Is uni of Manchester good enough for a career in finance?

i’ve not been that successful in researching the different pathways but the two main choices were banking and consultancy but tbh i think i’d be open to many different areas of finance apart from accounting. Outside of finance I was thinking about becoming an economist but I really have no clue about the career path.

Most articles i’ve read have included bristol in their list of semi-targets. I rarely see much about manchester. I’m just worried that my chance to be successful has decreased significantly. Thanks for the reply btw.

generally it's going to be very difficult to get into MBB consulting or IB from uom. Especially consulting which is notably oxbridge dominated. Take a gap year if you want to get into oxbridge/imperial/lse etc but imo not worth taking a gap year to go from uom to bristol. I go to a uni that's similarly ranked to uom and looking back I wish I had done a gap year, as even with trying fairly hard I was only able to secure big 4 audit - which compared to my peers was actually a good result. Another thing to consider is how expensive msc's are, especially for finance or management. So it's far more expensive to do an undergrad at a non target -> msc finance at a target, as that msc costs £40k+ just for tuition, rather than gap year -> target

would you say doing a postgrad at a target is just as good as undergrad at a target? Also, is it just as difficult to get into postgrad courses for target unis?

It seems like auditing could be one of the few jobs I could get after uni, if you’ve started, how is it?

A target postgrad is generally considered less good than a target undergrad. Good postgrad courses are much easier to get on than good undergrad courses, far less competition and it's more about whether you can afford it, given good finance related postgrad courses are 30k+ minimum. But with a solid undergrad and a good postgrad, it's definitely possible, it's just worth recognising that recruiting numbers out of postgrad are small. Generally banks hire almost all of their graduate cohorts out of there summer internship schemes (which you do during undergrad).

Having said that, economics at Manchester certainly isn't bad at all. You just have to remember that your chances at IB/MBB are slim regardless of the uni you go to. And economics at Manchester is definitely good enough for applications to be an economist, e.g. in private sector, the BoE or the GES, also good enough to get into some top MSc Economics courses if you wanted (a friend of mine did their bsc at Manchester and then their MPhil Economics at Oxford).

Slightly concerned that the other poster went to a uni ranked similar to Manchester, yet Big4 audit was considered a good result, I know people who've gone to far worse institutions yet have a decent proportion going into better roles than Big4 audit, but each to their own I guess.

Thanks for the reply, your post has made me feel a lot better about having to go to manchester. I’m not sure how the summer internship schemes work, is it likely that a company will offer you a job after your internship?

I think my plan will be is to just do everything I can to secure internships and if that doesn’t work then i’ll do a masters. It’s good to know that I could become an economist but my ideal role would be going into consultancy.

So the well-trodden path into IB/MBB is to do one or a couple of Spring Week short internships in your first year of undergrad (so you may have to start applying very soon after starting university). If you perform well enough you'll get invited to their summer internship which is at the end of second year. If not, then you can just apply to other summer internships for the end of second year. If you perform well enough in that then you'll get an offer to rejoin the firm for when you finish your final year. Again, if you don't get a grad offer from your summer internship, you can simply apply straight to grad roles, or master's degrees.

Though it's worth noting that firms often hire mostly from their internship schemes. I've seen instances where 80-90% in some IB's new graduate cohort have done an internship at that firm. It's also worth noting that each stage you don't get an internship, the harder it becomes. So no Spring Week certainly isn't the end of the world, lots get summer internships without them but it's harder. Getter top grad roles without a summer internship is harder. And getting a top grad role with a master's but no internship experience looks slightly odd.

Btw, you could always could look into economic consulting if you wanted something in the middle. The type of economic consultancies varies but some are not far off doing similar work to the well-known strategy consultancies like MBB

From what people have told me about becoming an economist, it’s a long process and doesn’t pay very well, but i’ll look into economic consulting, thanks.

