FINANCE GRADUATES MOST CONFIDENT THEIR JOBS ARE SAFE
At a time of increased uncertainty in the banking sector, it may come as a surprise to hear that graduates working in finance are the most confident of keeping their jobs.
RBS was the latest bank to announce job cuts, saying recently that it would cut up to 2,000 jobs in its investment bank. But a Financial Times survey found that graduates working in finance – where the average graduate salary is £45,000 – reported higher job security than those in other career sectors.
The survey, based on a poll of Masters in finance alumni who had graduated in 2010, found that among the 80% of graduates polled who are working in finance three years after university, 83% said they felt ‘secure’ or ‘very secure’ in their job. Only 67% of graduates working in other sectors felt their jobs were secure.
Pascale Viala, director at Edhec Business School in France, told the FT that it could be the competitive nature of finance jobs.
“The selection process is so competitive right now, that if they succeeded in getting in, they are confident they will stay.”
The ongoing announcements of job cuts at major banks only worried less than half of the graduates in the survey. Surprisingly, 52% said that they did not think the mass redundancies affected their own job security at all.
But this confidence doesn’t seem to be having a positive effect on attracting new graduates.
Last month Graduate Fog reported that the boss of a major UK bank had said the banking industry’s reputation was damaging its ability to recruit graduates, with many snubbing the sector altogether. At a speech at Oxford University, the CEO of Lloyds Banking Group António Horta-Osório said that the banks must “urgently” address young people’s perception of the industry.
*ARE YOU LOOKING FOR A JOB IN FINANCE?
Or do you already have one? Are you worried by headlines about job losses in banking – or do you still consider it a ‘safe’ sector to enter after university? If you’re not looking for a job in the financial sector, where are you looking – and how confident are you that your chosen industry will be secure?
Guys, I work in IB, the only areas where you make money (but only available to a select few) is either in Mergers & Acquisitions (traditional IB)and/or Derivatives trading/client structuring via a Graduate Management Programme. All other areas (Operations, Middle-Office, Financial Control) pay little in proportion to the absurd cost of living if you plan to live in london i.e. buy a house, pay the mortgage, start a family. I’m a 40 year old Technology Project Manager with 10 years London experience behind me and on £47.5K, no bonus, no pay rise for the past 4 years. Still renting a studio flat, all colleagues commute from as far as Southend-on-Sea, Guildford and Reading. Most Operations jobs have already been offshored to India and China, the rest onshored to places like Chester in Northern England. And other functions, notably project/technology work will soon leave the country, it’s irremediable. Only very high level value-added positions will remain in the foreseeable future in London. If you cannot get a place on a Graduate Management Programme in IB, you’ve had it. And you have to be truly exceptional to be chosen (perfect academic results, top 5 university (recruitment is international, employers have choice), Maths/Accounting & Finance/Computer Science) and loads of internships at top IBs during vacations. No one will want to hear of any other subjects (English, History, PPE etc.), even from RG institutions. In 1998, that was my situation (I left with a MA) and I had to deal with the meagre leftovers available to A’level/GCSE school leavers, so-called menial jobs. My advice, don’t bother with university unless it’s top 5 (Oxbridge/LSE/UCL/Imperial/Warwick) in selected subjects e.g Maths @ Warwick etc. and you have outstanding academic credentials.