Banks plan to hire lots more graduates in 2010 but the jobs may already be taken

As anyone who's been trying to get a job in an investment bank in recent years will know, it has not been easy. A new study highlights just how not-easy it has been.

According to High Fliers Research, investment banks ended up hiring 36% fewer graduates than originally intended in 2009, slicing more than 2,000 jobs off the hiring forecasts they put together in 2008.

While this may suggest hiring forecasts don't count for much, this year's graduates may at least be able to draw solace from the fact that, for the moment at least, banks are predicting a big increase in hiring for 2010.

As the chart below shows, investment banks currently plan to hire (precisely) 2,172 people next year, 554 more people than they took in 2009. (Click to view the final column)

Source: High Fliers Research

Less promisingly, non-banking specific data from the research suggests that as many as 25% of this year's vacancies have already been filled by either interns or people who deferred joining last year.

Investment banking remains the highest paid graduate profession at entry level. According to High Fliers, the average entry level salary is now 38k. This may understate the reality: banks' graduate recruiters say the average salary has now increased to 42k, plus an additional 8k in sign-on and bonus; MSc students at banks like Citi and RBS are rumoured to be commanding 50k plus in salary alone.

Source: High Fliers Research