Unsurprising survey suggests graduates have been accepting unappealing financial services jobs out of desperation

Given that front office jobs are hard to come by and there comes a point when you have to bite the bullet and accept a role in the back or middle office (eg. A job in operations or finance instead of M&A or trading), or maybe even a job in insurance, it may come as no surprise that students working in financial services aren’t in their ideal career.

What is more surprising, however, is quite how many are in this situation.

A survey of 221 graduates by PricewaterhouseCoopers found 55% of the graduates working in financial services were compromised by the downturn and accepted jobs they’d rather not do. Only 10% plan to stay in their current role for the long term.

John Terry, a partner at PWC, says recent graduates (‘millenials’) are hard to please and more conscious of an employer’s reputation than the graduates who preceded them.

“They want more than ‘just a job’,” says Terry. “They expect a varied and interesting career, constant feedback and the opportunity to progress quickly. Their high expectations mean that companies might find it harder than ever to keep their best talent if they don’t adapt their approaches to their development appropriately.”