LSE Finance Careers

Over and Out…

Maddie — Thu, 01 Sep 2011 16:44:19 +0000

They say that all good things have to come to an end… Well this is the final posting from the LSE Finance Careers Blog (at least for now anyway). With new responsibilities and departments, Judith and I are moving onto different projects so won’t be able to continue to write for the blog. However, I think you’ll agree that with the new and dynamic look to the Careers website, where relevant news goes straight to the Banking and Financial Services pages, you should all be able to keep up-to-date with what’s happening in the sector.

Thanks for reading Maddie and Judith

City Intern Networking Event – Wednesday 3rd August

Maddie — Fri, 29 Jul 2011 14:49:01 +0000

The fact that I’ve been quiet for a while doesn’t mean that there’s been nothing going on and here at LSE Careers we are getting ready for the new recruitment season. In the world of banking and finance it seems to start earlier each year, a bit like the football season!

Anyway late notice I know but it’s just come to my attention that Fidelity are hosting a City Intern Networking Evening at their offices in Cannon Street, London on Wednesday 3rd August. If you are interning in the City it’s a great opportunity to meet investment professionals if you are interested in a career in asset management. Closing date to register is today but it should only take a minute or so to do. Click here if you are interested. If you have any problems registering then email: graduate.recruitment@fil.com

Managing risk in an uncertain world

Maddie — Thu, 14 Apr 2011 14:00:01 +0000

No I’m not going to talk about careers in risk and how there are increasing numbers of opportunities in this particular business function. Rather how, in an uncertain world, you can manage and minimise risks in your own career. I was prompted after an article on eFinancialCareers caught my eye so I thought I would share some of my own thoughts with you. …

We have all seen the impact of global uncertainty on IB and financial services and the unthinkable happen. It’s not possible to predict what will happen where and what the fall out may be. The only certainty is there is uncertainty! Applying this sentiment to you own career management I would say that when looking at potential employers and strategies always have a plan A and a plan B and be flexible. Seize opportunities but be prepared to change track should the necessity arise. Also look beyond the obvious and immediate. It’s not possible to say with 100% certainty that a company will hire or cut headcount but doing your research and keeping up-to-date with the news in the sector should certainly help manage any risk associated with your own career.

What are the employer surveys saying?

Maddie — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 15:56:05 +0000

It’s usually around this time of year when recruiter surveys get published. Indeed some of you probably took part in the recent Universum survey. Now league tables and survey have their place (and pitfalls) but it’s always interesting to see what students are saying and which employers are most popular so I thought I would share some results with you.

The Universum survey found, not totally surprisingly, that there have been some changes in priority and position among recruiters pre and post recession. Work-life balance, security and stability and competitive or intellectual challenge are seen as the 3 most important factors (not all of which are immediately associated with the sector!). Job characteristics were also the most important driver of employer attractiveness. So with this in mind, who were this year’s winners?

As sectors, Banking and Financial Services filled 2 out of the top 3 places for business careers. For business and commerce companies, coming in at number 3 (behind Apple and Google) was HSBC. The highest climber in this catergory was another bank, RBS. In the industry categories, top place for Accounting and Audit went to PWC for another year. The Banking category was won by HSBC.

The Guardian UK 300 is a survey to find the most popular UK graduate employers and looks at which sector and which employers students most want to work for. There’s lots of different information and categories but top ranked employer this year (up from number 2) is PWC. EY and Deloitte also appear in the top 5. HSBC is the first bank in the list at number 9 and Teach First, at number 8, is supported by many companies in the sector including Rothschild, UBS, Barclays Capital, Blackrock and HSBC.

Now this isn’t a plug for these specific companies but rather a plug to say come in and visit the Careers Service and get your FREE employer guides and books that accompany these surveys. We’ve lots of copies of the Guardian 300 to give away so pick up yours today!

Make Your Mark!

Maddie — Mon, 28 Mar 2011 13:46:37 +0000

With over 100 hopefuls chasing every front office job it can be a real challenge to make yourself stand out from the crowd. Thankfully help is on the way. Plus there’s potentially some cash up for grabs too! The next Markit Trading Competition starts on April 12th with the top male and female trader each standing to win a £500 prize. Even better than this, all the top performers are selected for interview. And if it could get any better it’s open to all students whatever your year and subject of study!

Make sure you have a good CV put together before you register as you’ll need to upload a copy. You can register your interest here. Happy Trading!

Online Careers Support

Maddie — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 17:17:46 +0000

Looking for a job takes time and effort. But what if you could have your own virtual careers coach and interview support available wherever you were at whatever time you wanted? Here at the LSE we use a number of technologies, like Interview Stream, to help students prepare for those all important interviews.

I also heard today that Societe Generale have launched their own online coaching room which is open to all students. With 4 different ‘modules’ the video training and virtual coaching look most interesting. The virtual interview package lets you record and review your interview and then watch it back. There’s some interesting and challenging questions on the system too for you to practice so it’s definately worth a look. This link takes you to an English version of the package but it’s available in French too.

Women in Banking

Maddie — Fri, 18 Mar 2011 14:51:44 +0000

As a woman who works with students interested in careers in Finance, I’m regularly asked why is it so few women want to go into the industry? I was therefore very interested to see BNP have launched a survey to look exactly at this topic. Set up by BNP Paribas’ Global Equities and Commodity Derivatives (GECD) Division, the survey only takes a few minutes to complete and if you complete the survey there’s the chance for you to win a place at an event you have helped design. Click here to access the survey.

Wonder what Tax is all about?

Maddie — Fri, 25 Feb 2011 14:05:19 +0000

I’m a big fan of workshadowing as a way of finding out what the day to day reality of a job is like. I was therefore delighted to see that KPMG are offering some tax workshadowing opportunities this coming Easter. Even better if you find out it’s for you you’ll be fast tracked for an interview. It really is one of those win-win situations! Closing deadline is March 7th. Click here if you want to find out more.

Banking on India

Maddie — Fri, 18 Feb 2011 17:22:32 +0000

Emerging markets and banking in Asia, maybe the 1st country you think about is Hong Kong or Singapore? However, India has a very strong banking industry profile here in London including the State Bank of India and the London headquartered Elara Capital, an investment bank meeting the funding needs of Indian mid-market companies. That’s not to mention global players like HSBC who are huge in India. Why am I telling you this? Well if you’re interested in finding out any more about these 3 companies among others, then next Thursday’s India Careers Forum could be for you. Starting at 6pm, it’s open to LSE student and alumni and is taking place in the Shaw Library. You can sign-up via My Careers Service or by emailing careers@lse.ac.uk.

Assessment Centres – just what do employers look for?

Maddie — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 16:37:29 +0000

If you’re an LSE student you might be interested in coming along to an assessment centre skills workshop being run by Lloyds banking Group. It’s taking place on campus next Wednesday afternoon from 1-3pm and will give you an insight into what happens at an assessment centre, what employers look for and how to maximise your chances of success. Places are limited so you need to sign up via My Careers.