My friends & I have top degrees. None of us can get banking jobs

I have a first-class degree in mathematics from a Russell Group university. Most of my friends have first-class degrees from the same university. None of us can find jobs working in finance.

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I graduated over nine months ago. Since then, I’ve applied to every single graduate opportunity available in my field. None of them were successful. I’ve expanded my search criteria – still nothing.

At University, we were told by recruiters at careers fairs not to do a year in industry, because no one cared if you did one. But the people I know who did do a year in industry found jobs much, much quicker and easier than we did.

We were also told not to do summer internships. Or, at most, to do summer internships that weren’t too stressful. So, we got jobs outside of the industry to tide the summer over – as bartenders and baristas and what have you. I worked at a golf club for a bit. So much for that.

One of my friends, however, went through a slightly different process. He didn’t get a first –only a 2:1 – but he did find himself a support network that actually taught him how to get a job - application processes, the importance of interning, that sort of thing.

And he did - after two years of searching - finally get a job earlier this week. It only took a bunch of internships across two continents, hundreds of applications, and parents that could support him being a full-time jobseeker.

What’s next for me? Some travelling, I think. And then I’ll have to find a master’s degree to do, still in finance, so I can apply to all the internships that I was told to skip over as an undergraduate. It’s not a fun prospect, but I do want a job in finance – and if this is the only way now, then it’s what needs to be done.

If you have any advice, please, I’m more than happy to hear it. Drop it into the comment box below.

Christopher Marlowe is a pseudonym.

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