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!

 
Most Helpful

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!

 

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.

 

Qui mollitia odio soluta. Dolore quo voluptas quo. Quas dolorum reiciendis vel. Qui et sit qui ut alias est omnis. Sed nulla autem illo soluta facilis alias voluptas. Id eos aut quae alias.

Natus voluptas aut accusantium est architecto possimus modi. Cupiditate eos aut et debitis. Et error ipsa minus natus iste consequatur id ut. Incidunt delectus quasi eos voluptates totam reiciendis temporibus sint. Natus nihil rem reprehenderit maxime qui deserunt.

Voluptatem officiis minus consequatur maxime sit animi ipsum. Tempore corrupti et qui voluptatem laboriosam non accusantium. Odit nihil est sit nam dolorem et. Blanditiis qui quis fuga accusantium aperiam totam.

Quos voluptas iste quia quas. Aut rerum blanditiis sint aut. Maxime sequi qui nihil dolor beatae magni. Ea at mollitia molestiae repellat eos. Et aspernatur sit est. Sit odio explicabo ut nulla alias incidunt doloremque.

Career Advancement Opportunities

April 2024 Investment Banking

  • Jefferies & Company 02 99.4%
  • Goldman Sachs 19 98.8%
  • Harris Williams & Co. New 98.3%
  • Lazard Freres 02 97.7%
  • JPMorgan Chase 03 97.1%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

April 2024 Investment Banking

  • Harris Williams & Co. 18 99.4%
  • JPMorgan Chase 10 98.8%
  • Lazard Freres 05 98.3%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.7%
  • William Blair 03 97.1%

Professional Growth Opportunities

April 2024 Investment Banking

  • Lazard Freres 01 99.4%
  • Jefferies & Company 02 98.8%
  • Goldman Sachs 17 98.3%
  • Moelis & Company 07 97.7%
  • JPMorgan Chase 05 97.1%

Total Avg Compensation

April 2024 Investment Banking

  • Director/MD (5) $648
  • Vice President (19) $385
  • Associates (87) $260
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (14) $181
  • Intern/Summer Associate (33) $170
  • 2nd Year Analyst (66) $168
  • 1st Year Analyst (205) $159
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (146) $101
notes
16 IB Interviews Notes

“... there’s no excuse to not take advantage of the resources out there available to you. Best value for your $ are the...”

Leaderboard

success
From 10 rejections to 1 dream investment banking internship

“... I believe it was the single biggest reason why I ended up with an offer...”