Yeah i’ve been told about the importance about internships but i’ve also been told how difficult it is to get one. I’ll do some research over summer to try build up my chances of getting one.

I think it depends what sort of economist your thinking about, and what you define as good/bad pay.

If an academic economist.... you'll have weak pay for all those years of education. Same applies to places like in government, Bank of England, other public sector bodies and think tanks. Though worth noting that the training is good in these places, so lots do it for a few years and then go to the private sector for a pay day. In government and the BoE, you're probably looking at £32-37k starting salary, though prospects of bonuses are very limited. Often you can be on £50-70k within the public sector in 3-5yrs of graduating. So not bad, especially compared to most careers, but not incredible either.

For economic consultancies, obviously it varies quite a lot but at decent ones you're probably looking at a starting base salary of £40-50k, then maybe another 10 as a bonus. So again, not banking levels but very solid, especially straight out of university. Most upper-mid level economists and above will be on 100k+ at these firms.

In terms of graduate economists hired at Banks, asset managers and funds, the distribution is wide. You're probably looking at a starting base salary from 50-70k at bigger and less picky firms (normally banks or non-elite asset managers), to potentially a 125k base starting salary plus a bonus at the good funds. Though graduate economist roles aren't advertised often and almost all will have at least an MSc, you'll also be competing with public sector candidates with a bit of experience as it's still a big salary climb for most despite it being an entry level role. I think if you go down the route of being an economist at IB's, asset managers and funds, you're likely to be paid in the same bracket as banker's and consultants at top firms.

In order to go for a role such as economic consulting, would I have to internships specific to it or could I do investment banking/strategy consulting internships for example and still have a good shot?

I’m impressed on how much you know about different jobs, how have you come to be so knowledgeable about so many different careers?

I don't think you have to do internships in economics, to then become an economist later. I know someone who did economics as an undergrad, worked at an investment bank for two years after graduating, then did a MSc Economics and then became an economist after that. Have seen this happen a fair few times, you could probably do it without the master's and do the straight switch, but everyone I know who's done did a master's in between - gives you time to re-skill and apply for jobs while boosting your CV. I even sorta did this route, but slightly different.

I've been around for a while haha. Did my undergrad in Maths & Economics, did internships in IB & MBB during that. Went into IB after graduation for two years, went did a master's in Econometrics & Mathematical Economics and enjoyed it, did my PhD and did a couple of internships & RAing during that. Now work as an economist at a US-based fund in London. But I used this forum a fair bit when younger to learn, so always good to give back when I'm bored/waiting for something.

Wow, that's an impressive journey. I really do appreciate your replies and they've been really helpful in making me feel better about Manchester as a uni. I also spoke to a friend of a friend who is in their final year at Warwick and has been accepted into a graduate scheme at blackrock and they said that they know quite a few people from Manchester who have got great internships and ended up at some of the top finance firms. Over the summer I'm going to figure out how to become one of the top candidates coming from Manchester and how to compete with people who have already done internships during sixth form, seems quite daunting considering people from better uni's than Manchester have trouble getting internships but I still have some hope.

A target postgrad is generally considered less good than a target undergrad. Good postgrad courses are much easier to get on than good undergrad courses, far less competition and it's more about whether you can afford it, given good finance related postgrad courses are 30k+ minimum. But with a solid undergrad and a good postgrad, it's definitely possible, it's just worth recognising that recruiting numbers out of postgrad are small. Generally banks hire almost all of their graduate cohorts out of there summer internship schemes (which you do during undergrad).

Having said that, economics at Manchester certainly isn't bad at all. You just have to remember that your chances at IB/MBB are slim regardless of the uni you go to. And economics at Manchester is definitely good enough for applications to be an economist, e.g. in private sector, the BoE or the GES, also good enough to get into some top MSc Economics courses if you wanted (a friend of mine did their bsc at Manchester and then their MPhil Economics at Oxford).

