Non, top French schools are not a certain route to a top banking job in London
If you've studied at HEC, Essec, EDHEC, ESCP, École Centrale, or Paris-Dauphine, you might think you're a sure-thing for a big job at a big bank in London. After all, recent figures from Emolument.com suggested that 100% of École Centrale graduates working in Paris or London are in the front office, along with 87% and 73% of EDHEC and ESSEC graduates respectively.
Bad luck.
Our own figures suggest that France's top schools are by no means a highway to a top finance job in the City of London. Nor are they particularly likely to get you a job with a major US bank in the City - although they might get you into a French bank's UK office.
Based on CVs loaded into our UK CV database over the past year, these are the percentages of people in each sector who've studied at Essec or HEC or ESCP or École Centrale or Dauphine.
And these are the percentages of people who've worked at top banks in London and studied at leading French educational establishments.
In other words, France's finest finance colleges might well get you a job at Natixis in London. They could also get you a job in SocGen and BNP Paribas, but alumni look sparse at top US banks in the City. They also look far less prevalent in areas like derivatives trading than urban myth would have us believe...
