Breaking into the Investment Banking sector in London

[Hoodlum]

I'm a Senior/Analyst .Net Developer with 7 years experience (mainly in web), of which I've been contracting for the last 2 in the north west of the country. I'm looking to relocate to London (for the money mainly), and I've noticed that the vast majority of the better paying contracts are all within the Investment Banking sector. I've read some horror stories on here about what it's like working in that area, but I still masochistically want to go ahead anyway!

I find myself in the catch 22 situation that all of the roles want previous IB experience, yet it is impossible to gain any if they will not consider contractors new to the sector. From reading the job descriptions, and from previous experience of other contracts, I have absolutely no doubt that I could do the work with one hand tied behind my back. I do very well in face to face interviews and am confident I could convince a client to give me a shot, yet the problem lies in convincing a recruiter to put me forward for a role in which they believe there is a danger the client will knock me back immediately, reflecting badly on the agent.

Does anyone with any experience of this situation have any advice on the matter? I'd be very grateful to hear the thoughts of those with more knowledge of it than I.

Cheers
Hoodlum

[BlasterBates]

In a boom time I would say no problem, just keep knocking on doors, as they do take on contractors or permies without IB experience. At the moment it will be difficult because they're cutting back. Just keep looking. Many developer roles do require knowledge of finance, i.e. trading, interest rates, P&L etc. and for these experience or at least specialist knowledge is a must. "I read a book about it" is a valid argument, but usually they would expect some related experience. There are however purely technical development roles that don't require industry knowledge and for those roles, if you can demonstrate the right skills, you will be considered. The main point though is that it is simply a bad time to break in, so you'll need to be patient. In the mean time you could gain knowledge, do courses in Finance, read books etc. A formal qualification would be a big plus.

[nomadd]

I'm looking to relocate to London (for the money mainly)

In which case, prepare to be very poor. It's fooking expensive here. And don't forget to read the recent thread about "How big a warchest should I have." (You do have a warchest, don't you..?)

I can only echo the other comments you've already received. Oh, and the fact that there are already 1 billion Injuns sitting here in IBs doing .Net already. And that the market is pretty tough at the moment.

Seriously, if you are serious, then try a permie job first, just until you get on your feet. If nothing else, that will cover your bills for awhile.

[Umbongoo]

Difficult to get into this without prior experience, and agents won't put you forward without this. I've tried numerous times and reached the conclusion it ain't gonna happen for me.
Bit frustrating when you run thru all the spec (yes I can do that, tick tick tick) then the sucker punch 'must have previous banking/whatever experience or ppl without banking exp will not be contacted).

Not sure I agree with Bolshie about reading up etc; can't put that on yr CV can you? It's exp they're looking for.

[Hoodlum]

Cheers for the replies.

Money isn't so much of an issue at the mo - I'm holes up at the folks' place til I can get a job. I guess I can keep plugging away and see of anything happens - is it possible to apply for too many roles though, and over saturate the market with your CV?

As an aside, I've seen a lot of roles calling for WPF/Silverlight, which I've not done a lot of. I was considering taking the Microsoft qualifications (MCPD I think) whilst I was waiting for a job to come up - do firms respect the qualification as much as experience?

Cheers
Hoodlum

[ChimpMaster]

Is it 2003 again? Seriously, have you been keeping up with recent developments in the world and how this impacts your chances of contracting in the City?

It's not the best time to make this move - unless perhaps if you have some kind of specialism that an IB really values. There are sectors in which money can be made, and the City isn't too bad in all fairness, but the number of opportunites there has decreased vastly in the past couple of years.

[Hoodlum]

Cheers for the replies.

Money isn't so much of an issue at the mo - I'm holed up at the folks' place til I can get a job. I guess I can keep plugging away and see of anything happens - is it possible to apply for too many roles though, and over saturate the market with your CV?

As an aside, I've seen a lot of roles calling for WPF/Silverlight, which I've not done a lot of. I was considering taking the Microsoft qualifications (MCPD I think) whilst I was waiting for a job to come up - do firms respect the qualification as much as experience?

Cheers
Hoodlum

[SueEllen]

Cheers for the replies.

Money isn't so much of an issue at the mo - I'm holed up at the folks' place til I can get a job. I guess I can keep plugging away and see of anything happens - is it possible to apply for too many roles though, and over saturate the market with your CV?

Agents will start ignoring your CV.

Clients will start binning it if unscrupulous agents have put it in front of them which does happen.

I would start with all the agent's firms that you have got roles with previously.

Then start being selective on what roles you want to do i.e. by industry (as long as it's not in recession) rather than using a scatter gun approach.

People don't like it if you seem desperate.

[BrilloPad]

Some roles will say open to anyone. But the thing is alot of people only manage one gig in the city. Work is boring, living expensive, commuting is horrific. The people are nasty - there are alot of sasgurus out there. It is dehumanising. Luckily I have no empathy so rise above it.

[nomadd]

The people are nasty - there are alot of sasgurus out there. It is dehumanising.

But the OP's a "Hoodlum", so should fit right in.