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Get a Boost to Your City Career May 9, 2013

Posted by UCL Careers Service in : Finance, Law, The Careers Group, city jobs, employability and skills , add a comment

Originally posted at UCL Careers Service Blog

A handshake against a backdrop of city skyscrapers

Investment Banking. Management Consultancy. Commercial Law. Accountancy. Risk Management…….

What really goes on inside those towering, shining, slightly intimidating buildings at Canary Wharf and alike? As a student in London you no doubt know of at least one person who is adamant that a career in the city is for them. But what does that really mean to work in one of the roles listed above and how can you find out more?

For a unique, insider’s perspective on a career in the City, come on The Careers Group’s long-running and successful City Course. During the week you will visit prominent City employers and institutions. You will participate in employer-led business games and listen to presentations and graduate panels about the range of City careers.

At each employer visit you will get the opportunity to meet and network with recent graduates working within the firm, representatives from the graduate recruitment teams and sometimes more senior employees. You’ll start early, work hard, and come away with a detailed understanding of how the City works.

You do not have to be studying a particular degree route in order to attend this course but an interest in working in the City and an enthusiasm to find out more is a must!

The course is a long-running event and is extremely popular with all University of London students. You will need to apply with a CV and Covering letter – further details of the application process, including a few hints and tips can be found here. The deadline for completed applications is Friday 21 June 2013.

The cost of the course is £96, which is not payable until you have been accepted onto the course and bursaries are available for those in receipt of hardship funding.

Still not sure if this is for you? Take a look at the Facebook page and get involved in some of the discussions: www.facebook.com/CareersintheCity

Top 5 essential resources for Finance careers March 18, 2013

Posted by Andrew Falconer in : Finance & IT, Industry Focus, diversity, employability and skills , add a comment

Careers in the Financial Services SectorCity, or Financial Services Sector, careers seem to attract a lot of graduates each year. Often it is the impression of the work-hard-play-hard culture, the excitement of taking risks and being responsible for large accounts. But behind that testosterone inspired perception, life in the sector is incredibly varied with opportunities within lots of different work cultures. Working out where you might fit and building sufficient knowledge about the industry takes a little bit of research….

1.  Directions

Working out where you will fit in the sector is fundamental to your application success. From Investment Banks to Re-Insurance, Professional Services to Regulation and a myriad of different roles in-between, the sector covers it all. The Directions careers website gives a detailed insight into different careers, broken down by function and professional interest. This should help you think about what excites you and where your skills we be best utilised. Not in our Top 5 but the Bloomberg BAT test is often available through your university careers service and can be effective at helping you understanding your abilities.

2.  Careers Tagged

The online careers resource from The Careers Group has harnessed the best of the web to help you develop your research. One you have identified roles from the Directions website, Careers Tagged will give you access to the associated Professional Bodies, employers, qualifications, live jobs, relevant blogs and countless other resources. Use it to develop your knowledge not just of the sector and employers but the professional roles involved.

3. E-financial Careers

A stunning site with global regional variations, e-Financial Careers is essential reading for any aspiring City worker. In addition to its jobs site, it has an extensive news and advice section which gives an overview of the financial services jobs market. The site also provides financial and business analysis to help you understand what is going on the the financial markets. Whilst not in our Top 5, JobOnline has many internship and graduate opportunities in finance.

4. Instructus Markets

The fortnightly email from Instructus Markets gives candidates detailed information about recent trends, asks and answers financial competency questions and gives suggestions of forthcoming hot-topics. The level of information is hard to collate from other sources – making an ideal digest. However it does cost £5/month but with no minimum subscription.

5, Diversity

OK I am cheating here because there is no single resource but financial institutions are often aware that their staff are often from a narrow social background. There are several programmes, supported by the sector, that aim to create greater diversity in the City’s workforce. SEO London provides internship opportunities for ethnic minority students across a range of professions. Whilst not finance industry specific, the Diversity Careers Show includes City employers seeking more  LGBT employees. Women in Business & Finance is a professional organisation that encourages the development of women’s careers in the sector.

And a special one exclusive to students in the  University of London:

6. The City Course

Reading around the financial services sector is vital, but getting a chance to visit corporate offices, undertake case studies and network with employers can really set you apart. The City Course is a five day non-residential event exclusive to students attending colleges served by The Careers Group.  There are limited places and applications must be received by Friday June 21 2013. You can also follow them on facebook.

