Banks to hire grads, no internship required

Usually banks draw 50% or more of their full time graduate hires from the pool of second-year university students who worked for them as interns the previous summer. In 2006, however, recruiters say that proportion is likely to be substantially smaller after improving market conditions prompted a last minute reappraisal of hiring targets.

"If you haven't done an internship, you have more of a chance of getting into banking this year because full-time hiring numbers have risen and exceed the number of offers made after summer and other internship programmes," says Ellen Miller, head of graduate recruiting at Lehman Brothers in Europe.

"But you will still need to justify why you don't have any work experience , not just in banking or finance," she says. "For example, some people may not have been switched on to the need to do an internship in their second year because they were focused on their academic studies and are on track for a first."

The late increase in opportunities for final-year students who weren't interns is in contrast to a longer-term trend for recruiting as many people from the internship pool as possible. "A ten-week internship is a good opportunity for us to road test students," says Derek Walker, head of campus recruiting at Barclays Capital. "And it's a good opportunity for students to road test us. Most banks will look at people who have internship experience as a priority."

Interns 2006: Apply now!

As well as looking for full time graduate hires to make up for the shortfall in last year's internship pool, banks are now gearing up to hire interns for summer 2006. Demand looks set to be strong.

"There's a lot more competition for good candidates this year than last year," says Miller at Lehman. "Some banks are interviewing for internships already and we've found it necessary to fast track strong candidates and interview them earlier than we usually would."

In view of the stampede to hire through summer internships, Miller says Lehman is diversifying and aims to add more graduate recruits on the back of so-called 'winternships.' Unlike summer internships, they take place during the winter, and typically last three instead of two months. The bad news is they are only open to a few students whose university course permits a prolonged term-time absence.

ESCP-EAP, the Europe-wide business school with a London campus, is among those providing people for winternships. Gabi Cousin, head of company placements and projects, says around 45 students each year spend time in investment banks like Lehman Brothers and Goldman Sachs. They typically stay for a three-month period between January and April, and a small percentage are offered a full-time job as a result.

"There's an advantage in doing the winter internship," says Cousin. "Our students aren't competing with people from all the other UK universities."