eFinancialCareers

It might not be the glamorous side of the business, but some investment banks are still looking to take on students for roles in operations – for both full-time and internship posts. Don’t think, however, that this is your ticket to the front office for when things pick up again.

JPMorgan still has vacancies for both internships and graduate roles, Barclays Capital has positions on its analyst scheme for operations, and Citigroup and Morgan Stanley are still open to applications for summer internships in this space.

Stephanie Ahrens, head of graduate recruitment at Morgan Stanley, says junior operations roles were historically filled by people on short term contracts, but that the bank is now looking to fill operations roles with graduate trainees. It’s currently looking for 120-150 students for its internship programmes, for two intakes – one in February and one in September.

Rarely a stepping stone

Our current poll shows that 50% of you wouldn’t dream of working in the middle or back office, but that leaves another 50% of you who are prepared to sacrifice your front office ambitions just to get through the door of an investment bank.

One recruiter tell us that although investment banking applications are down 10-15% on 2007, applications to work in operations have remained largely flat on last year.

Applying to operations is probably a good strategy given the current market, but don’t assume that you’ll automatically be able to move into the front office later on. And don’t make your intentions known to recruiters during the interview.

“People come through the application process for the operations business often view it as a stepping stone to the front office,” says one head of graduate recruitment at a major investment bank. “But those people rarely succeed.”

Distance contributes to the difficulty in moving from the back to the front office: the two business functions may not be in the same place. Analysts in operations at JPMorgan, for instance, are more likely to find themselves in Bournemouth or Dublin than London (though there are places here).

Morgan Stanley also splits its graduate intake for operations between London, Glasgow and Budapest.

It is possible to make the move though, and the skills you gain in operations are valued in the front office.

“People who have worked in back office to a sales or trading role and have been very successful because they know the process from beginning to end,” says one graduate recruiter.