A QUARTER OF GRADUATES WOULD BE ‘TOO EMBARRASSED’ TO TELL FRIENDS IF THEY WENT TO WORK FOR A BANK
The banking industry’s reputation is damaging its ability to recruit graduates, the boss of a major UK bank has said.
The banking sector must “urgently” address young people’s perception of the industry, according to António Horta-Osório, CEO of Lloyds Banking Group. In a speech at Oxford University’s Saïd business school, Horta-Osório discussed how the reputational impact of the financial crisis is having a negative impact upon the banking industry’s ability to recruit young people.
His comments coincided with new research which reveals a “potential talent drain” as banking’s negative reputation impacts recruitment.
The survey revealed more than one quarter of students (28%) surveyed would be too embarrassed to tell friends if they were going to work in a bank. The survey also found 41% of students distrust banks and financial services providers and 56% trust banks less than they did five years ago. It also showed 58% of students think that an organisation’s reputation will influence their career decision. Horta-Osório said:
“We need to take steps as a sector towards rebuilding our reputation through how we behave and what we do. In tandem with this we urgently need to address the perception of banking as an attractive career opportunity for young people.
“The next generation should see banking as an industry that helps to build economic wealth and is playing its part as a useful member of our local communities. We want the best and the brightest to see banking as a credible career choice. This is vital for the industry’s long-term viability.”
Talking about the financial crisis, Horta-Osório said there was “no question” many banks “lost sight” of what was important and their core values became “diluted”. He explained:
“Banks became complacent, inefficient and crucially they stopped caring about their customers. Several banks became complacent about risk. They developed unsustainable business models. They invented ever more complex financial products which their customers didn’t understand or need, and they incentivised their employees to sell those products in volume.
“We’re starting to witness a self-renewing, re-energised banking industry, which is once again taking its place at the heart of the economy. Helping to develop and sustain a virtuous circle of growth, job creation and wealth generation.”
Graduate Fog is interested to learn that graduates are turning away from banking, which has for years been one of the most popular (and lucrative) career paths for bright young people looking to get their careers started. It will be interesting to see how the industry responds to the challenge of repairing its reputation so that the sector once more becomes an attractive career path for graduates.
*WOULD YOU WANT TO WORK IN BANKING?
Has the damage done to the industry’s reputation affected your enthusiasm for working in banking? What should the industry do to repair its reputation among job-seeking graduates? And Can jobless graduates afford to have principles? Or should they take any job they can get?
I wanted to work for a bank and couldn’t get through the door because something as fickle as classification. Now I’m in a job where I do, what I feel are, “good” things every day.
Perhaps the banking industry should be humbled by the idea that they’re losing out not just because graduates are more moral than ever about career choices, but because of their short-sighted recruitment tactics (filtering based on classification, etc).
Hi graduate fog readers
I know this is unrelated to the article above, but I wanted someone’s help. I have an interview with the agency Inspiring Interns (going against everything graduate fog stands for but believe me I am desperate), I had a nice phone call chat with one of their staff, who was so nice to me that I felt it was over the top. I was told I would be emailed the details of what I have to do to prepare as they ask for video interviews. The problem is, I have not received my email! Nothing. Either a mistake was made on the email address, or I came across so badly on the phone call that they changed their mind. I am also having doubts whether I can commit to an internship for three months anyway. Saying they will email and not hearing anything puts them in such a bad light, and I am having doubts now which can’t be a good thing. If anyone has any experience of working with Inspiring Interns and could offer me some advice I would be so grateful, and I need a reply ASAP aswell!
Thank you 🙂
@another graduate – Have you tried calling or emailing them to see what’s happened?
Hi Tanya,
Yes I have emailed and no reply so far, I’m sure they are busy so will give it time but am slightly offended nonetheless.
Hello @another graduate,
My name is Alex – I work for Inspiring Interns as part of our marketing team and was pointed here by Tanya’s tweet.
Sorry to hear that you haven’t heard back from us! Please don’t be disheartened – the best thing to do is to give us a call to find out why you haven’t been emailed. We have recently updated our email server so many of our emails have been slow to come through. If you’d rather not call us, I suggest you check your junk folder, many emails from unrecognised addresses will end up here, or email the person you spoke to (name@inspiringinterns.com).
We’re always nice everyone!
Many thanks,
Alex
Inspiring Interns
Hi @Alex,
Thank you very much for getting in touch. I’m glad I asked on here. I wasn’t trying to put Inspiring Interns in a bad light, especially as I have been applying on II’s website for months; although admittedly if anyone had commented anything negative I would have been influenced a little bit. It’s a case of me being really nervous and unsure about this, and not receiving a confirmation email has increased it. I thought it showed that I must have come across badly on the phone call chat I had.Job seekers become very paranoid after numerous rejections, thinking no one wants them. Thanks again!
Hi @another graduate,
No problem at all – it’s very normal to be nervous. Hopefully see you in the office soon!
Best of luck,
Alex
Inspiring Interns
I might aim for banking after completing my physics education. All I want right now is money so I can do whatever I want in life. Couldn’t care less about other people any more, lost my ability to feel compassion a long time ago thanks to the cut throat society we live in.
As a graduate who just recently went through the gruelling process of applying for graduate schemes in the finance industry, I’m not really sure that the situation is as dire as all that. From what I understand, the industry is still among the most oversubscribed in the UK, especially since many grad schemes are open for both undergrad and masters graduates (who often have more specialised, banking-specific degrees). It is still intensely competitive as evidenced by the numerous stages and hoops along the recruitment/selection process. From my personal experience, I would hazard a guess that the reason Lloyds is seeing declining interest is the quality of their grad schemes and the fact that most people applying for banking schemes think of Lloyds as a safety option rather than their primary choice.