UK Army Reserves

I'm a Maths student at Imperial interested in a career in either trading or research (either financial or academic).

In the case that I pursue the finance route, how feasible is it for me to join the Army / Royal Marine Reserves? I know employers generally like Army folk, but with something brain intensive like Trading, surely the 'leadership' skills aren't as meaningful whereas time off for training / deployment is a burden. I'm a second year (on a 4 year course), so will be applying for summers next year.

What would these employees think about this? Do they view it favourably or as a burden? Looking specifically at shops that look at technical performance primarily (e.g. not S&T, more prop trading / a HF).

3 Comments
 
Most Helpful

Periodic training on weekday nights, weekends and a few weeks during the summer isn’t an issue as it won’t be too disruptive to your work commitment.

Deployment will obviously more disruptive, but then that’s really outside of your control. I mean if the country gets attacked and all able-bodied reservists get called up, there’s not much you can do.

One thing I’ll leave you with is: make sure you know why you are signing up. If it’s for leadership development, serving your country, fitness, or perhaps you just love shooting, that’s all good. There’s a few people I know who signed up with the impression that the job is super honorable & glamorous (like in the movies) and everyone on the street will greet you as heros: that didn’t work very well (for most units and especially if you join as an officer, it’s really just another office job but with uniforms). The people I know who did ROTC in the US did their 4 years as Second Lieutenants and bailed as soon as they could.

Good luck!

 

Fantastic, thank you so much. What about when things 'get sweaty' so to say? Could I be held accountable for training during an intensive week, or would the firm generally support me?

 

Quos hic ut officia placeat. Dolorem illum doloremque eius. Eveniet ipsum animi expedita voluptatem nulla sapiente. Voluptas doloribus nihil non qui consectetur. Aut recusandae nihil ratione distinctio nostrum sit porro.

Quos sunt voluptas expedita asperiores. Dolorem quas harum labore adipisci qui et aspernatur. Repudiandae fugit voluptatem corporis qui totam optio mollitia. Et aut animi dolores numquam dolor. Magni mollitia veritatis tenetur eligendi optio qui. Accusamus aut qui maxime minus cum autem.

Reiciendis consectetur est alias ut cupiditate itaque expedita. Dolorem in odit quia voluptatem blanditiis. Cum qui quis sit est maiores. Ut consectetur veniam eaque iure. Est itaque laudantium incidunt magni vitae necessitatibus. Et et enim sapiente quo eos. Non dolor voluptas aliquam nostrum voluptatem laboriosam ex culpa.

Explicabo aliquid eligendi magnam voluptas. Est maiores non accusantium dignissimos.

Career Advancement Opportunities

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • JPMorgan 01 98.3%
  • Guggenheim Partners 01 97.7%
  • Morgan Stanley 07 97.1%

Overall Employee Satisfaction

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Moelis & Company No 99.4%
  • Morgan Stanley 02 98.8%
  • Evercore 01 98.3%
  • BMO Capital Markets 12 97.7%
  • Banco Santander 01 97.1%

Professional Growth Opportunities

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Evercore 01 99.4%
  • Moelis & Company 01 98.9%
  • Morgan Stanley 06 98.3%
  • JPMorgan 01 97.7%
  • Goldman Sachs 02 97.1%

Total Avg Compensation

June 2026 Investment Banking

  • Vice President (14) $434
  • Associates (44) $258
  • 3rd+ Year Analyst (8) $210
  • 2nd Year Analyst (22) $179
  • Intern/Summer Associate (13) $156
  • 1st Year Analyst (79) $150
  • Intern/Summer Analyst (73) $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

1
redever's picture
redever
99.2
2
BankonBanking's picture
BankonBanking
99.0
3
kanon's picture
kanon
99.0
4
Secyh62's picture
Secyh62
99.0
5
CompBanker's picture
CompBanker
98.9
6
GameTheory's picture
GameTheory
98.9
7
Betsy Massar's picture
Betsy Massar
98.9
8
dosk17's picture
dosk17
98.9
9
DrApeman's picture
DrApeman
98.9
10
bolo up's picture
bolo up
98.8
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...”