It is an unwritten rule of job cutting that the most recently hired graduates should be the first ones to be let go when the financial sector is hurting. Some banks are steadfast in their efforts to hire new graduates while others, such as AIB, have eliminated programs of recruitment for the year. What kind of graduates do they seek out? How does a graduate make it to the top of the list in a job market with few jobs available? What is the outlook for potential first timers?
Although bankers may be hesitant to agree, pundits note that there are not as many jobs available for graduates in the field of banking. Some positive things have started to come to light even with banks, such as AIB stopping thier recruiting. Still some graduates are feeling stressed. Even though Citi is a bank that has revealed large redundancies worldwide, the number of graduates hired for 2008 are in sync with the number for 2007. Deutsche Bank and Morgan Stanley are eagerly seeking out new graduates to hire. Even UBS, who introduced 5,500 redundancies, plans to hold a recruitment season like last years.
Goldman Sachs is in the middle of one of its largest summer recruitment initiatives. This summer, over 400 interns will start their placements. In 2009, we believe approximately 75% will be offered permanent employment. The employment scene is really starting to look up, as far as the commercial banking field is concerned. In Barclays, they are looking for new recruit figures to grow by 48% in the globel retail, and the commercial department for the year. In 2009 they are expecting to see another increase.
Graduates can find reassurance in the fact that banks have learned from the mistakes of the past. Rather than hiring new graduates, many banks were forced to fill jobs from accountancy during the period from 2001-02, which was the last time the financial sector recruiting was as bad as the current decline of 40%. In order to ensure that graduate jobs are available for the appropriate candidates, this error must not occur in the future.
Amy is a freelance journalist writing about graduate careers. For details of graduate jobs in London visit
graduatescareer.co.uk
