Finance Industry Insight: what is interdealer broking? April 2, 2012
Posted by Kirsti Burton in : Finance, Finance & IT, The Careers Group Blogs, city jobs , 1 comment so farOriginally 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.
The journalist’s journalist December 27, 2011
Posted by Andrew Falconer in : city jobs, entrepreneurship, further study and training , add a comment
Royal Holloway Physics alumnus Andrew Michael is perhaps the journalistic equivalent of a B2B manager. He is the editor of HeadlineMoney.co.uk, a website used by over 1500 financial journalists in the UK. The work he does is targeted at well known journalists that we read on a daily basis. However he has worked in various journalistic capacities in order to become editor of HeadlineMoney.
Journalism can be a fascinating career choice as Andrew has demonstrated. You do not necessarily need to do a masters to get into the profession – there are a range of courses, including the NTCJ, that can be an alternative route. There are also courses available that may have amazing marketing but may not deliver in education or outcome – so be wary consumers.
Andrew spoke at Royal Holloway’s Creative Careers event in March this year, where he shared his thoughts on the industry and gave tips on how to progress in it.
Financial Alternatives October 6, 2011
Posted by Andrew Falconer in : The Careers Group, Uncategorized, city jobs , add a comment
During the autumn term careers advisers frequently meet students who say they want to work in finance or “the city”. When probed, the students tend not to know what they wish to do or what options there are. Often a career in the financial sector is seen as glamorous but there is a huge difference between an executive assistant and a trader. So how do you know where you might fit in?
Financial Alternatives is your opportunity to explore. With a small group of other students, you will have a few minutes with each professional. They will tell you about their job and how they got there then you can ask them your own questions. It runs on October 20 in Senate House, Malet Street, London. You can find details and register to attend.
Other useful resources include the wonderful Directions High Street mini-site from the Financial Services Skills Council. This site not only looks good but provides real substance about the different areas that might be of interest. There are job profiles, hints about applying for positions and an understanding of where all these functions fit together.
Catherine Sweet, CEO of 4-CS, talks to students each year about careers in the financial sector. She has considerable experience working for high profile institutions, including the London Stock Exchange, and always gives great insight into how the financial sector works.
There are of course other criteria to consider. Working in the financial sector can provide so many opportunities. Your career path is unlikely to be linear and with each job you’ll see further opportunities that interest you. But some basics to think about include money and material reward (not all jobs in the sector are as rewarding as students like to think), work-life balance (do you want to have a life beyond work?), preference for client-facing or back office, status, type of work done.
Use events like Financial Alternatives to consider these criteria and build an understanding of the sector. These events are also very useful for mentioning the contacts you met when you complete your application forms. Employers appreciate students that have made the effort to attend these events as evidence of consideration of career interests. 
You can also follow the latest information about working in the financial sector and keep up to date with relevant events and opportunities on our Careers in the City facebook page.
Search for the latest jobs and internships in the financial sector on JobOnline.
Follow Friday: Finance and business management podcasts, part 2 – employers December 31, 2010
Posted by Helen Curry in : podcasts , add a comment
Image by Colleen AF Venable (Flickr)
Following on from part 1 – commercial awareness podcasts, if you are preparing for interview you will also need insights into the companies you are applying to.
Not all companies produce podcasts, but you might be surprised by how many do. These are definitely worth seeking out as you can get a feel for the people who work in the companies, the arguments they use, the attitudes they hold. It is more personal than reading a website. And with some companies who update regularly, you can find out their latest thinking in a more digestible form than reading a full report.
Here are some company podcasts I found, either by searching a company website, googling, or by searching the podcasts section of the iTunes store.
Deloitte Insights podcasts – the Global insights podcast is good, and there are a number of country-specific Insights podcasts available too
PwC UK Career podcasts – a couple on the recruitment process
Credit Suisse podcasts - includes Economy & Finance and Global Investor
Aon – Insurance, Pensions and Consulting – about the Aon graduate scheme
J.P. Morgan Asset Management Insights – for a focus on investment
Accenture podcasts – Business and Tech – a range of series available here including financial services, information management, management consultancy and systems. From a quick search it looks like there are more podcasts available in different specialist areas of the site.
Deutsche Bank RSS & podcasts – headlines and press releases
McKinsey Global Institute – audio articles
Follow Friday: Finance and business management podcasts, part 1 – business news December 17, 2010
Posted by Helen Curry in : podcasts , add a commentIf you have a bit of spare travel time on your way to uni or work, why not give these podcasts a go to develop your commercial awareness – essential for interviews. I regularly listen to these ones and subscribe to them via iTunes so I can vouch for their quality!
