… by Rebecca / from Lincoln / BSc Mathematics [2nd Year Entry] / 2nd Year (UG)
As one of the highest-earning sectors for graduates, it’s no surprise that banking is a popular career choice. By ‘banking’, I mean investment banks (e.g. JPMorgan), asset managers (e.g. BlackRock) and more general banks (e.g. HSBC) etc. It can seem like a daunting industry that would be better suited to economics students, but banks hire maths graduates and are trying to become more diverse in every way, so it is a career you can have if you want it.
Since it is so competitive, to get a career in banking most people start preparing early on in their degree. After being at university for almost a year now, I’m starting to understand the timeline, so I have put together a guide of key things to do every year of your degree to help you get into banking:
Before University:
Research as much as you can about industries and companies you might be interested in. This will allow you to focus on attending the events and programmes that you want the most once you get to university. For this, I recommend reading graduate recruitment guides.
First and Second Year:
Attend careers/networking events with companies (there are a huge amount of these at Edinburgh) and apply for ‘Insight’ programmes (advertised on a company’s website) that are usually held in Spring (but applications close in Autumn/Winter so be prepared to apply as soon as you start university!). It’s easy to underestimate the importance of these Insight programmes that can last from 1 day to 2 weeks, but by performing well in them you can sometimes get offered an internship for the following summer – this would take the stress off your third year massively as you won’t have to spend time applying for internships.
Join societies! Being involved in societies helps you show your passion and dedication for a hobby. It can seem strange that employers care about you having interests outside of your course/ their industry, but even banks want their employees to be ‘real people’ and not robots. Getting a position on a society’s committee will also help you develop skills that you can show off on your CV and in interviews, which helps you get to the next stage of an application process. Edinburgh has a huge range of societies you can join, including some that I’ve found to be very good for helping you get into banking, such as: Edinburgh University Trading and Investments Club, Women in Business and the Economics Society.
Try and get an internship in the summer after either or both of your first two years. Apply for smaller companies as well as big ones, because most big companies will only take penultimate year students for internships. Doing an internship early helps you stand out when applying for future internships and graduate roles as you will have additional experience. They also help you better understand what area you want to work in.
Third Year:
Get an internship! You’re probably very busy with studying this year, but spending time on applications for internships (if you haven’t already got one from your insight programmes) is important, as all the banks advertise that performing well in an internship will mean you’re offered a graduate role. And, even if you don’t enjoy an internship you do, you can still use the experience to help your applications for graduate schemes. Again, be aware that internships can have very early deadlines (October/November).
Fourth Year:
Get a graduate job! If you don’t have one from your internships, put all the experience you’ve built up over the previous years to good use in your applications for graduate roles – it will give you a really good chance and help you stand out against other students that haven’t done anything outside of their course.
So, this probably looks like a lot, but even doing just some of these puts you in a strong position when it comes to applications, and careers advice is available from the Careers Service, your peers and your own research. As I said at the start, this is a competitive industry which means everyone that applies for any of the programmes I’ve mentioned is certain to be rejected from at least some of them. But don’t be deterred! The rewards are high if you persevere, so if you know it’s what you want to do then apply – you don’t know where it might lead you.
Good luck, and I’ll be around for a few more years if you become a student here and want a chat! 😊