Thanks! Glad to hear it

This term – join an investment club, familiarize yourself with the markets, take finance/accounting classes, network and try to land yourself an internship in finance

The core of your advice is relevant to all geographical markets and is generally spot-on.

I was also recommended Wall Street Oasis, which seems to be mainly populated by undergraduate “ballers”, or to quote the americanism “douchebags”.

You provide a valuable service and if any University students approach me for advice I would certainly point them in your direction.

Ryan, thanks for the kind sentiments.

Fortunately in some respects, I am no longer in the grad scheme system, which means I don’t deal with recruiting from this perspective any longer.

In fact, in all honesty, I heard about this site from a colleague and had a look around out of curiousity. Our brothers in America are very amusing n’est pas?

I think you can be assured by the fact that in the UK, although the bar is obviously still high, once you can get in front of recruiters it comes down to likeability much more than in NY. This “networking” thing is useful, I suppose, but working through a checklist of arbitrary metrics is more yank in approach than British. Here, assuming you meet certain benchmarks, the question of “can I work with this guy” plays a big role.

I should admit, too that I have only now read your original comment properly. Interships are a different kettle all together to jobs. I would try to do both interships. If this is impractical, I would suggest looking at what sort of work you want to be doing in your career.

The big difference between broking and AM is that broking is quick, intense, think on your feet stuff, whereas AM, particularly at your level, is about analysis and considered decision. In terms of prospects, AM is an industry that will be alive and well in 15 years, which I would sugest voice broking will not be.

Pay-wise, at grad level, big funds will probably be similar to ICAP, but pay in broking will obviously have a bigger bonus element.

My advice would be to decide what you want from your career. If you want the “buzz” of S&T then broking is probably for you. If you are really good, you will be able to break big banks. However, as previously stated, as the role of voice broker disappears, the number of jobs in big banks will shrink and eventually vanish, so transferable skills will be essential if you dgo down this route.

The City has changed since the last century in that it generally allows those who want it enough, to do very well. If you break you back to achieve your goals, you will do. Being a pleasant, person to work with will get you even further.

Wish you good luck. I’m off to “network” with private equity to improve my “exit opps” (promise I’m not taking the piss M&I).

Heh, I thank you for the compliments. I have been fortunate to interview at a couple of BBs but sadly received no offer. Whilst in one of my JP Morgan interviews I was fortunate enough to speak to a Sales Trader and he said VERY similar things to you lol (including your opinion of broking, although he did rank ICAP somewhat higher than the rest). If I were fortunate to land an offer from a BB I would take it, but sadly I haven’t been so fortunate so far.

I will be applying for BBs again come next year for graduate roles (unless I fall in love with the broker life style), and I’ve heard of quite a lot of people who went from an ICAP summer internship to a BB sales role, mainly because they know that you’re a lot more likely to get on with the clients which is one of the most important aspects.

But thank you for the advice, I hope our paths may cross again in the future. And best of luck with your applications/internships/graduate jobs whatever stage you’re at :)

I reckon (for what it’s worth) that resilience is the most important attribute for those looking to get in to banking.

You seem to have the gun and roses, so why not aim a little higher than Icap?

Not to say it isn’t a good enough job, but if you really want to work in S&T, surely a big ol’ bank is the way to start (particularly in terms of your appeal to recruiters a few years down the line).

Lastly, I wasn’t suggesting that oxbridge is a pre-requisite for banking, but in the current recruitment market, where demand massively outsrips supply, one way for HR to filter applications is by University. It’s just easy to get rid of 50% of applications because they don’t have a pedigree institution on the cover.

Nonetheless, wish you all the best. Perhaps I’ll hear you chirping prices on the other end of the phone in the not-too-distant future…

Yes keep interviewing!

@ Augustus, your comment cracked me up. It’s a shame that just going to oxbridge isn’t the only thing that gets you a job, and it turns out interviewers are quite interested in a second year who has set up his own business. Also, I’m fully aware of the role of a voice broker lol, but funnily enough I’d prefer to be a voice broker based around the market hours going out a few nights a week than an M&A analyst who’s working 100 hour weeks having to do nitty-gritty work all day. But I thank you for advice and wish you the best ;)

@Nicole, thank you very much for your reply. Based on your advice I think I will continue to pursue AM opportunities and learn more about the roles during the interview process to see if I think it will suit me or not. Hopefully from that I can gauge which career to pursue as a graduate role. Thanks!