Peeping inside the City February 11, 2013

Posted by Andrew Falconer in : Finance & IT, Selection Process , add a comment

Careers in financial services can be lucrativeFor a unique, insider’s perspective on a career in the financial services sector, come on our long-running and successful City Course. During the week you will visit prominent City employers and institutions. You will participate in employer-led business games and listen to presentations and graduate panels about the range of City careers.

At each employer visit you will get the opportunity to meet and network with recent graduates working within the firm, representatives from the graduate recruitment teams and sometimes more senior employees. You’ll start early, work hard, and come away with a detailed understanding of how the City works.

The programme covers investment banking, management consultancy, accountancy, commercial law, risk management, and more.

Organisations last year included:

Please note: Applications are due in before the summer vacation even though the event is in September. Due to the high volume of applications received for this course, we are unable to acknowledge receipt.

An example of a typical day:

Morning: Visit the Financial Services Authority in Canary Wharf where you will get the chance to take part in a business game, listen to a panel of graduates talk about their experiences working in the City and network with current FSA employees over lunch.

Afternoon: Visit Accenture’s offices near the Old Bailey. Listen to a presentation by Accenture employees about what is involved in Management Consultancy followed by a business simulation game in smaller groups.

Comments from previous students on the course… “I thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience. I made a lot of friends, developed my skills and got a great insight into a wide variety of careers.” “The course has helped cement decisions on the areas I may want to go in to.” “Extremely informative. It’s opened my eyes to different companies and industries I haven’t considered before.”

Join us on Facebook where you’ll receive updates, take part in discussions, and ask us your questions. Share the event with your friends and anyone who you think will be interested in applying to this course: www.facebook.com/CareersintheCity

Find out more

London Stock Exchange Group: Graduate Programme September 17, 2012

Posted by UCL Careers Service in : Finance, Finance & IT, Industry Focus, Selection Process, The Careers Group Blogs , add a comment

Originally posted at UCL Careers Service Blog

By Jeff Riley , UCL Careers Service. It can take new graduate recruitment programmes a little while to establish themselves on my radar.  Sure, I know formally that schemes may be advertised on JobOnline or Target Jobs and have what I think is a reasonable idea of what schemes may involve.  Until I meet employers face to face though, programmes never become tangible for me.  For example, this morning I visited London Stock Exchange Group who have been running a graduate training programme since 2010 and internship scheme since 2011.  Even before I’d got inside the building I’d learnt one very important thing

I met up with Nishe Patel who is responsible for recruiting the next intake of graduates (closing date of December 7th), and managing the programme.  Here are some key messages

Now it became pretty quickly clear that this is a complex operation with its own language but not impenetrable.  Nishe was easily able to distinguish, for example, the primary and secondary capital markets.  Primary is the arena for companies new to the stock exchange such as the recently listed film studio company Pinewood Shepperton. Secondary is the market for previously issued financial instruments such as stock, bonds, options, and futures.

These different sectors recruit graduates following the programme into specific roles.  Graduates who completed their programme in 2012 have joined positions in Strategy, Equities and Derivatives Markets, Information Services, Legal, Primary Markets etc.  The roles vary from developing key business strategies for the next few years to developing key products that would be valuable to clients whilst managing the relationship with them.  One thing Nishe is especially keen on is that applicants should be flexible and adaptable.  “Applicants cannot be expected to know which department or role they want to work in until they have some experience. They may want to go into business development eventually and as we know that this role depends on being able to build great relationships, a spell in Human Resources could be really good for developing that skill

Find out more via

*              www.londonstockexchangegroup.com

*              An open evening – taking place on November 21st

A 2:2 is a worthless degree June 11, 2012

Posted by Andrew Falconer in : Finance & IT, Selection Process , 5comments

So the results are in. How did you do? Did you get that 1st class degree everyone hopes for? Or do you feel there are no options now you failed to grasp that 2:1? You are not alone. Around 30% of graduates leave with a 2:2 degree and the good news is that there are still lots of options open to you – your degree still has great value. The notion that a 2:2 is worthless is yet another myth.

As careers consultants we often see graduates with a 2:2 suddenly start to talk about doing a masters course. Typically there are three reasons for doing a masters: a) desire to specialise and increase employability; b) passion to learn more about the subject  and c) compensate for poorer grades achieved to date. Unfortunately the third reason doesn’t usually work.  Many graduate recruiters don’t differentiate between a masters and an undergraduate degree – although some (e.g. ExonMobil)  will take a 2:2 plus a relevant postgraduate qualification.  If you want to do a masters then make sure your motivation is right.

So before you get depressed and hit the ice-cream, there is more than a glimmer of hope.

