Hey WSO,
I need some advice and support as I'm hitting a rough patch in my finance career. I'm currently in a graduate program at one of the largest European asset managers. While it sounds fancy, my 12-month contract role in sales and marketing isn't what I want to do long-term. As an EU citizen on a graduate visa, I've got one year to secure a more permanent role in the UK, but the job market has been a nightmare to crack.
My Background
I'm from Italy and come from a working-class family. I'm the first one to graduate in my family. Growing up, my friends and I had zero exposure to international experiences or high-level professional careers. The goal was simple: graduate and get a local job.
I did my bachelor’s in Politics/International Relations/Languages (simply because I was good with languages and passionate about politics, at my local uni in Italy). Towards the end of my degree, I discovered the world of finance and all the big opportunities it offered. But the whole equation of good uni=good job was alien to me, let alone all the process of landing early internships, something that was completely foreign to me. No one around me had a clue about this stuff.
I moved to London (Jan 2022) for a master's at a non-target uni, hoping it would open doors. Looking back, even securing my current job is crazy—I believe I'm the only one in the whole history of my uni to land a job in the City (no joke I did some linkedin research).
When I got to London, I knew no one, and I soon realized that people from prestigious unis already had A TON of friends and networks here (lots of this people are my friends now and they are great people, but I won't deny that I do feel out of place sometimes).
The LSE Experience
To beef up my resume, I did a summer school at LSE and put it on my CV. But my time there was a real eye-opener. Everyone seemed wealthy, having attended the "right" unis and boarding schools. They all went on holiday to the same places and had these elite backgrounds, making me feel even more out of place.
Current Situation
Every day, I wake up with anxiety about my visa status, my career, and my future. I'm passionate about finance and want to move into a more technical (but this is not the point of the post, at this point, I'm literally willing to take any role that will sponsor me) role, but my current position and educational background seem to be big barriers. Despite my determination and hard work, I feel overlooked and undervalued in the job market.
Financial Strain
Just to add to the mix, I took out a loan to study in the UK—paying for this was a huge financial strain, and I definitely didn’t have the money to cover these expenses on my own.
Seeking Help
I'm reaching out to this community hoping to find some guidance and support. Have any of you faced similar challenges? How did you overcome them? What steps can I take to improve my chances of landing a more suitable role?
I'm also open to connecting privately if anyone wants to chat more or offer personal advice. Please feel free to DM me—I'm more than willing to disclose my real name and provide more context if needed.
Thanks for reading my post. Your insights and support would mean the world to me as I try to navigate this tough period.
Unfortunately, fact of the matter is no one is reading your life story when your CV arrives on their table. All they see is: non target uni, no finance experience. You are not being overlooked or undervalued. You have struggled, I agree. You didn't have a lot of help, I agree. But also we live in the information age and there are other people like you who did find their way and were proactive in their career. But this is all in the past - you cannot change it and you should discard it from your mind. Realise this. Internalise it. Accept it. And move forward. This is just about your mindset.
As far as what to do next - well you have to consider where you are right now (sales and marketing, barely finance, doesn't matter what the overarching company does) and where you want to go. If you don't know what you're doing now, you don't know what skills you have to leverage and what paths are easier to take. And if you don't know what you want to do, then you don't know what paths exist at all and you cannot craft a good story (on why you're switching from marketing to X) to get to your goal. This story has to be tight. You can't give people a reason to go with the easiest option (target school student, 3 relevant internships). You also can't develop the appropriate skills without knowing what you want to do. Mindlessly learning DCFs isn't gonna cut it if you actually wanted to do corporate banking for example.
There are of course complications to this - your visa, your student debt etc. but right now you have a job, and the visa is out of your control. There is no point stressing about those right now. You cannot change them. You also cannot rush this process and work everything out in a day (because up till now that's basically what you've been doing, and it's not worked out the way you wanted). You need to think, have a clear, well-researched, plan of action. Then execute and keep executing till it works or it doesn't.
