Graduates Entering Investment Banking

Thousands of graduates will be looking to enter Investment Banking this year. Many who are very focussed and know exactly where they want to be and those who just know they want to work within Investment Banking. There are many choices to be made but these early choices are crucial to future career development.

For those graduates who have achieved A grade "A" levels and are looking to achieve a 2:1 minimum in a financial discipline should definitely be applying direct to the banks to join a graduate scheme which will give you the experience of the different areas of the bank and allow you the choice at the end of the scheme as to where you are best suited. For those graduates who do not get one of the few places on the various graduate programmes, there are still various attractive options available.

By joining a specialist consultancy you will be able to apply to banks via your consultant utilising relationships that they have across the city in a wide range of Investment Houses. For those graduates who know they want to work in a front office role will need to have outstanding academics to get an entry level role as the majority of roles in the front office are filled by the internal graduate scheme. However there is also the option for those candidates who want to study for accountancy exams to join the middle office as opportunities exist for those again with outstanding academics to work within product control or management reporting. Lastly but by no means least Operations is a fantastic area for graduates to join. Here you will gain an excellent understanding of the products, gain invaluable training and have the choice of a career either within management, projects, middle office or alternatively front office. Again standards are very high and depending on the Bank, you will need good 'A' levels and ideally a minimum of a 2:1 or above.

Graduates wanting to enter the world of Investment Banking within Operations should be looking towards an entry level role within Fixed Income due to the increasing numbers of vacancies in that area. This is largely due to the fact that it was essentially Fixed Income, which carried equities and investment banking above the quicksands just as they were threatening to disappear last year. A not insignificant proportion of the bonuses paid to corporate financiers and equity specialists were borrowed from the debt capital markets pool.

Veteran Bond specialists do not need to be reminded that after the heady 1993 came 1994, which flattened many bond houses. During uncertain global economic times, it is equities that will suffer rather than bonds. The future is looking brighter for those looking to enter Banking Operations as confidence returns to the market.

Source: monster.co.uk