OK so many of the Graduate Schemes are closed to you because they require a 2:1 or above. But there are some schemes out there that are open to 2:2: degrees. Some examples that might help you get started:

So from that (non-exhaustive) list you can see the diversity of schemes available – from Government to manufacturing, professional services to retail. Trawling through the internet should help find many others. Bear in mind that within the same company there may be different entry requirements depending on the role – e.g. IT. In many cases the 2:1 requirement isn’t necessarily about the ability to do the job, but a means of reducing the volume of applications.

It’s easy to get distracted by graduate schemes. These corporations often have large budgets to market their career opportunities to students. But typically only about 10% of graduates go into a graduate scheme. That’s all, just 10%. Maybe about 35% will do further study, leaving 55% of graduates doing something else.

“It’s tough out there. There aren’t any jobs.” The media keeps broadcasting a message of doom and gloom about the job market which isn’t very helpful.  The graduate job market is generally always challenging and competition is usually strong.  When thinking about your next steps there are several factors to consider.

  1. If you wanted a specific graduate scheme, why was that? Was it because of the company (if so, search entry level positions in same firm), the role (find alternative employers with similar roles) or location (refine your job search geographically but broaden criteria).
  2. What can you do in the short term to position yourself better in the future? For example, aspiring accountant and Royal Holloway graduate is building on his 2:2 by putting himself through the ICAEW Certificate because it shares the same modules as the ACA.
  3. Can I do it myself? Many current entrepreneurs have started their businesses with very little money, just a positive attitude and some basic business skills.

A 2:2 is not the end of the world. Alumni from across the University of London have done very well in life despite their 2:2 degrees. It may seem like it’s a barrier but, by thinking differently, it shouldn’t be a major disadvantage. When I last published a version of this post, this lovely comment was left:

As someone who got a 2:2 I thought that was it in terms of any ideas about continuing to study.
I had no idea there were graduate schemes to go on. Thank you

Similarly, whilst graduate schemes will generally be closed to those with degree levels lower than 2:2, it doesn’t mean that the company is. You may just need to work your way up from a lower level. But it’s still very achievable. You need to play to your strengths to compensate for your lower level degree.

Graduates can continue to get careers support from their colleges in the University of London Careers Group by joining Gradclub.

This is an updated version of this previous post.

Get a unique insight into City Careers May 31, 2012

Posted by Rosalind Kemp in : Finance, The Careers Group, city jobs, employability and skills, further study and training, networking , add a comment

The City Course from The Careers Group, University of London

The City Course takes place 17 to 20 September 2012 and offers a fantastic opportunity for students and graduates from The University of London to find out about careers in the city.

The week involves spending time in the offices of major city employers getting a sense and feel of the place and networking with employees. There’ll also be excellent practise at group exercises.

Employers taking part include:

This is a massive opportunity to develop your knowledge of what careers there are in the City and how City sectors work together.

You can find out more, and apply, at www.careers.lon.ac.uk/city and follow the Careers in the City Facebook page for updates. Deadline for applications is 22 June 2012.

Political Risk and the London insurance market May 28, 2012

Posted by Jeff Riley in : Finance & IT, The Careers Group Blogs , add a comment

Originally posted at Getting into International Development

“Political risk is a significant feature of the London insurance market, which is the world’s number one market for international insurance and reinsurance.”  My interview with Caspar Bartington of the Chartered Insurance Institute (CII) was going splendidly I thought.  I was visiting Caspar because I’ve just started careers work with Queen Mary College, University of London and he has been there a couple of times for careers events.

Why doesn’t political risk have a higher profile amongst students? There are a number of reasons. Insurance is a hidden gem – it has a perception problem that means it is misunderstood by most students. On top of that, sector employers don’t recruit in the same way as other financial companies.  There aren’t, for example, as many structured placements and companies don’t attend that many careers fairs, although the CII does plenty of student sessions each year.  People tend to hear about schemes and opportunities through personal and professional networks more than careers fairs and directories.  Having said that, lots of students and graduates have found their way in to the profession and it is a competitive sector to break into.

So do all insurance companies have a political risk section? Many companies will have a political risk expert but only a few will have specialist teams. Aon is one such company, and indeed its graduate scheme allows some new entrants to spend six months in the kidnap and ransom division as well as other placements in more calm areas such as fine art! Aon also has a summer placement scheme so they are worth getting to know well.

