Humanities student at Edinburgh
Hi everyone,
I'm an incoming student at Edinburgh University reading english and this is my first time on WSO. I'm wondering if there is anything that I should be doing now to ensure that I'm able to land a position at a financial service orgn when I graduate from uni?
Thank you all in advance.
Network like crazy - nothing happens in finance without your network. I would also say to look at boutique firms to see if they take you on as a grad or as an intern. Also depends if you are willing to move to London where there are way more boutiques than in Edinburgh. English as a degree makes it more difficult to work in finance not just because it isn't hugely relevant to the industry but also because it doesn't provide you with the baseline knowledge for working in a finance role (even as an intern you need to know basic knowledge of markets,valuations,excel etc). I would say that you could look into working at in IB or AM but in the back office (in HR, Marketing, Admin etc) and there's nothing wrong in doing so however that would mean that it would make it harder for you to transition to the front office (harder to become Gordon Gecko) but would mean you work for a finance company albeit not in a financial role. The last option I'd say is to get yourself on to a masters if that's something you can do preferably at either Oxford, Imperial, LSE or at LBS (London Business School), King's, UCL in a financial discipline but I doubt that is possible given your english bachelors however go and check out the requirements and see if you can talk to admissions there and get a seat and after that you can go work in the front office in most IBs although you would still be competing with a lot of people including those who hold MBAs but that's something you can find help with on WSO's Mentoring Program. You definitely can do it however it will require a lot of dedication and a lot of work and even more networking. Go on LinkedIn and start contacting people you know or your friends may know. Hopefully that helps.
Hi londonmonkey101,
I will absolutely take a look at boutique firms and start reaching out to alumni. Judging from a few quick searches on LinkedIn there seem to be lots of Edinburgh grads working in both front office and back offices roles at IB and AM firms. I live in London now and would love to work in the city. Thank you for your response, I really appreciate it! :)
No problem man. I would also add what the other answer says (https://www.wallstreetoasis.com/comment/3180218#comment-3180218) - join the Investment Society and also apply to BB positions and network with everybody, starting with boutiques enables you to possibly benefit from a higher & faster response rate but don't forget to network with guys from JPM, GS, MS etc although that should probably go without saying. You can still get a Summer Analyst role and convert to FT but as a I said - networking and getting some experience/relevant stuff to add to your CV is important given you are in an Humanities degree. If you don't mind me asking why are you switching career paths? Feel free to PM me any time bro.
Networking is important, but it's unlikely to land you an interview in London compared to the US - particularly for internship opportunities. I'd get involved in student societies - both social and finance-related - to beef up your CV when you're applying for spring weeks. Ideally, try to aim for leadership positions in these societies, such as Edinburgh University Trading & Investment Club. Assuming you're doing a bachelor's with a 2023 entry, you'll graduate in 2027, giving you time to prepare for summer analyst positions.
Typically, you'll do one (or more) spring weeks 2 years before you graduate, this takes place in April and applications open around October. Hopefully, you'll have some extracurricular experience that can help you land an interview for spring. Additionally, quite a few banks offer summer analyst positions available for 2nd-year students (in a 4-year degree), such as MS in Glasgow. Ultimately, the easiest way to land an FT offer is to convert your summer internship to a full-time role, and spring weeks can fast-track you to a final round for summer.
TLDR; gain relevant extracurricular experience in 1st/2nd year -> leverage this to apply to spring weeks in your 2nd year -> either convert your spring week to a summer analyst role or leverage your ECs + SW to land a summer -> convert summer to FT
Thank you for your response! I really appreciate it. I'll make sure to check out the Trading & Investment Club along with a few other extracurriculars once I get on campus. How many would you recommend I join? I took a look at the students' association website and a few different societies and sports caught my eye, but I don't want to overextend myself. Just to confirm, I'll be applying for spring weeks starting in October of my 2nd year? That's much earlier than I expected, I'm glad I found WSO now!
Do you think getting an internship the summer after my first year is critical to landing a spring week? I've seen a few posts encouraging students to try to land an unpaid pwm position, but much of the advice on this forum seems to be US centric and like you said, recruiting seems to work differently in London.
Not critical, but it would help. So if you have the time I definitely would. I didn't and still landed springs but I would have if I knew about it back then.
That's tough to answer, but anecdotally being an active member - and aiming for leadership roles - in two finance/consulting-related societies would suffice as long as you can properly manage the workload. I believe only your third and fourth years will count towards your final degree, so you can delegate more time to ECs in your 1st and 2nd years, just be mindful that you probably need to reach a certain grade benchmark to progress to your third year. Student societies - both social and academic - are a great opportunity to make some amazing people and receive mentoring so I'd get involved either way
Spring openings vary, although most open in October. Check out LSESU's tracker for spring and summer positions - called LSESUBIG - this also gives you an overview of 1st-year summers available.
I wouldn't say it's critical but definitely beneficial. Ultimately, I think it boils down to whether you want to spend the last few summers you have as a student sitting in an office or pinging to Falamour at Fly - I picked the latter
Thank you! I definitely plan on getting involved in all types of societies as soon as I get to uni. That LSEUBIG recommendation is extremely helpful too!
Switch course to Economics / Business / Finance / Stem
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