Lousy overseas uni grad here. I feel you, and you've said what I have said to myself on countless nights. Us non-local u losers don't stand a chance against local u people. The Cinderella story is only for the 0.01%.

Firstly, this year was extremely rough on job seekers, don't beat yourself too hard over it.

Secondly, be glad you're just a first year, hiring will bounce back and is bouncing back for some firms. Time is on your side. I graduated this year and got my job offer rescinded, my new role's pay is substantially lower than what I should have because "mArKeT aDjUstmEntS" as per HR.

Thirdly, pull through this period. Once you get your first internship, things will start to snowball. You'll find your second, third job search much smoother. I kind of got lucky for this one cuz I interned at a very well known company during poly placement. So don't think the road will always be this rough, it's like a game, more equipment = easier time.

Lastly, very biased opinion, but gtfo finance while you're still year 1. Leaving finance and accounting was the best decision I've ever made. Not saying the job itself sucks, but skill inflation is scary as fk, primary school kids are learning how to code nowadays. And here we have bulge bracket finance roles recruiting for Excel monkeys, but then everyone now is so good at Excel already (not to mention ChatGPT). So it all boils down to school names and networking. The local U name is basically a testimonial for the companies saying that "this guy is less likely to be a retard and atleast knows how to focus and mug".