This discussion is now closed.

Check out other Related discussions

Investment Banking Graduate Jobs

cherc2005

Im currently studying Banking & International Finance at Cass Business School, London (2nd year).

I applied for summer internships in a few London IB's but I wasnt successful, and I didn't want to take a year out and distrupt my studies (although now I kind of wished that i had)
Will this make it really hard for me to get a job after graduation, given I have limited experience i.e. no internships/placments?

Also, will I then have to get a 1st class in order to realisticly get a job in investment banking, ive heard rumours that anything below a 1st and you can kiss goodbye to good jobs in the city.

Thanks

Reply 1

supernova2

11

I don't think CASS undergrads are that targeted. So unless you manage to have a really impressive CV (lots of EC's) and do well in interviews it'll probably be really hard unless youve got some kind of back route in. What about mid/back office?

Reply 2

rajeev

cherc2005

Im currently studying Banking & International Finance at Cass Business School, London (2nd year).

I applied for summer internships in a few London IB's but I wasnt successful, and I didn't want to take a year out and distrupt my studies (although now I kind of wished that i had)
Will this make it really hard for me to get a job after graduation, given I have limited experience i.e. no internships/placments?

You have no hope in hell of securing a good grad job without an internship these days. This applies to Oxbridge students nevermind Cass/City undergrads.

cherc2005

Also, will I then have to get a 1st class in order to realisticly get a job in investment banking, ive heard rumours that anything below a 1st and you can kiss goodbye to good jobs in the city.

To get a good job you need a) at least a 2.1, these days preferably a 1st and b) a good internship / equivalent experience. You don't have (b) therefore won't make it most likely.

Reply 3

HoodTrader

I studied at CASS, a number of students took the year out between the 2nd and 3rd years. Do it if you can. Many of them organised this year out after they had done their exams i.e. in June/July so it is not too late for you. Speak to the placement officer...ASAP, they usually have quite a few going on at this time of year.

The people who went on the year out scheme got full time job offers for when they finished and obviously the experience to add to their CV too. Also a couple of people I know managed to get on very good placements, not operations and technology but some better roles.

Reply 4

rboogie

7

Met a cass girl last night who is working at GS in PWM - it's definitely possible - regardless of what you think of PWM.

Reply 5

dieeiervonsatan

2

rajeev

You have no hope in hell of securing a good grad job without an internship these days. This applies to Oxbridge students nevermind Cass/City undergrads.
To get a good job you need a) at least a 2.1, these days preferably a 1st and b) a good internship / equivalent experience. You don't have (b) therefore won't make it most likely.

Look I'm sorry but this is just plain wrong. I went to a ML event for summer interns and a lot of the guys in IB hadn't done an internship before they started their full time job! Without a doubt it obviously helps, but you saying that someone has no hope in hell is rediculous.

Reply 6

rboogie

7

rajeev

You have no hope in hell of securing a good grad job without an internship these days. This applies to Oxbridge students nevermind Cass/City undergrads.
To get a good job you need a) at least a 2.1, these days preferably a 1st and b) a good internship / equivalent experience. You don't have (b) therefore won't make it most likely.

I did not have an internship and I wasn't Oxbridge.

Reply 7

gooseymcgoose

11

dieeiervonsatan

Look I'm sorry but this is just plain wrong. I went to a ML event for summer interns and a lot of the guys in IB hadn't done an internship before they started their full time job! Without a doubt it obviously helps, but you saying that someone has no hope in hell is rediculous.

He's saying there has been a significant change since 2004 and now. The guys you talked to were almost certainly hired back then.

Reply 8

soilman

12

rboogie

I did not have an internship and I wasn't Oxbridge.

exactly, the guy talks through a hole in his arse.

Reply 9

TheAP

9

cherc2005

Im currently studying Banking & International Finance at Cass Business School, London (2nd year).

I applied for summer internships in a few London IB's but I wasnt successful, and I didn't want to take a year out and distrupt my studies (although now I kind of wished that i had)
Will this make it really hard for me to get a job after graduation, given I have limited experience i.e. no internships/placments?

Also, will I then have to get a 1st class in order to realisticly get a job in investment banking, ive heard rumours that anything below a 1st and you can kiss goodbye to good jobs in the city.

Thanks

Back or middle is perfectly achievable. I know many that have. Front will be extremely difficult (if not near impossible).

Reply 10

TheAP

9

rboogie

I did not have an internship and I wasn't Oxbridge.

I beleive the OP and Rajeev were referring to securing grad entry whilst in your final year, which, I guess, will be extremely difficult for somebody applying to FO roles. But to the OP, there are other routes, as rboogie has demonstrated.

