I want to get into Financial trading, investment banking etc... Degree in Psychology

There is a thread I was reading on TSR the other day which included people who had already been accepted onto various schemes/jobs for investment banking. One of them had a degree in History and was saying it is perfectly possible with any degree but that the majority of people would arrive with a maths or finance degree. It is a very competitive field.

The stats and research bias of psychology does give it a numerate base which is a help.

However I'm puzzled as to why you are doing psychology and why investment banking? Is it the money or what? If you are attracted to the nature of the work itself then maybe a degree more focussed on finance would be best. If you are not attracted to the work but want the money then that could be a bit of a dead end. Try looking at something like becoming an occupational psychologist in businesses... that probably pays the most in psychology terms.

Good luck

Lol I wonder how many people would actually say that they want to go into Banking and Finance if tomorrow there was an announcement that salaries would be slashed by 70%.

Money really does talk.

Lol I wonder how many people would actually say that they want to go into Banking and Finance if tomorrow there was an announcement that salaries would be slashed by 70%.

If you chose Psychology to begin with then why are you suddenly interested in banking? The money of course. But be warned a lot of the people who do finance and maths and excel at it are a certain type of person, usually with a passion for numbers. It's something you either possess or don't I think, and unless you did Maths at A-Level then you should probably stay on your course.

Money talks yes, but those big salaries come at a price.

Bath is a top uni, especially for economics, coming just behind the main IB 'Target Unis'. However, you don't know what place they've gotten in Morgan Stanley. Just because someone says they work for MS doesn't mean they're not a cleaner or something (obviously exaggerating a lot).

Lol yeah I guess. But if I said to people there's two identical people, one went to LSE and one went to Bath. They received the same marks and there knowledge is exactly the same. Who gets the job? Everyone will say LSE student( Majority anyway).

Yes I met the people who have job offers and worked in Middle Office. Yeah sure they didn't get Front Office but that's a bit much for a placement year. They seemed very bright and that is what matters. You can't go to LSE and expect to get a job no matter what. It matters about the individual not the University alone. I am not saying go to any University and you'll make it but I am saying that it matters more about the individual than the University they are from. If you cannot understand this, its because you are not in the job market yet. I have been told this by people working in the sector rather than looking at statistics online. I hope this makes people understand, go get a first and be a go getter rather than mope about your University's name!

Depends what you consider well paid?
Psych's earn anywhere between starting salaries of £21,000 while in trainee positions to £100,000. There are psychologists working for all major international companies as occupational psych's. Oc. psych's also work for the ministry of defence, MI5 and so forth. That's before we get into those working in clinical areas within the NHS. An educational psychologist can charge between £200-£500 per hour in private practice. The list goes on and on...

It is a competitive field and needs long training rather like medicine. However the rewards are good. For those who do not want to continue with training after their degree there are opportunities in areas such as market research companies as a psychology degree has a large component of statistical and research training in it.

Sure a lot of people do psych degrees... that's because there are a lot of jobs related to it. Finance pays well of course but some people just wouldn't like the work.

Of course, and I agree with what you say. With response to the scenario you proposed, I'd think they'd both get the job (or not) - it's not like IBs are on strict numbers, they can take less or more depending on the cohort. LSE will give you a better foot-in and first impression, but if the bath student shows themselves to be just as good then I'd hope they're seen as equal.

And yeah I agree with everything else you said, just because statistics show a correlation between LSE and IB doesn't mean it's BECAUSE they went to LSE. The reason so many LSE students get in is because they're driven (both academically and career-driven) - which pushes them to have things that make them successful candidates. And I definitely agree with the go-getter attitude. So many people complain they don't have a job out of uni, blame the job market etc... If you ask them what they did to pursue getting a job they're left a little speechless.

So? Footballers and Musicians have salaries of around £10,000 a week. These are exceptions. Generally, you do not see psychologists as heads of businesses, you see them as regular officer workers. In particular in Finance, I have worked with no psychologists at all. I have, however met alot of physicists/mathematicians.

So? Footballers and Musicians have salaries of around £10,000 a week. These are exceptions. Generally, you do not see psychologists as heads of businesses, you see them as regular officer workers. In particular in Finance, I have worked with no psychologists at all. I have, however met alot of physicists/mathematicians.

I don't deem psychology as something which is particularly useful to society as I'd like it to be. I want to study a degree which I'm motivated by and know it can get me where I want. The problem with occupational psychology is that most of them work for a company which let them out or they work freelance which doesn't appeal to me in the slightest. I'd rather go to work everyday knowing where I'm going and not having to stress about finding work.

I want to study something such as finance or economics because it can get me into business which psychology can too, but it can also get me into areas involving finance etc more easily. I also recognise the pay is much higher than psychology which does matter to me. Like many people I am motivated by money which I don't deem a bad thing.

I like the idea of the job really. Would not having maths hold me back if I managed to get onto an economics course? I would work at maths over summer :P

I'm not a finance person but I guess the fact that a history graduate got a place might imply that it is perfectly possible without high level maths background.

Hopefully some actual finance people will be able to clarify.
Sounds like you would enjoy a finance/economics degree better anyway. Its no good ploughing on with something you've lost interest in.

Good luck with all your plans.

I totally agree there probably aren't many of them in finance I'd guess. That wasn't my point. I was just pointing out that people do make good careers in their own fields and are paid well for it. I just thought your original statement that you'd never met a psychologist who was well paid read like no psychologist is ever well paid rather than you meant within the field of finance and the particular companies you've worked for.

i guess you know what I am talking about.

market making and various forms of agency does not make a trader

if that were true....why are we being targeted by institutions such as citibank, JP morgan et al.???

Banks are made up of lots of different divisions, and they need to hire into all of these. OP has mentioned two of the front office divisions which are the most competitive divisions within the bank. For these divisions, just 6 universities in the UK are highly targeted - Oxford, Cambridge, UCL, LSE, Imperial and Warwick. The banks will still be at Southampton and other non-targets such as Bournemouth University (for J.P.Morgan in particular) to fill their middle and back office divisions, and to pick up those few exceptional students for their front office activities. However, for the front office, these universities outside of the targeted 6 are much less highly targeted than the 6 mentioned.

16 students did a placement year in Morgan Stanley International from Bath. High percentage get job offers. Your university has less bearing than your ability please stop making people feel as though it is more difficult when it is not. The trend is that if you to LSE that means you are more able, if this is true then yes you will get in. If you are as able as an LSE candidate or more so then you will get the job. I have been told this by experienced people in the sector rather than statistics, I hope this helps.

Whilst this is largely true, I feel like you've got your own agenda. Had you got into Warwick or any other target, you wouldn't be spouting this speech. Going to Bath doesn't close any more doors, but it means that you need to have something going for you, which the LSE/Warwick/UCL students don't have. Many people would accept that they're not 'exceptional' and just simply good enough, and if you're at a target this will suffice, whilst at many other universities you need to be well above average to be in with a shot.

Note, I have a relative working at a bulge bracket, so this isn't just regurgitated stuff from this forum.



I think him having a page dedicated to him on the Bangor website, tells you all you need to know. His an exception, hence the University's desire to promote his success. You will find people from the top six holding positions of similar prestige all over the bulge bracket firms, but the university have no need to publicise it since it is the norm.

Lol I wonder how many people would actually say that they want to go into Banking and Finance if tomorrow there was an announcement that salaries would be slashed by 70%.

Although, he must have been taught well I doubt it is him all the way. He is the Chief after all, not too many Universities churn out Chief UK Economists by the hundreds, it is an elite position.