Internship update: Full-time job offers harder to come by; prepare to be shunted into a different division

Two big issues are emerging for anyone who'll be interning in an investment bank this summer. One is that it will be harder than ever to land a job offer at the end of it. The other is that some banks are said to be quietly moving people into less desirable divisions.

Fewer full-time offers for interns

We've long suspected that job offers will be an issue this summer. Those suspicions were confirmed last week when the head of graduate recruiting at a 'major European investment bank' said this summer's intern class will exceed the number of full-time graduate places available at the bank for 2009. The opposite is usually the case, so expect an Apprentice-style battle for places as a result.

Fiona Sandford, head of the careers service at the London School of Economics, says she's heard something similar: "Banks are going to convert a smaller percentage of interns into full-time hires this summer."

Sandford also predicts that everyone who doesn't do an internship, or who doesn't manage to convert an internship into a full-time offer, will have an uphill struggle when applications open again next term: "Banks will use this summer's interns to fill almost all their full-time places. We only expect a few specialist roles to be open from September."

Welcome to...corporate banking

Separately, Dealbreaker says JPMorgan is shunting a third of its incoming US investment banking class (which we assume includes both its own hires and Bear Stearns') into corporate banking.

We were unable to get in touch with JPMorgan to confirm whether the same thing's happening in London. But the (entirely impartial) head of graduate recruitment at a rival US firm says banks are reassigning interns to dodgy divisions here too, and that JPMorgan's not the only one doing it.

He didn't name any names. We spoke to Mathew Westcott, head of group graduate recruitment at RBS, who said they're not guilty.

The good news...

...in all this is that banks aren't pulling back on their offers.

"In the last two downturns offers were reneged upon or people were paid to go away," says Sandford. "It's better to be offered a job in a different division than for that to happen."

The head of graduate recruitment at a US bank also points out that there are benefits to starting your investment banking career in a downturn: "In this climate, when we're bringing in fewer people, you'll be given responsibility a lot earlier on."