Applying for banking Job

[nipabc]

Hi - my DD is doing Engineering at Oxbridge (final year) & has had complete change of mind after engineeering summer placement. Now wants to apply to Banks but has zero experience / placements but obviously lots of transferable skills academically & personally. Been told has zero chance as only interested in people who have done internships etc
Is this true? Seems rather unfair only take people who know what they want to do age 18. University also not particularlyhelpful as prob more interested in people doing PhDs etc
Would appreciate any thoughts as have no knowledge what so ever on this or any contacts. Where does she start, summer placement but is it too late if in final year etc etc
Many thanks!

she Should join the Uni City/Business/Economics Soc stat. They will have networking and careers events of interest. She will need to demonstrate why she wants to work in that sector - so reading / being knowledgeable about the sector and current issues of relevance will be key in interviews. Does she have economics A level?

Having a good degree from Oxbridge will likely count as much if not more than internships. She should just apply to grad schemes at a range of banks and even management consultants and see what happens.

Not zero chance but a lot of people do get offered jobs based on the summer internships so the pool of available jobs is smaller at this stage. Has she been to any of the careers fairs/events and spoken to the bank representatives? The careers service will also be able to help her tailor her CV to banking and pull out the relevant stuff.

She should go to as many university networking/recruitment events as she can, and after taking advice from the careers office, should apply for as many jobs as she can.

A plan B, if there is the money, is to look at a Masters degree at somewhere like Cass, LSE or Imperial. For example the LSE Econometrics and Mathematical Economics Masters accepts people with engineering degrees. There is catch up on the economics side, but it is then a good way into a quant job in the City/consultancy. There are a range of similar business oriented maths based degrees which might help her understand which direction she wants to go in. They are very expensive but so too are some starting salaries. Or she might decide she wants to get away from maths and into more mainstream banking and finance.

I got my job a few years ago at the bank with my only experience being an admin council based job so it is deffo possible however I had to start from the bottom and work my way up but it was worth it

Were you just out of studying for an Oxbridge degree, Thatboymum?

Send me a private message as I can help with this!

How will you help the OP’s daughter bypass the lengthy and challenging application processes for graduates hoping to work in the City, PixellatedPixie?

There are other finance related jobs engineers can do. As I’ve said repeatedly, Oxbridge engineers often don’t become engineers. A head of steam gets into them and they all want finance!

Anything numerical is within reach. I know Cambridge mathematicians who work as actuaries. An “engineer” I know works in an audit role. Plenty go into finance. I’ve no doubt a further Masters might help on top of the 4 year MEng from Oxford but start applying for internships and jobs.

There isn’t zero chance. The faculty won’t talk about banking but the careers service can. The engineering faculty isn’t the place to get help with a job. I would be flexible though and not necessarily run with the big herd who will want high paid city jobs. She might need to consider further qualifications and economics A level really isn’t necessary.

Because there's no Banks outside of the City, is there?

I'm recruiting graduates for a Bank now. PM me :)

There are no banks outside the city, are there? Are you really a recruiter?

Absolutely not true they only accept those who have done a banking internship, that’s a very outdated view.

DS2s friend got a banking scheme (Edinburgh) without relevant internships. I think he just applied in his final year.

My DD did an internship with Morgan Stanley and hated it. Your DS might want to check out the industry before diving in. What put him off engineering?

@SandyIrvine
The money? Have you seen the salary differences? Oxford Engineering science doesn’t attract that many dedicated engineers when compared to, say, Sheffield. It’s easy to get caught up in the rush to the city by your fellow students. Clearly this has been resisted until now but it’s a strong pull when you didn’t really know what sort of engineering you wanted anyway. That’s why Durham and Oxbridge don’t suit lots of dedicated engineers. These courses suit future city workers who will earn £100k plus pretty quickly.

@nipabc Okay I get the money. I was seduced myself when I first graduated (equated salary with job quality). Although my DD said that she didn't think the pay that spectacular when you broke it down to an hourly rate (where she did her internship anyway). If she wants to chase the money would she consider management consultancy? DD did an internship with McKinsey. Said it was much more interesting.

Do you think because she is at Oxford she feels the pressure to have something amazing lined up for immediately when she finishes. I'd take my time if I were her.

If she has decided against an engineering career based on an internship then it would seem a bit foolhardy to decide on a completely new career she has never done an internship in (and also not done a related degree)? She might go off banking once she sees what it’s actually like, just like she did with engineering.

What did she dislike about her engineering placement? Why does she think banking would be a good fit?

I would suggest she applies for internships/work experience. Not just because people who’ve done internships are more likely to get a job in the end, but genuinely to make sure she doesn’t pick a career she won’t like. I agree with looking at the consultancy firms as well as banks. Large consumer group companies (Unilever etc) would also be worth looking at and might value her engineering background more.

All very competitive though, so she’s really going to need good reasons why she is interested, especially given no history of interest in that area.

I believe there are off-cycle internships she can apply for (not at the usual summer timings). This might be something to consider for after graduation? Look on jobs boards, why is she interested in banking/finance? Could she do some reading or an online mooc in it after graduation? I wouldn’t rush into masters etc.

Summer internships are essentially a long interview process for the banks, so yes I'd say her chances of getting in are low. There's no harm in still applying though.

@nipabc
Keep trying either way, but it is recommend to get into banking is network where possible, and internships where possible, especially for the big names Jp Morgan, Goldman etc

@nipabc there are also YouTube videos of other people and how they got into banking that may be helpful

The salary trajectory is better in the city. If it wasn’t better pay than engineering grad prospects, the Oxbridge crew and others would not ditch their intended careers. Although I don’t think some really did have engineering in mind as a career. Also what branch of engineering? You don’t have to stay in an engineering position. Lots of opportunities might be better than the one she tried.

Who told her this?

If I'd followed all the "advice" about what I could or couldn't do wrt career, I'd be penniless and homeless living under a bridge instead of having the amazing career that I have.

The only advice is to prepare and apply for anything and everything.
Network with people.
Don't overthink or worry about not being qualified.

I’d say best bet is a master at one of the uni’s who banks work closely with. My son has just started at Warwick doing MORSE (Maths / stats / economics) and he chose that over St Andrews in the end as they have good links with city banks. The girls at the offer day who showed us around had been offered a job on graduation at Barclays in canary warf so this promoted us to research best graduate opportunities in the banking industry.

Worth looking at the public sector bank. They recruit grads who have not done an internship and from all careers.

This thread is so triggering. Takes me right back to the first few years after I graduated when everyone I knew was either racked with pain and suffering over accountancy exams or enthralling us at dinner parties over the 14 interviews they’d endured for Goldman Sachs.

When I look them up now, 35 or so years later - several are doing things like Life Coaching, TEFL, Gardening …

Only because they’ve made a fortune and can afford to take a step “back”