Banking internships and then jobs after degree?

You have similar goals to mine. I'm a first year on a four year programme. So far I've done insight days (in year 13 and my gap year), and I fully intend to start applying for spring weeks as soon as they open. If you want to keep the door of investment banking open, then I would advise you to go through the process as though it is your only career goal - then decide at the end. IBD isn't really a viable 'backup' (in my opinion) and I wouldn't use it as your fall back option without having pursued it properly. I'd say you need at least a summer internship to get onto a grad programme - there is a statistic which I don't know, but supposedly a high % of grads have already worked with the company they join upon graduation

Hi,

Basically I am going to be entering university this October, studying quite a reputable course at a very good university assuming I meet my offer. My plan is actually to go into academia but have investment banking as a backup. Thus I'm not particularly keen to getting involved in Spring weeks/internships throughout my degree, but there may come a point after my degree where I'll be interesting in banking/consultancy. Thus - my question is essentially - will this hinder me if I change my career plans and suddenly decide after say, third year, I want to commit myself to a career in financial services? How common is it for people to only get involved in IB after thy finish their degree (as in, begin internships) and the like?

Unfortunately, yes, you will be hindered if you're simply wanting to apply for grad roles. Banks are quite strict about recruiting from prior intern classes or interns from other banks. It would be nigh on impossible applying for a grad job without any experience whatsoever in your final year or even a year after.

BUT, what you can do is apply for internships (off cycle or summer) in your last year, do well on one of those and convert it to a spot in the immediate analyst class of your bank. What else you could do is instead of trying to join the analyst class of that year, you could wedge in a masters degree so that you'll be in the same class as the people in your internship - i.e. a year later.

After uni is over, your best bet would be either the Big4 Audit > big4 transaction services/corporate finance route > an actual i-bank or the unrelated job > MBA route. Lateral hires from unrelated jobs rarely if ever happen at the junior level without an MBA.

Another option would be if you find yourself in a PhD program, apply to the dedicated hiring streams for advanced degree holders. Usually quant teams are the ones that take on PhD holders (in quanty subjects) however some trading/i-banking teams might be open to them as well.

So really, I'd advise you to stick the process out and at least have the option to say 'no', rather than not.

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Alright that sounds plausible enough. So is it basically unheard of for people to take internships after, say, the final year of their degree - it must, in other words, be between one's undergraduate years?

Hi,

Basically I am going to be entering university this October, studying quite a reputable course at a very good university assuming I meet my offer. My plan is actually to go into academia but have investment banking as a backup. Thus I'm not particularly keen to getting involved in Spring weeks/internships throughout my degree, but there may come a point after my degree where I'll be interesting in banking/consultancy. Thus - my question is essentially - will this hinder me if I change my career plans and suddenly decide after say, third year, I want to commit myself to a career in financial services? How common is it for people to only get involved in IB after thy finish their degree (as in, begin internships) and the like?