Small firms can offer the best openings

Bulge bracket investment banks like Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and Merrill Lynch adopt a high profile at milkround recruiting events. Less well known are the small brokerage and corporate finance firms that operate, and recruit, away from the limelight.

Creative job searchers might contact the likes of Evolution Beeson Gregory, Cantor Fitzgerald, Charles Stanley, Collins Stewart, or Seymour Pierce.

This can be a long shot. Small firms have far fewer vacancies than the big names. Instead of taking on hundreds of graduates every year, many employ one two, if any.

Structured graduate training courses are rare: most small firms recruit on an ad hoc basis.

Paul Boyce, resource director at Evolution Beeson Gregory, says: 'Although we sometimes recruit graduates, we don't have an ongoing programme as some of the larger houses do.'

But applying to small firms may be worth the struggle. Vacancies can be look as appealing as anything on offer in the bulge bracket.

For example, DRW Investments, a fixed income specialist on the Euronext.liffe market, has been advertising for a graduate to join its fixed income derivatives trading desk.

Other small firms are expanding and need junior staff. Liquid Capital Markets, a futures and options brokerage, has grown from 15 to 45 employees during the past three years. It recently had six graduate vacancies for junior traders and clerks in 2003, all of which are already filled.

Small firms look for the same qualities as large ones do. Liquid Capital asks for graduates who are numerical and analytical. Paul Merrington, head of trading at DRW, said the firm was looking for a mathematical person who was prepared to learn and to work long hours.

They also needed to get on with the other staff: DRW has only 25 employees.

Networking plays an important role in finding a job at small firms, as job advertisements such as DRW's are rare. Speculative CVs are unlikely to have much impact. Robert Hughes, head of trading at Barnes Derivatives Limited, said: 'We get applications all the time. The most we can do is to keep them all on file.'

Meanwhile IT graduates can apply to LIFFE itself. The exchange typically recruits 10-20 graduates a year, starting in September. Applications for 2003 must be in by May 30th.

Working for a small organisation would not suit all graduates. Some value the kudos and formal training that go with working for a large firm.

But for individualistic types who thrive in an unstructured environment, and do not care if their friends have never heard of their employer, a small firm can offer the best opportunities.