Thank you nutmegger, I appreciate the honesty, seriously.
I agree that shifting my mindset is a priority, I also wrote this blog this morning after yet another rejection, so I was at my lowest perhaps.
I will work on a serious and realistic action plan as you suggested.
We don't have the exact same background, but we're pretty similar (bachelors in an arts subject at a non-UK non-target, no family in finance/city jobs so only discovered finance years after my bachelors, work experience mainly in marketing, moved to London for a master's - although I went to a target for this). I know how hard it is right now in the UK and how difficult it is to feel "recognised" when you're submitting a CV that is objectively not what recruiters look for.
One major issue obviously is that your UK visa will expire - I guess my question is are you dead set on staying in the UK? Because as someone who was in the job market without the right to work in the EU, I felt like my options were limited because I couldn't apply to entry-level roles in Europe. All of my friends in my master's programme who applied across Europe to finance or consulting roles this year were getting interviews left and right with humanities degrees and zero relevant internships, but everyone (including myself) applying only in London or the UK was getting nothing. I think, if you're open to it, you should take advantage of your right to work in the EU and look at applying to graduate/entry-level/trainee positions at all sorts of banks and funds in Europe (I may be wrong but I think they are also relatively less competitive than London roles). Of course you should still apply within the UK, but expanding your reach would give you a greater chance at landing something.
Also, although you mention you'd be happy with any role in finance, I think you should get a bit more specific, like S&T vs IB vs ER vs even back-office finance. They each require a different set of skills and suit different people, so understanding which area you want to focus on could help you in developing more specific skills that you can put on your CV to boost it.
Good luck! And know that it is 100% possible but might take much longer than you expect. It took me 7-8 months and a mountain of immediate rejections but I landed a graduate job in trading with a sponsored visa in London (with my non-traditional, mostly non-target and no-relevant-experience background).
Hey,
Thanks a lot for your reply and for sharing your experience. It's really encouraging to hear from someone with a similar background who managed to land a role in London.
You nailed it about the visa situation. To answer your question, I'm not dead set on staying in the UK, but I do want to stay in London long-term. I’ve been so focused on London that I haven’t seriously considered applying to roles in Europe, but your point ofc makes a lot of sense. I think I’ve been a bit tunnel-visioned about staying here, partly because of the network and partly because of the reputation London has in finance. Also, my girlfriend is here, and while it shouldn't be a major factor, it is part of the equation.
Regarding focusing my search, you're right again. I need to get more specific. I've been kind of broad in my applications, thinking that any role in finance would be a step in the right direction. Ideally, I’d love to venture into the investment side of AM, Portfolio Management or Investment Analysis (I’m also fascinated by roles that mix policy and finance, like those at the EBRD, which would reflect my background in politics and international relations. Huge firm that do sponsor visas).
A bit more about my situation: I'm not 21—I graduated during COVID and wasn't really sure how to get into the UK, so I started my MSc at 25 (I know...) . I did have work experience in Italy, but it was disconnected from finance. Hence, being a trainee with fresh grads would be weird since I'm 26 now. To be honest, I'd still do it, but I'm competing with people way younger than me with two relevant internships (which drives me nuts)
I’m also studying for the CFA Level 1, which is another challenge, but I surely believe would give me an edge if I were to compete for a role in portfolio management or investment analysis. It has kind of blown my savings, but it’s okay. It’s all part of the grind, right? I hope it could give me an edge, and it's also a nice to have
I openly say that my current role pays £35k.
It’s also reassuring to hear that it took you 7-8 months and a lot of rejections to land your role. I’ve been feeling pretty down about the whole process, but knowing that persistence pays off is motivating.
Thanks again for your advice and support. It means a lot to know that there are people out there who’ve been through similar struggles and made it through. If you have any more tips or resources, I’d love to hear them. And if anyone else reading this has insights or connections, please feel free to DM me.
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