And the least educated bankers work for....

It's notoriously difficult to get an entry-level job in banking these days. According to New York Magazine, only 2% of people applying for internship positions on Wall Street are successful. Our own research suggests that analysts working at banks like J.P. Morgan have excellent academic qualifications and have interned for several other banks before J.P. Morgan takes them on.

Nevertheless, not everyone in investment banking is educated to degree level. Analysis of the eFinancialCareers database of 900,000 financial services resumes suggests that, anywhere from 30% to 40% of the people working in the financial services industry haven't actually graduated from university. Interestingly, the percentage differs widely between firms.

The figures below are based upon CVs uploaded globally to eFinancialCareers over the past twelve months. We compared the total number of resumes uploaded from individuals who said they'd worked for the firms below, with the number of CVs containing the specific qualifications listed. The conclusion? Some of the least educated financial services professionals work at Cantor Fitzgerald. Some of the most educated work at Goldman Sachs, where staff are more likely to have an MBA, a PhD and a top class degree. No real surprises there.

We've ranked firms by the education levels of their employees, with the least educated at the top. JPMorgan and Citigroup have been left out of the ranking as their large retail businesses skew their figures.

On a function by function basis, banking recruiters say that some of the least educated people often work in sales roles. "A lot of the more senior salespeople in banks haven't been to university," says Zaheer Ebrahim at search firm Kennedy Associates. "They've simply built up their network over the years."

Nowadays, most banks demand that junior hires are educated to degree level or beyond. For example, only 56% of the candidates on our database who've worked at ICAP have degrees, but a spokeswoman for the firm said ICAP runs a 'large graduate intake programme' - "but equally there are other routes into the company that don't require a degree," she added.

Cantor Fitzgerald

Percentage of current and ex-Cantor Fitzgerald employees with a Bachelors* degree: 58%

Percentage of current and ex-Cantor Fitzgerald employees with an MBA: 9%

Percentage of current and ex-Cantor Fitzgerald employees with a PhD: 1%

Percentage of current and ex-Cantor  Fitzgerald employees with a top class** degree: 1%

ICAP

Percentage of current and ex-ICAP employees with a Bachelors* degree: 56%

Percentage of current and ex-ICAP employees with an MBA: 17%

Percentage of current and ex-ICAP employees with a PhD: 2%

Percentage of current and ex-ICAP employees with a top class** degree: 1%

UBS: 

Percentage of current and ex-UBS employees with a Bachelors* degree: 61%

Percentage of current and ex-UBS employees with an MBA: 13%

Percentage of current and ex-UBS employees with a PhD: 1%

Percentage of current and ex-UBS employees with a top class** degree: 2%

Barclays:

Percentage of current and ex-Barclays employees with a Bachelors* degree: 62%

Percentage of current and ex-Barclays employees with an MBA: 12%

Percentage of current and ex-Barclays employees with a PhD: 1%

Percentage of current and ex-Barclays employees with a top class** degree: 2%

Credit Suisse:

Percentage of current and ex-Credit Suisse employees with a Bachelors* degree: 61%

Percentage of current and ex-Credit Suisse employees with an MBA: 14%

Percentage of current and ex-Credit Suisse employees with a PhD: 1%

Percentage of current and ex-Credit Suisse employees with a top class** degree: 2%

RBS:

Percentage of current and ex-RBS employees with a Bachelors* degree: 65%

Percentage of current and ex-RBS employees with an MBA: 13%

Percentage of current and ex-RBS employees with a PhD: 1%

Percentage of current and ex-RBS employees with a top class** degree: 2%

Deutsche Bank:

Percentage of current and ex-Deutsche Bank employees with a Bachelors* degree: 65%

Percentage of current and ex-Deutsche Bank employees with an MBA: 15%

Percentage of current and ex-Deutsche Bank employees with a PhD: 1%

Percentage of current and ex-Deutsche Bank employees with a top class** degree: 2%

Nomura:

Percentage of current and ex-Nomura employees with a Bachelors* degree: 66%

Percentage of current and ex-Nomura employees with an MBA:  13%

Percentage of current and ex-Nomura employees with a PhD: 1%

Percentage of current and ex-Nomura employees with a top class** degree: 2%

Morgan Stanley:

Percentage of current and ex-Morgan Stanley employees with a Bachelors* degree: 71%

Percentage of current and ex-Morgan Stanley employees with an MBA: 15%

Percentage of current and ex-Morgan Stanley employees with a PhD: 1%

Percentage of current and ex-Morgan Stanley employees with a top class** degree: 2%

Goldman Sachs: 

Percentage of current and ex-Goldman Sachs employees with a Bachelors* degree: 70%

Percentage of current and ex-Goldman Sachs employees with an MBA: 17%

Percentage of current and ex-Goldman Sachs employees with a PhD: 2%

Percentage of current and ex-Goldman Sachs employees with a top class** degree: 3%

*Including BA or BSc

** First class honours or summa cum laude