Grad Schemes vs. Internships as a route into IB

Hey everyone! I've just recently graduated from a top UK university this June and am working at a start up at the moment, gaining some good market analysis/business strategy experience with a lot of exposure to the CEO etc. 

I wasn't on it in terms of internships during university - and so haven't yet done any in IB/AM/CO. This is a little problematic not only because it makes it harder to work out which route to take, and makes it harder to secure a spot on a graduate scheme in any of these industries as applications start to open up this Sept.

Probably seems like I am casting the net very wide, which is true, but I am looking for a good grad scheme to get into to develop my financial skills (having done science at uni) that will look great on a CV and set up future opps. Wondering as well if an audit grad scheme might be a good call? Along with the Big 4 audit schemes there seem to be some group internal audit positions at various firms (Schroder's, UBS), have been messaging people working there on LinkedIn about these but have had few responses - does anyone know much about these, and how they are viewed? I would assume that they'd be less competitive.

Just wondering on the comparative difficulty between getting a place on a summer analyst internship scheme vs. getting onto a grad scheme? Presumably the grad scheme is harder, but I know eligibility for the internship is sometimes hinged on being in your penultimate year of uni...

Any insight would be much appreciated!!

 

Oxbridge or not, you're not getting a grad scheme irrespective of location without an internship, unfortunately. 

 

Thanks for the replies! Yeah that matches up pretty well with what I am seeing other people my age doing. I'll probably try and get some good experience at my start-up or specialist consultancy while doing some pro bono consulting work, and figure out what I want to go for.

 

Sorry but in today's market, applying to Grad schemes without relevant internship is impossible.

Heck, there are only a handful of grad schemes this year. And the kids competing are those who have internships at JPM, GS, MS etc who got f*cked over by return offers. 

 

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