Could investment banks' appetite for graduates fall further in 2010?

It's a depressing prospect, but one that's worth considering. And if it's true, it makes it all the more important that you get an internship in 2009.

This year, things are fairly dire. The latest graduate hiring report from research company High Fliers shows investment banks now plan to hire 50% fewer graduates in 2009 than they'd originally anticipated.

However, with losses and redundancies continuing to mount, analysts like Oppenheimer's Meredith Whitney predict that big US banks won't grow for at least another two years. Could student job prospects deteriorate even further?

One veteran graduate recruiter thinks so. "My gut feeling is that it will be worse," she says. "This year banks have only really hired summer interns and it's likely that they will only hire interns again in 2010."

This means that your best bet is to try for an internship - even if you graduate this summer. "Even if you're a finalist, banks will usually consider you and may take you on after the 10 week internship ends," says the recruiter.

Banks like Rothschild encourage students who've already graduated to apply for 'long term' internships lasting three to six months.

Not everything thinks next year will be worse, however. Alana Shantry, head of graduate recruitment at Rothschild, says the graduate hiring market is likely to stabilize in 2010. "People are wary of cutting recruitment to the extent they did in 2001 and 2003. There should also be more visibility in 2009 and that should feed into stronger demand for graduates next year if the market improves," she predicts.