International banks want Irish students (even if domestic firms don't)
The message to Irish students hoping to move into financial services upon graduation next year is very clear - look overseas.
Perhaps not surprisingly, considering the overarching grim tidings within the Irish banking sector, domestic institutions like Bank of Ireland, Anglo Irish and AIB have cancelled their graduate intake for 2010.
"The domestic market is pretty much closed for recruitment and that is reflective of the situation affecting the banking sector in Ireland currently," says Sean Gannon, director and careers advisor at Trinity College, Dublin.
Still, with most international investment banks intending to up their graduate intake again in 2010, the likes of Barclays, Credit Suisse, Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan are all doing the milkrounds at Irish universities.
They're targeting Irish universities like Dublin City University, Trinity College Dublin, University College Cork and University College Dublin.
"In previous downturns investment banks let graduate recruitment fizzle out and had to then recruit more expensive experienced hires to fill the gap," says Gannon. "They're keen to keep a pipeline of fresh talent."
Seamus McEvoy, careers advisor and head of service at University College Cork, says the financial services graduate recruitment market is "weak" but that students remain as keen as ever to enter the industry.
"Obviously, the big Irish banks were staples of the graduate recruitment scene, so losing them is a blow. However, while most students would prefer to take an opportunity in Ireland, they realise the value of international experience," he says.
Fund administration firms - typically very active recruiters - are also hiring fewer graduates this year and not canvassing on campus, says Gannon. However, it's not entirely bleak locally.
The Big Four accountancy firms are likely to keep their graduate in take in line with previous years, as are their smaller counterparts, and the Central Bank of Ireland and other regulatory bodies are looking to recruit.
