability/criminality grounds — or am I overthinking this?

This is how I was advised to disclosed this by my solicitor

The Applicant was disqualified from driving on [date] for 4 months due to excessive speeding.
In addition to the disqualification, the Applicant received a fine of €90 which has been paid. To be clear, this is not a criminal offence and is not recorded on the applicant's criminal record. The sanction is purely administrative.

Also, they are suggesting not to attach any document as it’s unlikely they will be requested since in French.

What do you think?

[removed]

A few months into my full time analyst gig at a PE megafund in London straight out of uni, I wanna share some tips/anecdotes that I think could be useful to a lot of people. 

Disclaimer: yes, I went to a target school for both undergrad and masters (scholarships). No, I’m not a nepo kid. Nobody in my family ever worked in finance/business and when I started I didn’t even know what a summer internship was.

 What follows is probably gonna have no specific order and will just be a messy dump of thoughts.

1. Your undergrad is how you set the tone. There are no shortcuts. Whoever tells you grades don’t matter is talking out of their ass. If you wanna have a shot at passing the screening for a bulge bracket bank, you need to be top 5 or 10%. In the first two years grades matter. At the end of the day during your bachelor’s, getting good grades is the student’s only job, and it’s the best way to signal to recruiters that you’re sharp and ambitious.
2. Surround yourself with sharp people. For the first two years of uni, even though I had great grades, I hung out with people who had no ambition and no clue what they wanted. No doubt they were great friends who made the experience fun, but I think if I’d surrounded myself with people who had their shit together and knew more about finance than me, I would’ve saved myself a ton of time researching and struggling to figure out how to navigate the finance world.
3. Have the balls to put yourself out there. Always. Doesn’t mean being arrogant. It means don’t be shy, don’t be embarrassed. Bad news for introverts (which I was): you gotta wake up. For every one of you there are 5 British hardo kids at the networking event sucking up to some Goldman associate about his tie. Get in the mix, don’t be afraid to ask questions. At first you’ll come off stiff and awkward, but it’s a skill you build with time. Join online communities or students associations to do so.
4. Don’t be a doormat. “Dear John, I know you’re incredibly busy and that your schedule looks like hell, but I would be willing to sell my soul and a kidney to have the chance to hop on a 5 minute chat with you even at 5AM if necessary.” There’s no worse way to approach someone on LinkedIn. Never put yourself below the person you’re talking to. Just show you’re not a weirdo. “Hi John, I see you work in X. I’m a student at Y and would love to have a chat about your job.” More than enough and you don’t look like a fucking slave. These people are often 3 years older than you at most.
5. Find mentors. Like I said, especially if you don’t know shit about finance at the start, it’s crucial someone takes you under their wing. You can find a mentor in tons of ways: older students at uni, alumni, friends. There are also structured programs (WSO, WSP, M&I).
6. Apply fast. In my second year of uni people told me applying within a few hours of the application going live was crucial. I thought it was bullshit. Result? Didn’t get a single interview. There are various resources to track applications. In Europe the most famous is the Trackr.
7. Don’t be picky. At the start I thought I wanted to do S&T. Didn’t apply to anything else. Result? 0 interviews. Apply to everything. If you land an internship in markets when you wanna do IB it’s not the end of the world. Pivoting or getting another internship with a solid brand on your CV is 100x easier than landing your dream internship with zero experience. Don’t be picky.
8. Don’t be fucking socially awkward. A lot of people think this is an innate skill. It’s fucking not. When you do coffee chats, try not to look like you’ve got a pole shoved up your ass. Be friendly, laid back, relaxed. Whenever I grab coffee with people who asked me for a chat and they’re all stiff and rigid I’m like: bro wtf I’m 2 years older than you, chill out. There’s no way for me to connect with you if it looks like you’re sweating talking to me. Also, I personally wouldn’t wanna work alongside someone I can’t vibe with.
9. Prepare before applications open. When you get an interview, you’ll have like 1 week of notice on average. Not enough time to master a topic from scratch. Go through the red book, 400 IB questions and other mainstream guides. They’ll give you a head start.
10. Connect with people who’ve done the interview before once you land one. Goes without saying, you can be as good as you want but you’ll be the best if you have the questions in advance. Again, can be done through any community, mentoring, or just by reaching out to people directly.

These are just some of my thoughts. Getting these jobs is a full time job, guys. You’re gonna have to make some sacrifices. Sometimes you’ll have to choose between friends, family and free time. It is what it is. I’m not here to tell you whether it’s worth it or not.

Feel free to ask any questions (please do not use my DMs).

A few months into my full time analyst gig at a PE megafund in London straight out of uni, I wanna share some tips/anecdotes that I think could be useful to a lot of people. 