Reply 11

szeles

4

TheAP

Back or middle is perfectly achievable. I know many that have. Front will be extremely difficult (if not near impossible).

Hmmm...explain this: I know a guy on the same course as the OP (same year). He's on for a good 1st, but has got close to zero work experience and it's the same story with ECs. How then did he manage to attend 6 or 7 final rounds/ACs (including GS and DB)?
EDIT: for FO roles

Reply 12

TheAP

9

szeles

Hmmm...explain this: I know a guy on the same course as the OP (same year). He's on for a good 1st, but has got close to zero work experience and it's the same story with ECs. How then did he manage to attend 6 or 7 final rounds/ACs (including GS and DB)?
EDIT: for FO roles

What is there to explain? The guy is in his second year, applied for internships and got to the final round of interview.

Reply 13

szeles

4

TheAP

What is there to explain? The guy is in his second year, applied for internships and got to the final round of interview.

TheAP

Back or middle is perfectly achievable I know many that have. Front will be extremely difficult (if not near impossible).

Bit of a generalization there - apart from being smart, this kid has nothing special to him, and yet he still made it very far

Reply 14

TheAP

9

szeles

Bit of a generalization there - apart from being smart, this kid has nothing special to him, and yet he still made it very far

Internships are a completely different ball game to grad apps, where you will be up against people who have undertaken internships (or some other significant form of work experience eg HF) and failed to secure the full time offer.

Lets see how far the kid gets with grad apps for FO roles. Just ask rboogie how hard it is (he made over 100 grad apps, whilst apparently having gold standard academics behind him and a CV that would make me cry)

Reply 15

TheAP

9

And just to make it clear, when I wrote:

"Back or middle is perfectly achievable I know many that have. Front will be extremely difficult (if not near impossible)"

I was obviously referring to grad entry.

Reply 16

rajeev

rboogie

I did not have an internship and I wasn't Oxbridge.

I'm talking about getting a grad job immediately upon graduating. You had to do an expensive MSc then work in a brokerage firm before finally making it to a bank, and you're pretty old now, earning what people 4yrs younger than you are if they'd gone straight in.

Reply 17

szeles

4

TheAP

And just to make it clear, when I wrote:

"Back or middle is perfectly achievable I know many that have. Front will be extremely difficult (if not near impossible)"

I was obviously referring to grad entry.

I accept that, but independently from that, my point still holds:
You'll agree that a penultimate yr. internship will massively boost your chances of securing a grad offer. Thus, this "nothing special" kid, who has a first from a 2nd tier uni plus an internship on his cv won't - in my opinion - find it too difficult to get a grad. offer. My point is that this pretty average student didn't have a real difficulty in securing an internship, and resultingly shouldn't find it "near impossible" to secure a grad job.

Reply 18

Niccolo

6

rajeev

I'm talking about getting a grad job immediately upon graduating. You had to do an expensive MSc then work in a brokerage firm before finally making it to a bank, and you're pretty old now, earning what people 4yrs younger than you are if they'd gone straight in.

Some of you totally money-obsessed ******s really are absolute slime. Nothing wrong with wanting to do well for yourself, but this loathesome plutocracy at the expense of everything else is disgusting. It makes me wish that we had had a Stalin in this country...get against the wall, or at least in the Gulag.

Reply 19

student_london

8

cherc2005

Im currently studying Banking & International Finance at Cass Business School, London (2nd year).

I applied for summer internships in a few London IB's but I wasnt successful, and I didn't want to take a year out and distrupt my studies (although now I kind of wished that i had)
Will this make it really hard for me to get a job after graduation, given I have limited experience i.e. no internships/placments?

Also, will I then have to get a 1st class in order to realisticly get a job in investment banking, ive heard rumours that anything below a 1st and you can kiss goodbye to good jobs in the city.

Thanks

Let me just rewind back a few years and I was in exactly the same position as yourself. The BIGGEST problem that you'll face is selling yourself. If you have worked in the FO with traders, it's much easier to sound interesting and committed and you can bull**** too if you have the experience under you're belt, i.e "I was helping a trader to price non-vanilla instrument to hedge....or I built a macro to link positions with Live prices....."
It's hard to beat candidates with 'relevan't experience, but not impossible. Another important factor is the networking, maybe you were the 'funny' guy that they remembered etc..... I hope you're getting the picture it is HARD to secure a job with no experience. Many of the FT jobs are filled with guys that have done an internship or have other kinds of relevant experience. Hope this helps, but don't give up, just prepare yourself much better by doing more research or opening a trading account and boast about your above normal returns!

A

Investment Banking Graduate Jobs

Related discussions

Articles for you