High hopes and dressing down at the job fair

It was the trait employers were trying to detect at the all-day autumn Graduate Select Finance Fair organised by the University of London Career Service at the London Business Design Centre in Islington.

30 employers from the financial sector were the focus for more than 600 UK university students.

Joaly Irvine, head of employer services at ULCS, said: &quotStudents are carefully pre-selected, so that there's no time-wasting involved and everyone takes it seriously. Most are in their third year, preparing for finals and actively looking for a career.&quot

Style is vital in this world of graduate careers with attitude. PriceWaterhouseCoopers, who annually recruit 1,400, offered graduates the chance to &quotdevelop naturally&quot by choosing an &quotorganisation that is itself still growing and changing&quot.

&quotDream - strive - achieve&quot was the siren call of Lehman Brothers, while Credit Suisse First Boston promised they were &quotempowering change, investing in people&quot.

Arthur Anderson wanted to put &quota different perspective on your career&quot, while Deutsche Börse were simply &quotlooking for high-profile individuals&quot.

&quotIt's here, it's now, your future, your choice&quot was Reuter's stark pitch and Morgan Stanley Dean Witter offered the chance to &quotnetwork the world&quot.

McKinsey & Co - &quotevolving and advancing with the currents of the world&quot - captured the mood by dressing down for the occasion in shirt-sleeves and providing plenty of front-line staff to pass on their own experiences and explain the culture of the McKinsey workplace.

Business analyst and Oxford biochemistry graduate Charlie Humphreys said: &quotMcKinsey recruits 50 to 60 graduates a year from a variety of disciplines. Today we are looking for team-players, problem-solvers who are interested in taking the initiative.

&quotWe work in a flexible environment that tests people in many ways and that's what we're trying to get across here.&quot

Amit Trehan, a third year economics student at University College London, said: &quotAs these events go, this one isn't bad.

&quotWe need access to real people doing real jobs inside these organisations. I'm interested in asset management as a career. I don't want to talk to human resources people - I want to talk to asset managers.&quot

Chidiinma Chima Okereke, studying business management at the University of London's Royal Holloway College, said: &quotI found the fair really useful. You get the chance to find out the latest on what employers are looking for and pick up on all the latest buzz words to incorporate in your job applications.&quot