Listen to Lucy – Lucy is the FT’s management columnist, and in snappy five minute podcasts she pulls apart assumptions about management and career planning – through-provoking and entertaining.
Martin Wolf – the FT’s chief economics commentator, reads his weekly column
Wake up to Money – daily business and financial news from the BBC. Also available every weekday morning on BBC Radio 5 live at 5.30am…
Careers in the City – Choosing a Career in the City – a top speaker from our City Course, Catherine Sweet, gives great insight into career choice.
The Bottom Line with Evan Davis – weekly interviews with influential business leaders.
Planet Money – (my favourite) – explores economic theory in a hands-on approach featuring plenty of real-life stories. It is US-based, but discusses global trends and relevant stories to us in the UK. What causes inflation? Why do people buy gold? What is a mortgage bond and a toxic asset? And if that sounds too serious – for a taster check out these cute cartoons they commissioned to explain the latter… This is why I love podcasts!
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=65kVbcCVYTQ]
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3SB9CArkPo]
Business Weekly – BBC World Service podcast looking at current hot topics in business, management and economics.
Bloomberg – range of podcast series on news, economics, politics and the market
TEDtalks – not limited to business, but these podcasts are worth attention as examples of great presentation skills. TED has a reputation for hosting outstanding, inspiring talks.
Do you have any favourites you’d add to the list?
Show me the money! October 20, 2010
Posted by Helen Curry in : Uncategorized , 4comments
Image by stevendepolo (Flickr)
Money isn’t everything, right? But when you have student debts and big plans for your future life, you need to know how that graduate job is likely to pan out. So how do you find the figures?
The most useful, quickly accessed source is Prospects. You can look up the jobs you are considering and see the Salary and Conditions link for details of average starting salaries, alongside an idea of what you can earn in the longer-term with experience. Mm £35,000 – £50,000 starting salary for a financial trader? No surprises there then…
If you haven’t yet settled on a career choice and are curious about what people from your particular course went on to do, you can request that information from your university – try your course administrator or careers service. UK universities all must gather Destinations of Leavers from Higher Education (DLHE) data on the employment of their graduates 6 months after graduation, so they should be able to provide you with some anonymised figures (graduates’ identities are carefully protected).
If you have chosen a career or two to research, for more specific details of salaries look to the relevant professional bodies as they often gather information on the salaries of their members. For example CILIP, the organisation for librarians, gives salary guidelines for information professionals by a range of sectors as well as years of experience. Not all organisations will put this information on their website, but they may still have a report they can send you if you drop them an email. See this listing to identify relevant professional associations.
And if you are up for a bit of research, a great way to get a more accurate impression of what you will earn is by looking at job ads in the sector, location and roles that appeal. Even if you are not there yet, you can estimate how long it might take you to get the requisite experience and qualifications. Find sector-specific and professional online jobs boards here.
Finally, for very general figures you might try the Office for National Statistics Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE) – 2009 Results. They can give you an overview of average salaries in different sectors and different regions, broken down by full-time and part-time workers, male and female. The main disadvantage however, apart from the basic presentation, is the lack of distinction between graduates and non-graduates, and a lack of breakdown by age for sector-specific information. Still you might be interested to find that:
The average UK salary for 22-29 year-olds is £20,962.
For men aged 22-29: £23,460
For women aged 22-29: £18,508
And then there are a host of other more specialised sources – got any useful tips to share?
New 2011 employer directories have arrived September 27, 2010
Posted by Helen Curry in : Uncategorized , add a commentAt a university careers service near you…
TARGETjobs get. directory
A broad directory of graduate jobs, that includes general advice on applications and interviews.
See also http://targetjobs.co.uk/
The Times Top 100 Graduate Employers
Provides an overview of the 100 best, based on feedback from 16,000 of last year’s graduates. Who will be number one this year?
See also http://www.top100graduateemployers.com/
Inside Careers
More than an employer directory, these focussed guides also give background on the sector, what you need to land that job, and profiles of graduates in those roles. Guides include: Chartered Accountancy; Banking, Securities and Investments; Information Technology; Chartered Patent Attorneys; Actuaries, Chartered Tax Advisers; City & Finance; Engineering & Technology.
See also http://www.insidecareers.co.uk/
eFinancial Careers
Careers in Banking & Finance 2010/11 is a more specialised, and so more detailed guide, perfect if this is the sector for you. It includes introductory explanations of areas like Wealth Managment, Electronic Trading and Interdealer Broking.
See also http://students.efinancialcareers.co.uk/
