Graduated 2011 - No grad job, need further guidance.
Discussion
When you say banking and finance, do you mean investment banking? "Banking and finance" is a pretty large and diverse sector! Do you have any work experience/internships?
Hiring in the city for graduates was pretty dire this cycle...I know people with predicted 1st's who haven't got jobs. Having said that, if you're getting to the latter stages and not "converting", maybe it would be worth trying to get some practice interviews, or asking someone you don't know personally who is experienced in that sort of thing to try and give you an honest appraisal of your performance?! Might uncover some things you hadn't thought about
You could also try cold calling/emailing smaller institutions; 99 of 100 may just hang up on you but the odd one might give you work experience- it might be a week, it might be unpaid, but it would most likely be better than nothing!
I'm sure someone else will be along soon to give you some better suggestions than my rather generic ramblings
Hiring in the city for graduates was pretty dire this cycle...I know people with predicted 1st's who haven't got jobs. Having said that, if you're getting to the latter stages and not "converting", maybe it would be worth trying to get some practice interviews, or asking someone you don't know personally who is experienced in that sort of thing to try and give you an honest appraisal of your performance?! Might uncover some things you hadn't thought about
You could also try cold calling/emailing smaller institutions; 99 of 100 may just hang up on you but the odd one might give you work experience- it might be a week, it might be unpaid, but it would most likely be better than nothing!
I'm sure someone else will be along soon to give you some better suggestions than my rather generic ramblings
Hi Lazystudent!
With banking I have applied to a range of roles from treasury management at banks, bank operations to investment banking. I know it's broad, but I feel I can't limit myself to one particular area simply because it's tough out there IME.
I have no banking/finance related work experience and no internship/placement of any kind.
I've had a practice interview recently at my uni careers service - they thought it was very good... Perhaps I need to look elsewhere. I've also been reading interview books.
Do you think a week or so of relevant work experience is enough? I personally feel a few months is more like it (like an internship) although it's a big ask.
I appreciate your ramblings!
With banking I have applied to a range of roles from treasury management at banks, bank operations to investment banking. I know it's broad, but I feel I can't limit myself to one particular area simply because it's tough out there IME.
I have no banking/finance related work experience and no internship/placement of any kind.
I've had a practice interview recently at my uni careers service - they thought it was very good... Perhaps I need to look elsewhere. I've also been reading interview books.
Do you think a week or so of relevant work experience is enough? I personally feel a few months is more like it (like an internship) although it's a big ask.
I appreciate your ramblings!
AnonymousCaller said:
Hi Lazystudent!
With banking I have applied to a range of roles from treasury management at banks, bank operations to investment banking. I know it's broad, but I feel I can't limit myself to one particular area simply because it's tough out there IME.
I have no banking/finance related work experience and no internship/placement of any kind.
I've had a practice interview recently at my uni careers service - they thought it was very good... Perhaps I need to look elsewhere. I've also been reading interview books.
Do you think a week or so of relevant work experience is enough? I personally feel a few months is more like it (like an internship) although it's a big ask.
I appreciate your ramblings!
Any work experience is better than no work experience - you'll be in their office, doing work, and showing them how awesome you are in the workplace. With banking I have applied to a range of roles from treasury management at banks, bank operations to investment banking. I know it's broad, but I feel I can't limit myself to one particular area simply because it's tough out there IME.
I have no banking/finance related work experience and no internship/placement of any kind.
I've had a practice interview recently at my uni careers service - they thought it was very good... Perhaps I need to look elsewhere. I've also been reading interview books.
Do you think a week or so of relevant work experience is enough? I personally feel a few months is more like it (like an internship) although it's a big ask.
I appreciate your ramblings!
Are you a decent bloke?
Have you tried some networking on here or other forums frequented by bank types?
Send PMs to those you know on forums in banking. Introduce yourself. Arrange coffee or beer.
Meet bank people. Find out how to get internship etc.
PM me. I know a director level guy at a Jap bank. He used to be one of the guys also involved in hiring the grads.
I can make an intro*
*if you have good academics and are not a weirdo
Have you tried some networking on here or other forums frequented by bank types?
Send PMs to those you know on forums in banking. Introduce yourself. Arrange coffee or beer.
Meet bank people. Find out how to get internship etc.
PM me. I know a director level guy at a Jap bank. He used to be one of the guys also involved in hiring the grads.
