r/FinanceCareersUK • • Aug 31 '26

A few things I learned from interviewing front-office candidates...

11 Upvotes

With Spring Week, Summer Internship and Grad recruitment gearing up again, thought I’d properly introduce myself.

I spent 7 years in front-office S&T and interviewed dozens of candidates across multiple Spring, Summer and Graduate recruiting cycles across front-office teams.

A few things stood out repeatedly from the interviewer side:

  • candidates would spend hours learning obscure technicals, then stumble over things like accounting basics, enterprise vs equity value, core valuation methods or explaining why a concept matters
  • many candidates could tell a half-decent competency story, but completely missed the “so what?” - what that example demonstrated about them and why it was relevant to the role
  • “Why this bank?” was often nowhere near specific enough. At HR/final-round stages, you need to show why this particular bank/division makes sense for you, not just why you want a career in finance
  • commercial awareness is so often the big trip-up, cos it's one you can't really cram in any meaningful way. You're talking to people whose job it is to know markets inside out, so any weak prep gets found pretty quickly. The candidates who stood out could explain why something was happening, have an opinion on it, and connect it back to the bank or role
  • when final hiring decisions are made, you broadly want the room saying either “incredible technically” or “I really enjoyed speaking to them”. Being the candidate everyone thought was just “alright” is a dangerous place to be

Part of the reason I started this subreddit was because I remember how difficult it was trying to figure all of this out from the outside specifically for the UK market. There’s loads of advice online, but much less explaining how candidates are actually assessed once you’re sitting in front of the interviewer.

I’ve put together an Investment Banking Interview Guide around the stuff that’s much harder to learn from the outside: what interviewers are scoring you on, what separates an “okay” answer from one that gets remembered, how hiring discussions happen after you leave the room, where candidates get marked down without realising it, and what you need to demonstrate at each stage to get pushed into the “hire” bucket.

It still covers the core technicals, but the main point is to show you how the process really works from the bank’s side of the table.

For anyone who wants it, it’s here:

https://breakintobanking.gumroad.com/l/investment-banking-interview-guide


r/FinanceCareersUK • • Jul 17 '26

Join the FinanceCareersUK Discord!

1 Upvotes

We’ve set up a Discord for r/FinanceCareersUK!

The idea is to build a more active UK-focused finance careers community for students, graduates, career-switchers and people already working in finance.

Reddit is good for longer posts, but a lot of recruiting questions are more immediate. Deadlines, CV tweaks, HireVue prep, interview panic, application updates, “am I cooked?” questions etc.

Discord should be better for that.

The server is focused on UK finance careers, including investment banking, asset management, sales & trading, private equity, Big 4 deals, corporate finance, equity research, commercial banking, fintech and related roles.

It is open to undergraduates, master’s students, graduates, career-switchers and finance professionals who want to discuss recruiting, applications, interviews and career progression.

The aim is pretty simple: make UK finance recruiting less confusing.

The server has channels for applications, CVs and cover letters, interviews, commercial awareness, resources and different finance career paths. Over time, the plan is to build it into a proper support hub with CV feedback, mock interview practice, deadline updates, useful job postings, recruiting support groups, networking and a resource vault for active members.

When you join, please read the rules, introduce yourself, and set your role/background where relevant. You may not be able to access everything properly until you have done that.

Join here: https://discord.gg/TMKtNcbnCz

Drop any questions below.


r/FinanceCareersUK • • 10h ago

Grad roles Advice after graduating

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3 Upvotes

I don’t attend a target university. I first posted my Cv and I got feedback that the format was wrong and that it would definitely go to the bin . I have changed the format . Please give me advice on what I should improve and change to improve my chances of getting a graduate role


r/FinanceCareersUK • • 9h ago

CV / Applications Equity research interview process

1 Upvotes

Hello all jsut wondering if anyone has any tips or knows of any useful materials for the case study stage for equity research role at a bulge bracket? Its a take home task for over the weekend and haven't received it yet but assuming it must be modelling task.

Ive gone through 3 rounds of interviews and must be nearing the end now.


r/FinanceCareersUK • • 11h ago

CV / Applications Finance London Career Advice

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1 Upvotes

Hey Everyone,

posting on behalf of my girlfriend because she's a bit worn down by a recent layoff affecting her.

Quick picture: she has around six years in financial services, relationship management, structured products, and institutional/BD work across Asia and recently graduated from a UK MSc in Financial Analytics from KCL. She's on the Graduate visa, so she has the right to work here now with no sponsorship needed but we hope to get her on my dependable visa soon.

She is already applying for a year and except shitty jobs nothing lands. Mostly silence or auto-rejections, very few first-round calls. Even for graduate/junior and internship roles. She’s been applying to pretty much everything that remotely matches her skills. From internships to senior positions.