Would students be at a disadvantage if they were too clearly focused on political risk as an option to the exclusion of considering other areas of the insurance business? Well I think an interest in, and knowledge of, political risk as a feature of insurance would be an excellent platform for any application. Frankly there is a low level of knowledge of the profession in general so any informed focus would be a good start.  Having said that I think it would be in the students’ own interest to be open-minded about other areas of the insurance business.  After all it is part of the same profession.  Until they have got some practical experience it probably wouldn’t be wise to make final decisions.  In any case the sector is pretty good at accommodating individual preferences so there is no need to panic about it.

One other point worth making is that the sector does recruit from a wide range of degree disciplines – the main focus when recruiting is the range of skills and aptitudes candidates can bring rather than just the subject studied.

What does political risk work in insurance involve? A real variety of things. On the one hand looking over historical data to generate a prognosis about future stability in a particular country.  Emerging markets, for example, can provide growth opportunities for business but they are also more liable to be impacted by government action and supply chains are increasingly vulnerable.  Issues such as unexpected nationalisation, physical damage from political violence, the cancellation of export/import licenses and default on contracts.  We rely on political risk expertise to help us take these kinds of issues into account when offering insurance.  They provide expertise in issues such as kidnapping and terrorism – and these days terrorist attacks are considered as a foreseeable risk.  There are around 20,000 kidnappings a year and these also have to be factored in when companies are considering insurance.  I know of one insurance professional who has to conduct negotiations with Somali pirates who had taken a ship that her company had insured.  Of course these kinds of negotiations are carried out in conjunction with legal authorities but nevertheless insurance professionals can be involved in this kind of work.

What advice would you have for students interested in the sector? You won’t be surprised to hear that my top tip is to become a Discover member of the CII.  It only costs £35 a year and will quickly help you get up to speed with the sector. Students should email discover@cii.co.uk for full details. Membership gives free access to lots of events, such as the lunchtime lecture series hosted at Lloyds of London (who also have a graduate programme that includes a political risk element, incidentally). The most recent series of lectures included experts talking about topics like risk around the Olympics or the issues around deep sea oil exploration. These are great places to network as well.

Secondly, you should read the FT and The Economist – fairly obvious I suppose – but also the trade press such as the Insurance Times and Post.

Further Resources

Don’t forget you can read more on careers in political risk by searching this blog or use the search term political risk at careerstagged.co.uk

Finance Industry Insight: what is interdealer broking? April 2, 2012

Posted by Kirsti Burton in : Finance, Finance & IT, The Careers Group Blogs, city jobs , 2comments

Originally posted at QM Jobs Blog

In careeers you get to find out about new areas of work and new job titles all the time. These come about because of the way industry has to respond to the rapidly changing world.  A friend of mine is a Social Media Monitoring Officer. These jobs didn’t exist a few years ago! Sometimes it can be hard to find out about what particular or specialist job involves, because there is so little information out there. One question we had recently was about interdealer broking. This is what we found out:

Interdealer broking is about bringing buyers and sellers together to execute a transaction.  In this field there are two kinds of broking: electronic broking and voice broking (human brokers).  With the electronic broking the most common deals are FX-transactions ? these are foreign exchange transactions.   It?s easy to buy and sell on the FX market.  For more complex products, you need a person to negotiate before an agreed transaction can be reached.  In these instances voice broking is used.  For example, if two banks were to trade with each other the interdealer voice broker would transact the bond based on instructions receive from the traders at each of the banks.

Due to the recent financial crises there is a lot of new legislation around transparency, which the industry will have to adapt to, as well as greater obligation to transact through electronic mediums.  Technology evolving rapidly also means that the broking industry has to constantly adapt.

Our Careers: Recruitment March 16, 2012

Posted by Andrew Falconer in : Our Careers, career profiles, city jobs , add a comment

Louisa Davies is a careers adviser with a background in the recruitment industry. Here she continues our series of posts about our professional careers.

In my final year at Durham University I spent a couple of hours completing an application for  a graduate scheme, attended an assessment centre and an interview and was appalled when I didn’t get accepted.  “What?  You don’t want me?  But I’m an all-rounder!”, I shrieked (not literally).  I was so put out that I stopped filling out forms, stopped being interested and dedicated myself to enjoying my final year instead.  No doubt a common story.  Thus I found myself, post-finals, sitting in front of a computer trawling through job boards looking for something I could do.  And so I ended up in recruitment.

