uk jobs situatiion

ekans

hi, i'm kinda struggling to nab a business/finance job over this side of the water. i am a recent graduate. i'm curious for information on what prospects are like in the uk? moving to edinburgh/london/etc is an option i might consider. any feedback appreciated

ekans

anybody???/

belongtojazz

I've just moved back to Ireland after being made redundant from my job after 10 yrs (mainly my choice though) the company I worked for employed over 8,000 staff but were going through a restructure process to try and reduce the number considerably.

From what I saw around me they weren't the only company doing that either. Where we were based there was more empty offices than filled ones by the time I left. I was based in the Midlands and worked for one of the major utility companies.

I have no idea what the situation is in the large cities but certainly in the area I was in I think you would struggle. Try checking the UK based employment sites and see if there are any vacancies there.

Best of luck with your search

D-Generate

Whare area of finance? Is it auditing, accounting, settlements, investment banking, sales & trading? Finance is a massively broad area and you would need to be a bit more specific.

ekans

potential areas i was lookin to move into was that of a tax trainee or banking(investment/corporate/private/retail all of interest somewhat). funds is another area i would n't dismiss

D-Generate

If you are interested in auditing then the Big 4 are all hiring at the moment with their grad programmes. They don't start till next year but would be worth applying for anyway. You need a 2:2 or higher to get these but realistically need a 2:1 or higher.

If you are interested in working in a bank then the IBs are also recruiting for their grad programmes at the moment. You need a 2:1 or higher to get these but realistically need a first from a well known uni, Trinity, UCD, UCC or Queens.
Recruitment for investment banking and sales & trading has been pretty light this year with many banks not taking on any as they have hired from their interns. I suggest applying for the grad programmes but also phoning up HR in the banks and asking if there is the possibility of doing an Off-Cycle Internship. That is a good way to get your foot in the door.

Alternatively I suggest you put your CV on efinancialcareers.co.uk and hope that recruiters call. I know many here will say that it will only be recruitment agencies that get in contact with you for fake jobs but don't let that dissuade you. I know a good few working in recruitment in IBs and they search efinancialcareers for candidates. I suggest that if you have the academics title your CV something like "First in XXX from XXX + MSc in XXX from XXX", this was suggested to me from someone working in recruitment for an IB.
I threw up my CV in the week I was finishing my thesis and got a bunch of calls from both banks and recruiters. By the next week had 3 job offers so there is definitely jobs out there. I am about to start working on a Trading Desk in an IB but the other offers were for a performance analyst in a hedge fund and as a developer with a quant team in a brokerage so from my assessment there are definitely a lot of jobs still out there!

If you are interested in working in an IB I suggest you start reading the financial times, economist and books related to the markets. You won't be able to walk in the interview and go "oh yeah it looks interesting", they will ask you to prove your interest and will ask technical questions, in my instance they asked about options and swaps.

I have been living in London the past year but I have heard that if you are applying from Ireland for positions in London it is often best to put down a London address on your CV and have a UK phone number. Find someone you know in London and ask them can you use their address and get them to send you a SIM card with a good amount of credit on it.

ekans

many thanks for advice D-Generate, and also belongtojazz