pay

How £5k can buy you a financial services internship

Investment banks and other financial services firms like to paint their graduate recruitment programmes as meritocratic processes, suggesting that the nepotism and elitism associated with the sector in the past are now consigned to an ugly era of history. However, a bountiful supply of relevant work experience is the best way of eventually securing a […]

By Paul Clarke, 8 May 2013 • 1 comment
Careers guru

Amazing graduate careers advice from Lloyd Blankfein at Goldman Sachs

Lloyd Blankfein isn’t just chief executive of Goldman Sachs, he’s also a very sagacious person. In an interview with CNBC, Blankfein revealed himself to be well read and astutely philosophical. “Every book I read, I’m in love with it as I read it,” he told the interviewer, before enthusing about his latest reading material – Ron […]

By Sarah Butcher, 3 May 2013 • 0 comments
Barclays

What Barclays’ new analyst class says about breaking into investment banking

Investment banking may have lost some of its lustre for students, but it’s still an incredibly attractive industry for many.  Any graduate hoping to secure a place needs to be switched on even before they start university. After a period of training, analysts recruited into front office roles at Barclays investment bank formally started their […]

By Paul Clarke, 24 April 2013 • 1 comment
Bankers are leaving to do something else instead

Nearly half of junior M&A bankers at top banks quit within three years

Working as a junior M&A banker in a big investment bank can make you very good money, but it may well be at the expense of both your health and your social life. A new study suggests that 44% of junior M&A and corporate finance bankers who join banks out of university leave the industry within […]

By Sarah Butcher, 19 April 2013 • 3 comments
Diversion

Ten routes into banking jobs when you’ve failed first time

A lot of university students still want to be investment bankers despite the degree of banking bashing around the world. But with banks retrenching from student hiring, not many of them make it. According to High Fliers Research, there were 82 applications per investment banking job in the UK last year.  So, what do you do […]

By Sarah Butcher, 5 April 2013 • 1 comment
mbagrad

11 financial services firms that are STILL recruiting graduates this year

Most banks completed their graduate recruitment for 2013 at the tail end of last year, so anyone who hasn’t got a place yet has severely limited options. However, these firms are still hiring graduates. Bank of America Merrill Lynch: The bank’s remaining full-time graduate positions are in Asia-Pacific, with risk roles available in Hong Kong […]

By Paul Clarke, 15 March 2013 • 1 comment
It's going to be tough

Easy interview questions asked at Barclays, JPMorgan, RBS and Morgan Stanley

You’re interviewing for a student job in a bank. Which questions will you be asked and how can you prepare? Click the links below to see the questions students said they were asked by the banks listed in the 2012-2013 application round. These are entry-level jobs, so many of the questions seem surprisingly simple. One […]

By Sarah Butcher, 12 March 2013 • 1 comment
gradsbacks

2,000 new fund management jobs coming to London: not only for elite grads

Thirteen of the City of London’s biggest fund managers have started a new initiative that aims to create over 2,000 jobs a year for graduates from a diverse range of backgrounds. The new venture, Investment 2020, will see 13 asset management firms offer 100 places to graduates and school leavers from outside of a small […]

By Paul Clarke, 5 March 2013 • 1 comment
sleijpen_richard CV

UBS executive director: ECM still best job in banking

Working in equity capital markets (ECM) is the best all-round job at an investment bank, but only if you can handle the pressure of billion-dollar underwriting deals, said Richard Sleijpen, executive director, ECM at UBS in Sydney. Sleijpen, who’s worked for UBS Australia for almost 10 years and moved from debt capital markets (DCM) to […]

By Simon Mortlock, 4 March 2013 • 0 comments
College grads

J.P. Morgan targets low-income hires

If you have ambitions to work in investment banking, it helps to come from a middle or upper class background. This is not simply because a good education opens doors to the best universities, which are hunting grounds for the top investment banks, but because parental pressure and more switched on careers services in top […]

By Paul Clarke, 25 February 2013 • 1 comment