Let’s start by clarifying some terms:

A spring week is for a first-year student on a three-year course, although you can apply in your second year if on a four-year course.

An internship is normally an eight-week programme in the summer of your penultimate year, so in the summer at the end of your second year if you are on a three-year course. You apply at the beginning of your second year, or preferably a month earlier.

A graduate programme or graduate job obviously starts after you leave university, but ideally, it is secured six months or so before you leave.

The term placement means that instead of a three-year degree, you take a four-year degree, and you spend the third year of that degree working in industry, in our case, in the financial services industry.

This blog is all about placements, which is something worth considering.

Financial placements

As I have discussed in previous blogs, the investment banking and asset management sectors are amongst the most competitive UK industry sectors to enter, so much so that investment banks and other top ‘City’ financial employers can pick and choose their candidates, often receiving 200 or so applications for each position! Top financial employers have historically (although this has changed noticeably over the last few years) had a first preference for, or ‘target’, certain academic institutions in the country, including Oxford, Cambridge, Imperial College, LSE, and Warwick universities.

However, the competition is less fierce for a financial ‘year in industry’ or ‘placement’. This is because the ‘target’ universities, at the time of writing, do not offer such a year-in-industry as part of their degree structures. Therefore, although the ‘financial placement sector’ is still very competitive, it is not 200:1 for every place, and students are not competing against peers from Oxford, Cambridge and Warwick universities. This, therefore, represents a smart route into the financial industry for any student interested in this sector and on a placement course. Lancaster University works closely with placement students targeting financial careers in this manner.

Once you have secured a placement position with a financial employer, it is our experience that with 10 or 12 months of financial experience under your belt, a suitably motivated student can successfully compete with any student from any university globally, including the ‘target’ universities, for internships and graduate programmes. Indeed, performing well on a placement can lead directly to a graduate programme offer.

Note: If you think a placement year makes good sense or are undecided, I recommend choosing the four-year degree with a placement year when you apply to the university. You could then change your mind in the middle of the first year and opt for a three-year degree if you choose. Better this way than to start a three-year degree and then, well into your first year, decide you want to do a four-year degree. So, if in doubt, opt for the four-year option. This could be discussed further at a Lancaster University open day or an open day at another institution.

Major investment banks and investment managers offering placement year opportunities over the last couple of years include:

• Bank of America Merrill Lynch
• Barclays
• Blackrock
• BNP Paribas
• Citi
• Credit Suisse
• Fidelity
• Goldman Sachs
• JP Morgan
• Lloyds Banking Group
• Macquarie
• M&G Investments
• Morgan Stanley
• Nomura
• Rothschild
• Royal Bank of Canada
• Russell Investments
• Schroders
• UBS Asset Management
• Credit Agricole
• Lazard

Less well-known financial employers previously offering a placement year include:

• AJ Bell (Independent Financial Advisor)
• Architas (Investment Manager)
• Boxington (M&A)
• Brown Brothers Harriman (Investment Management)
• Catalyst (Financial Consultancy)
• Conoco (Energy Trader)
• Kroll (Credit Ratings)
• Hargreaves Lansdown (Independent Financial Advisor)
• Pictet (Swiss Wealth Manager)
• RWE (Energy Trader)
• St James Place (Wealth Management)
• Valentine Thomas & Partners (Asset Management Recruitment)
• World First (International Money Transfer)

Applications for less well-known companies will close later in the year than for the major financial firms.

There will be a number of placement schemes to choose from with any of the large financial employers listed above. UBS Asset Management has, in the past, offered a particularly wide range of placement schemes, and it is recommended that it be included in your target list of financial firms to apply to.

For any firm offering a placement scheme, research what each division does, which division might suit your skills and interests, and which might provide the greatest chance of success. Equities and fixed Income might be more familiar to you, but what is primary risk, fund treasury or operations management? The greatest opportunity for you might be in the less well-known business divisions. The number of applications for these will certainly be less than the better-known divisions.

Furthermore, you may decide that investment management as a career does not interest you, so you are not going to apply to investment management firms. This would be a mistake as all such firms offer multiple schemes across their business, e.g. Schroders is one of the UK’s most well-known investment management firms, and they offer a ‘year in industry’ scheme. The firm offers multiple placement opportunities, including:

• Investment
• Accounting and finance
• Sales and marketing
• Technology
• Compliance

Therefore, it is worth considering financial market sector firms regardless of your career interests at this stage.

The financial market sector is notorious for early applications. Some of these placement schemes will open for application in the middle of August! An application in September or October is required. Research ahead of this is needed. It is preferable, therefore, if your research is conducted during the summer at the end of your first year and, indeed, to use your careers team during the summer vacation to prepare.

Related Blogs

• 

  The financial career landscape

• 

  Investment banking overview

• 

  Financial company target list

Disclaimer

The opinions expressed by our bloggers and those providing comments are personal, and may not necessarily reflect the opinions of Lancaster University. Responsibility for the accuracy of any of the information contained within blog posts belongs to the blogger.