Three recent hires at Barclays, Credit Suisse and Deutsche. And what they say about your chances of getting a job there

In theory, banks should be doing some big hiring at this time of year now that bonuses are paid. In reality, hiring is sort of muted while banks try and get costs under control and cut headcount from poorly performing areas. 

Nonetheless, there is a modest amount of front office recruitment going on and recruitment firm Morgan McKinley estimates there were 9,260 new finance jobs on offer in total in London in March. We've checked the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) Register and these are some of the notable recent hires at Barclays, Credit Suisse and Deutsche. They don't bode well for you if you're an experienced banker who's been laid off and is looking to get rehired...

1. Barclays hired Michael Hart, a former Apple store retail employee, as an analyst in its investment bank 

Barclays hired Michael Hart as an analyst in its investment bank. Hart was formerly an intern at Lazard and has a masters in accounting and a degree in maths at university. He was most recently an intern at Lazard, but spent one year and seven months (four years ago) working in an Apple showroom.

If you're looking for a job in investment banking, Hart tells you any experience can be relevant (including selling iPod Minis). However, you will need to supplement it with a relevant degree and internship.

2. Credit Suisse hired a former internal auditor at Nestlé, as an analyst in its leveraged finance team 

Just because you've been an accountant for a corporate, this doesn't mean you can't get a junior front office job in an investment bank. Credit Suisse just hired an analyst on its leveraged finance team who most recently spent time as an internal auditor at Nestlé in Switzerland. Prior to that, he spent a year as a mid-cap analyst at Axa Private Equity in France, which probably helped.

Credit Suisse's hire is telling you that it's possible to come back from a corporate accounting job - but only if you have investment banking experience first.

3. Deutsche Bank hired Tristan van Strien from SAB Miller as a consumer goods analyst 

Usually we write about getting out of investment banking and into investor relations. However, Tristan van Strien from Deutsche Bank has just gone the other way. According to the FCA Register, Van Strien joined Deutsche in late March. Before that, he was senior investor relations manager at SAB Miller. Van Strien has an MBA from IMD in Switzerland, which is always a good thing if you want to swap tracks later in your career...