Disclaimer: yes, I went to a target school for both undergrad and masters (scholarships). No, I’m not a nepo kid. Nobody in my family ever worked in finance/business and when I started I didn’t even know what a summer internship was.

 What follows is probably gonna have no specific order and will just be a messy dump of thoughts.

1. Your undergrad is how you set the tone. There are no shortcuts. Whoever tells you grades don’t matter is talking out of their ass. If you wanna have a shot at passing the screening for a bulge bracket bank, you need to be top 5 or 10%. In the first two years grades matter. At the end of the day during your bachelor’s, getting good grades is the student’s only job, and it’s the best way to signal to recruiters that you’re sharp and ambitious.
2. Surround yourself with sharp people. For the first two years of uni, even though I had great grades, I hung out with people who had no ambition and no clue what they wanted. No doubt they were great friends who made the experience fun, but I think if I’d surrounded myself with people who had their shit together and knew more about finance than me, I would’ve saved myself a ton of time researching and struggling to figure out how to navigate the finance world.
3. Have the balls to put yourself out there. Always. Doesn’t mean being arrogant. It means don’t be shy, don’t be embarrassed. Bad news for introverts (which I was): you gotta wake up. For every one of you there are 5 British hardo kids at the networking event sucking up to some Goldman associate about his tie. Get in the mix, don’t be afraid to ask questions. At first you’ll come off stiff and awkward, but it’s a skill you build with time. Join online communities or students associations to do so.
4. Don’t be a doormat. “Dear John, I know you’re incredibly busy and that your schedule looks like hell, but I would be willing to sell my soul and a kidney to have the chance to hop on a 5 minute chat with you even at 5AM if necessary.” There’s no worse way to approach someone on LinkedIn. Never put yourself below the person you’re talking to. Just show you’re not a weirdo. “Hi John, I see you work in X. I’m a student at Y and would love to have a chat about your job.” More than enough and you don’t look like a fucking slave. These people are often 3 years older than you at most.
5. Find mentors. Like I said, especially if you don’t know shit about finance at the start, it’s crucial someone takes you under their wing. You can find a mentor in tons of ways: older students at uni, alumni, friends. There are also structured programs (WSO, WSP, M&I).
6. Apply fast. In my second year of uni people told me applying within a few hours of the application going live was crucial. I thought it was bullshit. Result? Didn’t get a single interview. There are various resources to track applications. In Europe the most famous is the Trackr.
7. Don’t be picky. At the start I thought I wanted to do S&T. Didn’t apply to anything else. Result? 0 interviews. Apply to everything. If you land an internship in markets when you wanna do IB it’s not the end of the world. Pivoting or getting another internship with a solid brand on your CV is 100x easier than landing your dream internship with zero experience. Don’t be picky.
8. Don’t be fucking socially awkward. A lot of people think this is an innate skill. It’s fucking not. When you do coffee chats, try not to look like you’ve got a pole shoved up your ass. Be friendly, laid back, relaxed. Whenever I grab coffee with people who asked me for a chat and they’re all stiff and rigid I’m like: bro wtf I’m 2 years older than you, chill out. There’s no way for me to connect with you if it looks like you’re sweating talking to me. Also, I personally wouldn’t wanna work alongside someone I can’t vibe with.
9. Prepare before applications open. When you get an interview, you’ll have like 1 week of notice on average. Not enough time to master a topic from scratch. Go through the red book, 400 IB questions and other mainstream guides. They’ll give you a head start.
10. Connect with people who’ve done the interview before once you land one. Goes without saying, you can be as good as you want but you’ll be the best if you have the questions in advance. Again, can be done through any community, mentoring, or just by reaching out to people directly.

These are just some of my thoughts. Getting these jobs is a full time job, guys. You’re gonna have to make some sacrifices. Sometimes you’ll have to choose between friends, family and free time. It is what it is. I’m not here to tell you whether it’s worth it or not.

Feel free to ask any questions (please do not use my DMs).

A few months into my full time analyst gig at a PE megafund in London straight out of uni, I wanna share some tips/anecdotes that I think could be useful to a lot of people. 

Disclaimer: yes, I went to a target school for both undergrad and masters (scholarships). No, I’m not a nepo kid. Nobody in my family ever worked in finance/business and when I started I didn’t even know what a summer internship was.

 What follows is probably gonna have no specific order and will just be a messy dump of thoughts.