I can make an intro*
*if you have good academics and are not a weirdo
Lack of work experience is definitely a problem. I was in the same boat in 2008, had a good Engineering degree, went for lots of interviews, assessment centres with the usual Mech Eng graduate suspects (BAe systems, QinetiQ, Shell, etc etc) with no luck.
Eventually got a job at a small startup, who I'm still working for. The company has grown continuously, as has my role, I really enjoy my job and get exposed to a much wider range of work than I would at a large company.
Unfortunately you're in a bit of a catch 22 situation! Best of luck OP, my advice would be use your contacts to get some experience, or target SME's rather than the big guys!
Eventually got a job at a small startup, who I'm still working for. The company has grown continuously, as has my role, I really enjoy my job and get exposed to a much wider range of work than I would at a large company.
Unfortunately you're in a bit of a catch 22 situation! Best of luck OP, my advice would be use your contacts to get some experience, or target SME's rather than the big guys!
What can Vince Cable do for me? (serious question)
Yes I am a decent bloke. I have never tried networking on here or other forums used by bank types.
By meeting bank people I presume you mean going to PH Dirty Dicks drinks and pubs in the City and Canary Wharf area and just asking for experience?
I can't get an internship the normal way (penultimate year students only, blah blah blah - although I will try ringing direct to HR instead).
I have PM'd you - thank you very much for offering to make an intro for me. I confirm that I have good academics and I am not a weirdo.
johnfm said:
Are you a decent bloke?
Have you tried some networking on here or other forums frequented by bank types?
Send PMs to those you know on forums in banking. Introduce yourself. Arrange coffee or beer.
Meet bank people. Find out how to get internship etc.
PM me. I know a director level guy at a Jap bank. He used to be one of the guys also involved in hiring the grads.
I can make an intro*
*if you have good academics and are not a weirdo
Hi johnfm, Have you tried some networking on here or other forums frequented by bank types?
Send PMs to those you know on forums in banking. Introduce yourself. Arrange coffee or beer.
Meet bank people. Find out how to get internship etc.
PM me. I know a director level guy at a Jap bank. He used to be one of the guys also involved in hiring the grads.
I can make an intro*
*if you have good academics and are not a weirdo
Yes I am a decent bloke. I have never tried networking on here or other forums used by bank types.
By meeting bank people I presume you mean going to PH Dirty Dicks drinks and pubs in the City and Canary Wharf area and just asking for experience?
I can't get an internship the normal way (penultimate year students only, blah blah blah - although I will try ringing direct to HR instead).
I have PM'd you - thank you very much for offering to make an intro for me. I confirm that I have good academics and I am not a weirdo.
hyperblue said:
Unfortunately you're in a bit of a catch 22 situation! Best of luck OP, my advice would be use your contacts to get some experience, or target SME's rather than the big guys!
Trying to use my personal contacts (already used up most of them). May I ask how you found a job at a SME? Did you just go on job boards such as Jobsite, Monster, etc.? A lot of them felt I was very inexperienced. Catch-22 doing my head in.Should have gone to Cass 
Joking aside, have you tried applying for 'normal' jobs? I'm in a similar situation to you - applying for grad jobs, and doing an unpaid internship while im doing that - and my manager keeps telling me to drop my preoccupation with grad jobs and apply for normal jobs - theres plenty of them out there on both general and industry specific job sites. I think most graduates are thinking they should only apply for jobs with the word 'graduate' in the title, and thats why they have hundreds of applications for each place (I applied for BSkyB and they pushed back the interview stage by a couple of months because they had so many applications to sort through, for example).
Joking aside, have you tried applying for 'normal' jobs? I'm in a similar situation to you - applying for grad jobs, and doing an unpaid internship while im doing that - and my manager keeps telling me to drop my preoccupation with grad jobs and apply for normal jobs - theres plenty of them out there on both general and industry specific job sites. I think most graduates are thinking they should only apply for jobs with the word 'graduate' in the title, and thats why they have hundreds of applications for each place (I applied for BSkyB and they pushed back the interview stage by a couple of months because they had so many applications to sort through, for example).
Not in the banking sector but a few suggestions
a) Networking
Look for industry events/expos/etc in anything related to the work you want to do and that you think you could get into, turn up to them with your best smile and copies of your CV. Go and ask intelligent questions and have your CV ready in case anyone is interested.
If there are particular workplaces that you want to work at, identify which nearby bars employees go to on Fridays after work and go make friends. It need not be expensive - after all you don't want to get blotto, you want to make a good impression. It's not unknown for firms to offer employees bonuses to introduce new staff.