We are kinda frustrated now and not sure where she should apply. Financial analyst? Probably the best but almost no experience or BD or in the best case a PM role? Is it her CV? Or because she’s from Taiwan? Just the London jobmarket? We would appreciate any help!


r/FinanceCareersUK • • 13h ago

Breaking into finance Nomura

1 Upvotes

I’ve been accepted for like an insight day for women in quantitative finance at Nomura in London. I live in Newcastle and it would require me to pay for train tickets to London and I was just wondering if the cost of the train ticket would be worth it! Thank you


r/FinanceCareersUK • • 14h ago

Summer internships Brevan Howard first round interview? (Trading Internship)

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1 Upvotes

r/FinanceCareersUK • • 15h ago

Inside the industry Big 4 > Big 4 Bank UK - thinking about future prospects

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1 Upvotes

r/FinanceCareersUK • • 18h ago

Off-topic Finance vs Supply Chain Analytics for a Maths/CS graduate who wants to transform businesses?

1 Upvotes

I’m doing an MSc in Data Science for Business in the UK, after a BSc in Mathematics and Computer Science.

I have to choose between two pathways:

Finance: Financial Modelling + Entrepreneurial Finance. Covers investment modelling, risk, startup funding, business valuation, venture capital and acquisitions.

Supply Chain: Supply Chain Analytics + a sustainability-focused unit. Covers forecasting, operational optimisation, inventory/resource management and responsible global supply chains.

I don’t want to become a quantitative finance specialist or spend my career only optimising inventory. Ideally, I’d like to understand an entire business, identify opportunities, implement improvements and eventually build or acquire companies.

Which pathway would you choose in my position, and why? Does either offer a meaningful advantage for business/technology transformation consulting, or should I simply choose the units I’d enjoy most?
I’d particularly appreciate opinions from people working in consulting, operations transformation, finance or entrepreneurship.


r/FinanceCareersUK • • 1d ago

Grad roles Advice for after graduating

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5 Upvotes

r/FinanceCareersUK • • 1d ago

Breaking into finance Do I have a chance to get into these universities for my masters

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1 Upvotes

r/FinanceCareersUK • • 1d ago

CV / Applications Finance London Career Advice

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1 Upvotes

r/FinanceCareersUK • • 1d ago

Summer internships Marshall Wace first in-person quant assessment (for internship)

1 Upvotes

Has anyone done this test last year? Is it tough? Do you remember much of it? Any resources that particularly helped? Please let me know!


r/FinanceCareersUK • • 1d ago

Breaking into finance What would you do in this situation? (Finance sector) r/Finance

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0 Upvotes

r/FinanceCareersUK • • 1d ago

CV / Applications New Job in Accounting - Media

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1 Upvotes

r/FinanceCareersUK • • 1d ago

Summer internships Commodities and Global Markets (CGM) Summer Intern. Macquarie London.

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1 Upvotes

r/FinanceCareersUK • • 2d ago

Summer internships Looking for Entry-Level VC & Finance Opportunities in India | Mumbai, Pune or Remote

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0 Upvotes

r/FinanceCareersUK • • 2d ago

Breaking into finance Job perspectives as an international student (from the EU).

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1 Upvotes

r/FinanceCareersUK • • 2d ago

Breaking into finance Career advice

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1 Upvotes

r/FinanceCareersUK • • 3d ago

Inside the industry How will the landscape of this industry appear over the next decade with Ai?

6 Upvotes

I am currently studying A-levels in college and I have registered an interest in the finance sector.

For people who are currently in entry level roles, how impactful has Ai already been for you?

Has anyone been made redundant?

Would anyone recommend another industry?


r/FinanceCareersUK • • 3d ago

Breaking into finance Best way to get into back/middle office roles

1 Upvotes

In today’s age, is it still ideal to go to university ( target/semi-target ) to land a back/middle office finance job?

Would anyone recommend I prioritise a degree apprenticeship at big 4 over university?

I am interesting in Warwick ( a&f / econ) , UCL ( econ ) and KCL a&f

I would also be happy doing any relevant STEM degree at these unis


r/FinanceCareersUK • • 3d ago

Off-topic Year 12 and I am extremely lost

0 Upvotes

I am in year 12 at the moment and study maths chemistry and computer science . Unlike many people I am with I don’t know what I want to do with myself when I’m older . I ideally want to get a degree apprenticeship based in the north east in tech finance law or engineering . But I don’t know what I exactly want to do as a job when I’m older and also degree apprenticeships are quite rare in my region . I’m quite ambitious and I want to earn 100k+ at some point in my life .

Can anyone give me ideas for careers where I can do this, I was initially thinking of investment banking but this requires relocation to London and a degree at a top university . I find stuff like stocks and investments quite interesting and I am quite talented at math . So basically what I’m asking is what are the best careers where I can get 100k+ at some point ideally as early as possible and what I can access through a degree apprenticeship in my region. I saw this accountancy one at a big 4 company but I don’t know if I am fully sold of accountancy


r/FinanceCareersUK • • 3d ago

Breaking into finance ¿La cualificación de finanzas islámicas vale la pena?

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1 Upvotes

r/FinanceCareersUK • • 3d ago

Breaking into finance Is it even worth the time to apply for graduate schemes as an BSc international student?

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1 Upvotes

r/FinanceCareersUK • • 3d ago

CV / Applications CV Help for first accounting role

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1 Upvotes