eFinancialCareers

If you haven't got a graduate training place, but are desperate to work in banking, will an MSc help you get what you want?

YES, if…

You studied a non-finance degree. If you graduated (or will graduate) in English literature or geography, an MSc in a finance-related subject shows you're keen. "It shows your commitment to the industry," says Julia Barbour, a consultant at finance recruitment firm Cornell Partnership. "You'll be on more solid ground when it's finished."

You have no finance-related work experience. Most students from Continental Europe have both an MSc and financial services work experience. The MSc won't do anything about the work experience but it will make you their academic equal.

You apply to the right school. Plenty of universities offer financial services MScs, but banks only hire from a few of them, and then only from favoured courses. The best universities and courses for a finance-related MSc include:

• the MSc in Finance at Imperial College's Tanaka Business School or its more specialist MSc in Risk Management and Financial Engineering

• the MSc in Financial Mathematics at Warwick

• the Masters in Financial Economics at Oxford University's Said Business School

• the MPhil in Finance at Judge Business School in Cambridge

• the MSc in Finance at the London School of Economics

Cass Business School also offers a number of MSc courses, which are viewed quite favourably by banks. And Reading University's ICMA Centre offers a very wide range of specialist programmes, plus its more general flagship MSc in International Securities, Investment and Banking.

You want to go into financial markets (rather than corporate finance). "The increased complexity of financial products means there's likely to be on-going demand for candidates with qualifications like an MSc," says Malcolm Horton, head of European graduate recruitment and development for Lehman Brothers.

You want to work in a hedge fund. As small organisations, hedge funds don't have the training resources of larger banks and are therefore keen on MSc students. "They will only take people with an MSc because they've had the technical training," says Lindsay Bortoluzzi, head of postgraduate employment at Cass Business School in London.

NO, if…

You got a low 2.2 in your first degree. Most big American bulge-bracket banks will discount anyone without a 2.1 degree, even if they have an MSc. However, some European banks will entertain applications from students who have strong A levels and were predicted a 2.1 but didn't quite make it. Unfortunately, they won't go on the record saying who they are. However, a graduate recruiter at one large European bank says, "A 2.1 is not a make or break for us, so an MSc can help. But we are in the minority."

You're innumerate. It's no good doing an MSc if you have the mathematical aptitude of Paris Hilton (who may well be a whiz at stochastic analysis for all we know). But if your maths is that bad you may not get onto an MSc course in the first place.

You want to be a quant. If you fancy being a quant, you're better off going straight into a PhD. Several banks, including JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley, offer specific entry positions for candidates with PhDs in maths, physics or other quantitative disciplines.

You plan to skip the first few years of training and come in at a higher level. You may have forked out many thousands of pounds and studied finance for a whole year, but after doing an MSc most banks will treat you just the same as a graduate with a Bachelor's degree. It's a sad truth, but with banks getting 30 to 40 applications for each analyst they have no need to treat MSc applicants any differently.

You're doing it as a filler and are not sure what you really want to do. "An MSc is a good thing, but what really matters is your motivation and your communication skills," says Lucy Evans, a graduate recruiter at ABN AMRO. "You won't be better equipped if you don't know what you want at the end of the year."