City careers: the real picture

Links: - UCL Careers Service - UCL Careers Service 'Graduating in a Recession' blog - 'UCL boosts graduate support efforts', UCL News, 3 March The UCL Careers Service held a panel discussion entitled 'Graduate Careers in the City - What Now?' with senior graduate recruiters from London's financial sector on 23 February, to dispel myths surrounding the City's graduate recruitment market and the impact that the current economic climate is having on it. The event was chaired by Professor Michael Worton (UCL Vice-Provost, Academic and International). In attendance were representatives of some of the biggest names in investment banking: Brian Hood, Head of Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) Graduate Recruitment at Citi; Mark Hipperson, Vice-President of Graduate Recruitment at Credit Suisse; Ketan Patel, EMEA Analyst & Associate Management at J.P.Morgan; Salonika Mitra, Vice-President of Graduate Recruitment at Nomura International; and Mark Pawson, Associate Director of Campus Recruitment at UBS. The discussion. The panel discussed the following topics: The areas which have been hardest hit by the credit crunch Alternative options for a student keen to make a career in the sector Where students should look for jobs How they can maximise their chances of gaining a graduate position; and The future for graduate vacancies in financial services in general. All panellists spoke candidly about the situation, saying that the number of students recruited for their graduate schemes was lower than the previous year's (in the case of Credit Suisse it had fallen by as much as 25%), with trading positions having taken the biggest hit.