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!

😂

I’m reminiscing fondly about all the free food I got from banking careers events while having no intention of applying - had a great dinner at a women in banking event at the Cambridge chop house OP’s DD needs to get on that!

Many thanks for all your really helpful comments
Studied engineering on advice of school (state) as good at Maths & Physics.
Did Physics, Chem, Maths & F. Maths A-levels - again partly on advice of school although did Econ & enjoyed at GCSE (A*)
Actually wanted to do Ox engineering course rather than others because it was "General" rather than having to choose speciality straight away
Has enjoyed course although found pretty difficult & a lot of work but possibly regretting not doing something like PPE/Economics which (apparently!) required much less work & would be more relevant
Feels slightly depressed that "hard" degree fron good Uni seems to count for very little despite having lots of transferable skills
Also has a lot of extra curricular sport etc to high level as well as being very interested in current affairs etc & dare I say very articulate for engineer but again not much help if cant even get interview.
Unfortunately Covid hasnt helped as if had been able to do engeneering internsip in previous year would have realised earlier & could have applied for finance/consulting this summer. Can you apply for internships if in final year? Can you apply for job & internship same place?
Struggling as have no experience of this & certainly no useful contacts!
Thank you!

Depending on what part of banking your dd wants to get into another potential route is via an ACA qualification from one of the Big4 firms. It will be a slower route and won’t lead to a trading role but if she’s interested in other aspects it might work. Much less difficult to get an accountancy job.

I think she could apply for both internships and jobs. She needs to read all the info herself re timing etc.

I don’t really see this degree counts for very little. I actually think that’s rubbish. However not knowing what you want is always an issue. General Engineering is the home for those students but they often don’t end up doing engineering.

DH is a Chartered Engjneer. He was born to be one. He didn’t just do what the school thought. He did all the research himself. Is this not a bit of an issue here? She’s constantly doing what others say/do. Iz finance just following others too?

What about looking for work shadowing in the holidays? What has she now specialised in? As DH is very articulate I do know this is an asset! Someone has to persuade clients to use his quite large consultancy! Engineering really isn’t just sitting in a room looking at a computer all day.

My DD is a barrister. We had no contacts for that career at all! None. Young intelligent people do work things out for themselves. They see what others are doing and ensure they get their ducks in a row. Perhaps she should now be able to do this? Careers service first then get on with applying. I would also apply for engineering jobs as well. Be discerning about which ones!

look on jobs boards. I think she should do an internship to see if she actually likes it. If she thinks engineering was hard work at uni, then why would she want to go into banking - which has really long hours (at least investment banking)? Maybe it’s good for her to assess what she wants in a job - Because there could be lots of other jobs that tick her boxes (that she doesn’t know about) - data analyst, fintech, insurance, actuary, accountancy, management consulting, engineering (but at a different company).

My twins graduated from Bristol 2 years ago so I have been following careers of their friends etc. The ones who get the high paid jobs immediately after they graduate have worked on the career like a business even before they went to the university. During university they did loads of things relevant to that career. Banking is similar to law in this repect.

If you do none of that then you might have to have a gap year at some point or waste more money on a masters.

However he should apply and keep doing it even now and even without summer internships (which for potential lawyers are called "vacation schemes" which last about 2 weeks and you are paid abotu £400 a week - done in university holidays. Every year the law firms recruit some who have not done those schemes but usually the person has some legal work experience and interests on their CV.

If he might prefer law to banking he could apply to many firms between now and Christmas for training contracts in the hope to be sponsored on his law conversion and SQE (the new exams) for solicitors after he graduates next summer. It might be worth a go at banking and law.

My DH graduated with MEng from Cambridge last year. He applied to a number of banks in tech rather than banking. This might be a better route to consider.

Lots of banks run schemes but it's a myth that you'd need to be in London. Look at other sites like JPMorgan have Glasgow and Bournemouth, Barclays have a large site in Cheshire. If they are achieving good grades and doing well at studies then there should be no barriers

You can certainly still apply for internships in your final year. An MEng degree from Oxbridge still counts for a great deal. My DS got positive replies from most of the graduate jobs he applied for. I’m not pretending it wasn’t a tough process as there are many hoops to jump through and he got some rejections but he was successful in the end.

I'm curious what put her off engineering? I work in the sector and we actively target women/girls and ethnic minorities at all stages of education because there's a lack of diversity in the profession. We really need diversity of thought and good role models in this sector.
Could you reply to say what put her off?

Good luck to her in her ambitions, obviously a v bright and talented individual and I'm sure she will be great whatever she does next.

It is perfectly possible for your DD to apply now for a banking internship for next summer. Her engineering skills will make her a competitive applicant. Positions are filled on a rolling basis so the sooner your DD applies, the better the chance of getting a role she wants. At Cambridge, there is a society that offers mentoring support to students from any discipline applying for banking internships. DS was allocated a mentor at the start of his second year and he focussed on just one or two applications before Christmas. There might be a similar setup at Oxford and there will definitely be uni wide/cross-discipline networking events too. Good luck to your DD in her future applications.

@Fingernails4Cash
Its often the case the General Engineering Science students from Oxbridge don’t know what branch of engineering they want. That’s why they did Engineering Science and didn’t choose at 18. So when they get near the end of the course and everyone is applying for city jobs, they realise engineering grads start at around £30,000 or a bit more. In city jobs it’s significantly more and certainly they will leave engineers trailing behind after 5-10 years. So it’s easy to follow the money and not be a trend setter for women.

DH has a mid sized engineering consultancy. Getting the right people is a nightmare. Huge numbers of engineering grads don’t stay in engineering after graduation. Those that do are not always very good. However pay is inevitably limited by the value of projects but not that many engineers are earning £200,000 at 30. They do in the city jobs. DH made a lot of money but he’s a businessmen too. So many engineers have no entrepreneurial skills at all. That’s where the money is though. Running a business.

Some banks have schemes at Easter. As she’s bright enough to have got into either Oxford or Cambridge she should be able to figure this next stage out.

I didn’t say I would help bypass anything. Many bulge bracket banks require some know how on how to apply, when to do internships and where etc etc If you work in IBD you know about these things. Many banks are actively looking for really smart female candidates and engineering backgrounds are often favoured.

Been told has zero chance as only interested in people who have done internships etc

This is simply not true. If she is at Oxford, there is a careers fair on Thursday with several banks and financial institutions attending. I would advise her to go along and approach the exhibitors directly.

There are student programmes for an investment bank I know of as my DPs daughter has applied, taking applications now for 2023, needs to be quick, deadlines November.
Here is the link

Also this might be of interest?

boe-futuretalent.co.uk/undergraduate/graduate-development-programme.html

Has she spoken to the Careers Service? In my experience they are excellent at helping students think through their options. This is based on my experience as a graduate from Oxford within the last 10 years and then from the ‘other’ side as someone supporting recruitment for our graduate schemes at work, where we’ve worked with the careers service. You can normally book an appointment with an advisor.

Now is the time for her to be attending all the fairs, networking events etc and putting applications in. I would also encourage her to think what it is about banking that’s attractive to her - might broaden her options out. E.g. if it’s trading she’s interested in, outside of the banks you also have the FTSE energy companies like BP and Shell with graduate schemes in their big energy trading businesses. Engineering backgrounds are a great fit there if she has an interest in those markets (which includes carbon trading, renewables etc so not just oil!).