London Recruiting Process

Hey! I'm a euro student (upcoming freshman) at a non-UK target uni and I have some questions on the recruiting process in the UK.

First of all, am I at a big disadvantage compared to UK based students bc I won't have a spring week (I don't have vacations during the spring week period), or can I justifiably make up for it with other forms of work experience or society involvement? Should I very briefly tell Banks why I don't have a spring week in my cover letter?

Secondly, as far as I know, summer analyst internships are generally only done in between the second and third year of 3-year degrees, right? Do some students try to do summer internships between their first and second years to "get an edge", or do banks just not accept these students?

Finally, Do you know if banks sponsor for summer analyst positions? As I said, I'm a euro citizen but given the whole Brexit situation IDK how things are working out in those regards. Does anyone know of non-euro students in the past that has managed to land a SA position? Thanks in advance!

10 Comments
 
  1. Spring weeks don't matter that much compared to the US, because they're basically big networking events. Get one if you can, but don't worry if you don't. Never explain that you weren't able to do something because of "circumstances", banks don't care, people rarely care.
  2. I feel you want to try, then please do and see the emails of rejection by yourself. Don't count on getting a SA during your 1st summer, get an internship somewhere related to finance because if you don't get a relevant internship, then you'll be disadvantaged when applying to SAs for your 2nd summer.
 

Hey. I dont even know what QMUL stands for so no ahaha. And no, I'm not trying to do it, I just wanted to make sure it wasn't a thing.

 

Q1: No, you can get an internship w/out a spring. Just make sure your why is clear and do society work at uni and actively feature in events

Q2: No don't explain why no Spring in CV

Q3: Summers are done on the "penultimate" year of a degree. Think end of 2nd year if 3 year degree and end of 3rd year if 4 years/masters

Q4: Banks don't sponsor. tbh I think you'll be fine. Email HR.

Q5: Yes plenty of my non-EU/UK friends landed summers in London.

Best of Luck.

 

Spring weeks do give you a big advantage, but if you don't have uni vacation just go to the spring week anyway? Surely you can miss a week of uni in your first year and do your work remotely in the evenings. However the name of your uni will probably be a lot more relevant when you're applying to summers - what sort of university tier are you talking about/can you provide comparable unis (for anonymity)?

You don't/won't need sponsoring as a European citizen, you also wouldn't need sponsoring for a summer internship anyway since student visas last for the whole time you're studying.

 

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