LevFin Traineeship
Hi all,
I will be joining a European MM bank within their leveraged capital markets team in London. It is a 1 year long traineeship, with no guarantee of a permanent job at the end. You might be able to guess the firm I am joining based off of this, I know only a select few firms run these so-called "traineeships".
Obviously, this isn’t ideal, but it’s a competitive market, and I was a little late to the recruiting party. I also don’t have the CV strength to pick and choose and wait around for the “perfect job”.
Overall, I’m really pleased, as recruitment, especially in the UK, not just for finance, is quite rough at the minute, at least from what I have seen and heard.
Would it be possible to recruit for graduate programs/analyst roles at larger banks (BBs, MMs with strong LevFin presence) starting in 2025 with this experience? How should I go about doing this? Additionally, how can I make the most out of my traineeship?
I would like to work at a bigger firm and make the most of my early career years before I settle down. I am very interested in LevFin, so could anyone provide any personal insights into these groups at larger firms?
I would appreciate anyone's advice/tips/comments.
Thanks all!
Sounds like a great experience, will definitely help strengthen your resume.
Yeah this is pretty common at the French banks, and it’s a great opportunity, especially in the current environment as you said. Strong CV boost whether you decide to stay in credit or look towards M&A etc afterwards.
The year will provide you with far more transaction experience than a regular summer internship, and you can really provide value to the deal teams by showing up with a positive attitude no matter how boring / menial the tasks assigned are (although hopefully minimal).
The best juniors are always the ones willing to roll up their sleeves and dig in - any technical gaps will be easily fixed, and responsibility will follow. Also highly recommend making an effort to connect with other juniors outside your immediate team.
You’ll get a lot out of it and hopefully enjoy it - good luck!
Thank you for the comment! With regards to recruiting for BBs/larger MMs full time once my traineeship ends, do you have any tips for this? I am looking to build a career in LevFin, so does recruiting differ than traditional M&A? Thanks!
If you’d rather be on the origination side - worst case, you could always do another VIE (I’ve seen people do that) - but hopefully not needed.
With a year in lev fin capital markets you should definitely get some looks for roles elsewhere (pretty sure I’ve seen LinkedIn job listings for analyst lev fin roles).
Also seen debt advisory and private credit analyst roles out there which aren’t too dissimilar at the analyst/assoc level. Friend made a move like this from capital markets to origination - can elaborate over PM if useful.
PM'd you! Thanks
Congrats on SocGen!
Haha thank you! Pretty much knew I was giving it away. Do you know much about them?
From what I know anecdotally, these "Traineeships" rarely convert and underpay. But, I suppose, they are pretty good experience. If the market does indeed pick up as most expect it to, then I'm sure that your 1 year there will be a good leverage to go elsewhere.
Saepe laboriosam sunt facere impedit rerum modi dolores. Natus quia quas et vel aut tempora.
A ipsa deleniti dolorum vero. Dolorum quos pariatur iusto et quam.
Eaque porro voluptatem debitis sit eveniet atque. Error omnis sit ut soluta beatae qui. Maiores maxime quibusdam aut. Minima asperiores et facilis maiores. Qui modi tempora eveniet tempora ut ratione exercitationem.
See All Comments - 100% Free
WSO depends on everyone being able to pitch in when they know something. Unlock with your email and get bonus: 6 financial modeling lessons free ($199 value)
or Unlock with your social account...