Big is not always best

Less well known are

the small companies - corporate finance

boutiques, brokerages, private equity

firms and hedge funds, for example -

that operate and recruit away from the

limelight.

They can be difficult to find out about,

difficult to approach and even harder to

get into. But it can be worth the struggle.

Vacancies are often as appealing as anything

in the larger institutions.

Creative job seekers might contact

dozens of investment bank boutiques and

small brokerages in the City of London,

including Evolution Beeson Gregory,

Charles Stanley, Collins Stewart and

Seymour Pierce to name but a few.

Equally, there are niche private equity

firms in Paris, small banks in Milan, and

so on. Applying can be a long shot, as

small firms have far fewer vacancies than

the big names. Many employ just one or

two graduates a year.

Paul Boyce, resource director at

Evolution Beeson Gregory, an investment

bank, says: 'Although we sometimes

recruit graduates, we do not have

an ongoing programme as some of the

larger houses do.'

DRW Investments, a fixed income specialist

on the electronically traded

Euronext.liffe market, has taken on a

graduate to join its trading desk, trading

futures and options linked to corporate

bonds, and other fixed income derivative

products.

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. Earlier in 2003 it had

six graduate vacancies for junior traders

and clerks (all of which were filled).

Small firms look for many of the same

qualities as large ones: Liquid Capital

asks for graduates with a numerate and

analytical bent. Paul Merrington, head of

trading at DRW, says his firm looks for

mathematical types who are prepared to

learn and work long hours.

Some attributes required by small

firms may differ from those sought by

big ones. Merrington stresses that anyone

joining DRW needs to get on with the

other staff, as it has only 25 employees.

At a larger firm a new recruit might be

part of a bigger team in which personal

relationships are less intense.

Whatever they may say, large banks

may not always appreciate junior staff

who like to take the initiative when they

are no more than a small cog. A small

company, by contrast, will wonder what

is wrong with someone who does not put

forward their own ideas.

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, says: 'We

get applications all the time but the most

we can do is to keep them on file.'

Graduates can also apply to work for

exchanges, such as Euronext.Liffe, a

derivatives exchange that handles such

contracts as euro short-term interest

rates and equity options.

It has advertised

a number of graduate vacancies.

Euronext.liffe was formed in 2001 following

a merger between Liffe (the London

International Financial Futures and

Options Exchange) and Euronext, which

also operates in Amsterdam, Brussels,

Paris and Lisbon.

Working for a small organisation

would not suit all graduates. Some value

the kudos and formal training that go

with working for a large and prestigious

company.

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 good opportunities.

Merrington at DRW says small firms

offer the opportunity to really specialise

in a product area. 'You have the opportunity

to become a master in one particular

product type, instead of knowing a little

bit about all kinds of products.'