1. Surround yourself with sharp people. For the first two years of uni, even though I had great grades, I hung out with people who had no ambition and no clue what they wanted. No doubt they were great friends who made the experience fun, but I think if I’d surrounded myself with people who had their shit together and knew more about finance than me, I would’ve saved myself a ton of time researching and struggling to figure out how to navigate the finance world.
2. Find mentors. Like I said, especially if you don’t know shit about finance at the start, it’s crucial someone takes you under their wing. You can find a mentor in tons of ways: older students at uni, alumni, friends. There are also structured programs (WSO, WSP, M&I).
3. Apply fast. In my second year of uni people told me applying within a few hours of the application going live was crucial. I thought it was bullshit. Result? Didn’t get a single interview. There are various resources to track applications. In Europe the most famous is the Trackr.

These are just some of my thoughts. Getting these jobs is a full time job, guys. You’re gonna have to make some sacrifices. Sometimes you’ll have to choose between friends, family and free time. It is what it is. I’m not here to tell you whether it’s worth it or not.

Feel free to ask any questions (please do not use my DMs).

EDIT: I am receiving tens of dms asking for resources and guidance. I know there’s a recently born community that provides mentoring services as well. I haven’t tried it firsthand but heard it’s doing well despite being new. Link here.

[removed]

Applying for a UK Skilled Worker visa.

One month ago I got stopped in France for speeding exactly 40 km/h above the limit. Police imposed a 4-month administrative (no judge involved!) licence suspension which is STILL ongoing during my visa application.
Italian citizen

Paid the ticket

No judge decision

No alcohol/drugs

No accident

No criminal record

Single offence

I will disclose everything.
Questions:
Is this realistically something that can lead to refusal?

Could this count as an “out-of-court disposal” under UKVI suitability rules?

Does the fact the suspension is still active during the application materially increase refusal risk?

Would really appreciate practical experiences.

Bonjour à tous,

Je voudrais surtout comprendre comment fonctionne la procédure française de suspension du permis dans mon cas, car en lisant Internet et différents forums, je trouve beaucoup d’informations contradictoires.

Je suis citoyen italien avec un permis italien.
J’ai été contrôlé sur autoroute pour un excès de vitesse supérieur à 40 km/h au-dessus de la limite autorisée. J’ai été intercepté directement par la police/gendarmerie, mon permis a été retenu immédiatement et j’ai payé sur place l’amende forfaitaire.

Je vais probablement recevoir une suspension administrative de la préfecture, mais ce que je ne comprends pas est la suite éventuelle de la procédure.

En lisant des articles et des forums, j’ai vu deux versions différentes :
*certains disent que lorsque l’amende forfaitaire est payée, l’action publique est éteinte et qu’il n’y a donc ni tribunal ni suspension judiciaire ;
*d’autres disent avoir reçu plusieurs mois plus tard une ordonnance pénale ou une décision du juge malgré le paiement de l’amende.

Dans mon cas :
permis étranger (italien) ;
première infraction sérieuse ;
amende forfaitaire déjà payée immédiatement ;
aucun alcool ni stupéfiants ;
aucun accident ;
pas de récidive ;
je n’ai pas été auditionné après les faits.

Du coup, j’aimerais comprendre ce qui est le plus fréquent dans ce type de situation en France :
est-ce que cela reste normalement une simple suspension administrative décidée par la préfecture ?
ou bien est-ce qu’un juge / une ordonnance pénale peut quand même intervenir plus tard malgré le paiement de l’amende forfaitaire ?

Si certains ont vécu une situation similaire (surtout avec permis étranger), je serais très intéressé par vos retours d’expérience.

Merci beaucoup.

Hi everyone,

I’m currently completing my Skilled Worker visa application and would appreciate some insight.

On 19 April 2026, I received an administrative traffic penalty in France. It consisted of a €90 fixed fine and an administrative driving licence suspension for a few months. The suspension was imposed by the French administrative authority, not by a court or judge.

I understand that in the UK a driving disqualification can be treated more seriously, while in France this type of measure is administrative rather than criminal.

How would UKVI caseworkers typically assess this kind of sanction? Is there a realistic risk that my visa could be refused because of it, especially given that the incident is very recent?

For context, this is my only offence/penalty of any kind. There is no pattern of offending, no previous convictions, no immigration issues, and nothing else on my record.

Thanks in advance for any guidance.

Italian citizen applying for Skilled Worker visa. Need some advice.

In April 2026 I was stopped in France for speeding (40 km/h over limit). Paid €90 amende forfaitaire on the spot. Under French law this is an administrative offence (contravention de 4ème classe), NOT a criminal one — payment extinguished public action, no court, no conviction, nothing on my French criminal record (B3 confirmed blank). There’s an administrative licence suspension from the prefecture (not from a court).

I plan to declare everything on the form with supporting documents (B3, payment receipt, police Avis de rétention, prefectoral decision).

Questions:
1. Anyone been through similar with a Skilled Worker visa? Outcome?
2. Is a foreign administrative offence (not on criminal record) actually an issue under SUI 5?

Thanks!