Try PHers.
b) Voluntary work
Go get more voluntary work - by all means pursue unpaid work experience in the banking sector. However I suggest you also do something worthy whilst you are looking. I don't mean shop work, but character building stuff like visiting the elderly or working with the homeless. Because, it'll look better on your CV but also because it is character building for you and directly helps people in need.
c) Look for other jobs slightly outside what you want. For example the fraud sector is booming. Or look for slightly more junior banking positions.
a) Networking
Look for industry events/expos/etc in anything related to the work you want to do and that you think you could get into, turn up to them with your best smile and copies of your CV. Go and ask intelligent questions and have your CV ready in case anyone is interested.
If there are particular workplaces that you want to work at, identify which nearby bars employees go to on Fridays after work and go make friends. It need not be expensive - after all you don't want to get blotto, you want to make a good impression. It's not unknown for firms to offer employees bonuses to introduce new staff.
Try PHers.
b) Voluntary work
Go get more voluntary work - by all means pursue unpaid work experience in the banking sector. However I suggest you also do something worthy whilst you are looking. I don't mean shop work, but character building stuff like visiting the elderly or working with the homeless. Because, it'll look better on your CV but also because it is character building for you and directly helps people in need.
c) Look for other jobs slightly outside what you want. For example the fraud sector is booming. Or look for slightly more junior banking positions.
AnonymousCaller said:
Trying to use my personal contacts (already used up most of them). May I ask how you found a job at a SME? Did you just go on job boards such as Jobsite, Monster, etc.? A lot of them felt I was very inexperienced. Catch-22 doing my head in.
A recruitment agency got my CV from Monster. Good luck Why the rush to get a City job? Go abroad to where the opportunities lie; you might not instantly get experience with what you want, but you have a long time to work in an office environment. Do all the daft and carefree things while you still can, ride out the worst of the recession in places which are still growing, and growing strongly. You never know, a banking career in Hong Kong, or trading shares on the Nikki might be a lot more preferable than dealing with monotonous back office operations in the UK for the next 40 years?
AnonymousCaller said:
Hi Lazystudent!
With banking I have applied to a range of roles from treasury management at banks, bank operations to investment banking. I know it's broad, but I feel I can't limit myself to one particular area simply because it's tough out there IME.
I have no banking/finance related work experience and no internship/placement of any kind.
I've had a practice interview recently at my uni careers service - they thought it was very good... Perhaps I need to look elsewhere. I've also been reading interview books.
Do you think a week or so of relevant work experience is enough? I personally feel a few months is more like it (like an internship) although it's a big ask.
I appreciate your ramblings!
Have you tried.... I think its called, Mount Batten or Batton or something.... something St. Mary's do/arrange. My friend who was a project manager in an engineering firm, jacked it in (poor pay and prospects), applied and is now doing a years internship on Wall St. with DB. Think you have to pay to do it, but you get your accommodation paid for (shared with others, my friend even shares a bedroom!) and you get some sort of small wage to see you through the months. So its a year of living a bit hard up, but the experience and opportunity it provides are probably worth their weight in gold. Her potential earnings could now be very high.With banking I have applied to a range of roles from treasury management at banks, bank operations to investment banking. I know it's broad, but I feel I can't limit myself to one particular area simply because it's tough out there IME.
I have no banking/finance related work experience and no internship/placement of any kind.
I've had a practice interview recently at my uni careers service - they thought it was very good... Perhaps I need to look elsewhere. I've also been reading interview books.
Do you think a week or so of relevant work experience is enough? I personally feel a few months is more like it (like an internship) although it's a big ask.
I appreciate your ramblings!
When I was over there on holiday I met up with her and her friends. She did engineering, most of her friends had done business or economics of some flavour, none of them came across as particularly special, just average joes with a still healthy appetite for going out drinking heavily on a weekend. Most were doing prime brokerage and my friend was going into project management again. However it did surprise me somewhat that one guy I had met, had essentially been taken on by UBS with just a phone interview and sent out to NYC... and he had a degree in politics and was going to be doing prime brokerage! I thought no wonder UBS are in the s
t, they seem to just hire anyone!Fills me with glee that this lot will eventually be paid many multiples of what I do lol! I mean they were explaining their jobs to me like it was rocket science or something when really it all seemed pretty straight forward. They were very good at playing the game though. Being a girl helps. They go hang out at all the bars where the bankers work and they've ended up meeting all kinds of people higher up and going to dinners where they get it all paid for etc etc. Networking, important, they're definitely playing the who you know, not what you know card and it seems to be doing them no ills.
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