As it happens, this was in fact a good fit for me and it made the most of my skills in relationship management, sales, organisation and many others.  I took to it pretty quickly and because I was relatively good at it, found myself getting promoted up the ladder.  It was an exciting environment, with big highs (emotional and financial) when things were going well, but then long stretches of boredom and stress when there wasn’t much business around.  We worked to targets which I found very motivating and the rewards were great.  On the other hand, missing targets could be extremely frustrating and nerve-wracking.  I spent all day on the phone, speaking to candidates and clients; trying to understand what the client was looking for, getting to know the candidates and working out where they would fit, negotiating salaries and more importantly, our sales margin.  We worked long hours and it’s the kind of job where you are never finished.  There is always another person you can call.

I learnt that recruitment is basically sales.  Persuading people.  Influencing.  Communicating effectively.  These are the skills I nurtured in recruitment, along with a good head for business, an understanding of how to make a profit and a taste for expensive holidays.  It was good, but it was hard.

After five years in the industry I was tired and had had enough.  I was now responsible for other people’s targets, which was even more stressful, and I wanted more from my work.  It would have been very easy to move within recruitment but I realised that this would only give me a temporary reprieve – I had to get out and make a proper change.  I actually had to engage my brain and think about my own careers for a change.

I started by trying to work out what I actually liked about my job.  What elements of it did I still get a buzz out of?  What did I think I was really good at?  What did my bosses praise me for? And then conversely, what areas had become unbearable?  What exactly had I had enough of?  It boiled down to the fact that I still loved talking to my candidates, trying to understand them, their skills and their motivation, but I was tired of it all coming down to profit.

Next I started looking at job sites and started avidly reading job descriptions.  I would highlight bits that sounded good about a role and slowly I started to build a picture of what I wanted.  And then, well frankly, I got lucky.  I stumbled upon my ideal job.  As I read the job description my heart was racing!  I was genuinely excited as I read the person spec – now I had a name for what I wanted to do.  From here on in it was much easier to find opportunities, and three months later I started work for The Careers Group as a Careers Adviser.

PhD Life Science Careers – A Day in the Life of An Analyst March 12, 2012

Posted by UCL Careers Service in : Finance & IT, Industry Focus, Science & Engineering, career profiles , add a comment

Originally posted at UCL Postgraduate Careers Blog

A guest blog from IMS Consulting Group:

My current project is in the area of Pricing and Market Access, which is one of three practice areas of IMSCG. As an analyst, I am also exposed to projects in Brand and Commercial Strategy (analysing commercial models and optimising brand strategy) and Strategy and Portfolio Analysis (pipeline forecasting, therapy area value assessments, pharmaceutical portfolio management). I enjoy the variety afforded by this broad competency model, as I learn more about a range of aspects relevant to the pharmaceutical industry.

I currently work with IMS colleagues in Cambridge, New York and San Francisco. This means that as soon as I wake up I need to check progress the US team has made while I’ve been sleeping! There is no “typical day” but currently, when I arrive at the office the first call I make is to the consultant I work with in Cambridge. We are in constant contact with each other to ensure that we can plan our time and manage our workloads as effectively as possible. Working with a consultant also provides a great level of support, as there is always someone to point me in the right direction and help me out. As a result I have been able to quickly pick up a wide range of skills and learn new methods of data retrieval and analysis.

Typically, we decide to work on slides for a client meeting next week and catch up later in the afternoon. I use the rest of the morning to research pricing and reimbursement regulations in several European Union countries, and do some more background reading on the therapy area. It really helps to have a good knowledge of the mechanism of a drug and disease it is intended to treat in order to create summaries of the treatment landscape to share with the wider team, and members of the client company who may not have been directly involved with the development of the drug.

After lunch with other analysts, I spend time talking to three aspiring analysts in a break between interviews. This is one part of my job I really enjoy, as quite clearly I remember being in their position – it gives them the opportunity to relax a little between case studies, and ask questions about the recruitment process, training and starting work. They are particularly interested to learn about training on the job, as they are from scientific backgrounds with little previous exposure to the business world. Luckily IMS is very strong in training – my first week was spent on an intensive consulting skills course, so I reassure them that they will quickly pick up the skills and knowledge they need to start contributing to projects.

Back upstairs, it’s back to work on preparing the presentation for our client. Mid-afternoon I lead a teleconference call with IMS colleagues in Italy and Spain to organize two day-long workshops with influential doctors in Milan and Barcelona. I take them through a presentation to give them background about the project and decide on final logistics. We are really lucky to have a good relationship with our international colleagues, as their local insight and contacts are a great help in making final arrangements. I finish around 7pm and prepare for tomorrow, as I will be travelling to the IMS Cambridge office for face-to-face meetings with the project team.

Rachel Rowbottom, IMS Consulting Group