The investment banking jobs calendar. When banks hire, when banks fire

You want a job in banking? Now may not be the time. As the infographic above - based on smoothed headcount changes at four major investment banks since 2010 - shows, we're now in the cold season for bank hiring.

October to December are the months when banks slash staff, and they keep on doing so enthusiastically right through to March. Indeed, the past four years suggest banks only really add headcount between July and September. This is partly because graduate and MBA hires arrive at this time, and it's partly because most banks have a three month notice period - bankers who apply for new jobs in mid-January and receive offers in late February, have to wait until late June/early July before they turn up somewhere new. Bank recruitment is a seasonal process.