Slightly concerned that the other poster went to a uni ranked similar to Manchester, yet Big4 audit was considered a good result, I know people who've gone to far worse institutions yet have a decent proportion going into better roles than Big4 audit, but each to their own I guess.

No worries, glad it's helpful. I think the main things to research over the summer are the roles on offer at firms, which firms to apply to, and the recruitment process. If you understand these going into Spring Week apps then you improve your chances considerably.

First, you need to know about the actual roles. What actually is an investment banker? What is Sales & Trading? Etc. When you understand what these roles do and are like, you can think about which fit your skills and interests most. Ultimately investment bank roles are broadly split into three groups, the investment banking department - includes M&A, IPOs, deals advisory, etc (these are often split by firm sectors like consumer goods, energy sector, technology, etc), then there's markets roles like sales, trading, research, economics, structuring, strategists, etc (these are often split by geography and/or asset class so equities/fixed income/currencies, commodities/real estate etc). Then there's a host of corporate functions and support roles, these either help the two former groups (e.g. risk, compliance, operations, treasury) or they're corporate roles like HR, Legal (tech can be in both). Most grads want to be in markets or IBD roles as you're directly pulling revenue into the firm (and get rewarded heavily for doing so), rather than just helping other to do it. Ultimately you don't want to be applying to markets roles at some firms and IBD at others, sorta need to focus on one as the skill sets at personalities required are quite different.

Once you understand all this and know what roles could be a good fit for you, then you need to find out which firms offer these roles. For the IBD-type roles, you'll mainly be looking at big investment banks, smaller boutique investment banks, corporate finance houses, private equity firms, venture capital, infrastructure funds, maybe real estate - and failing all this the Big4's corporate finance/deals advisory teams. Whereas for markets roles, you'll be looking at different divisions in IB's, asset management firms, wealth management, hedge funds, commodity trading houses, etc. So once you know the type of roles you want, you know which segments of the financial industry to look at for their internship/grad programs and make a list of all the firms you may want to apply to.

After this, you'll need to research the recruitment processes of finance firms - they're quite rigorous as the rewards on offer are big. Normally there's an initial application where you fill in lots of details like your a-levels, degree subject and where, work experience, then a tonne of biographical information (note many firms have a minimum ABB/AAB a-level requirement). Then some make you sit a situational judgement test which are very easy, just gives you work scenarios and you answer multiple choice what you'd do (they're non-role specific and don't require any finance knowledge at all). Then you'll often have a bunch of tests, normally some combination of timed numerical, verbal reasoning and psychometric. If you pass that then you'll do a virtual interview, basically nobody's on the other end just the computer, generally it'll pop up with a question on the screen, give you 30secs to think then you have a minute to answer, you do this for 5-10 questions. Pass that and generally you'll get invited to an assessment centre, normally takes a whole day, there'll be group exercises with other applicants, more tests and a couple of interviews. Pass that and either you'll get an offer or get invited to a final in-person interview then an offer. As you can see, it's an absolute chore of a process (normally there are much less stages for Spring Weeks and the process can be much shorter for smaller firms), especially doing this for potentially 20+ separate firms while balancing it with your uni work and social life. But if you understand each stage well, then it's less painful of a process you should be successful enough to navigate yourself to at least a few assessment centres and hopefully get a couple offers.

I am an international and struggling to choose between Bristol and Manchester (both Bsc Economics). The world ranking of Manchester is higher but people here seems like prefer Bristol.

May I ask for your opinion as I also want to pursue my future career in IB. Thanks in advance!

Bristol is better than Manchester for London IB comparatively, but Manchester has a better international rep in general.

That's the point! I need to firm either one once I receive the rejection from Warwick!

I am an international and struggling to choose between Bristol and Manchester (both Bsc Economics). The world ranking of Manchester is higher but people here seems like prefer Bristol.

May I ask for your opinion as I also want to pursue my future career in IB. Thanks in advance!