Banking and finance
Starting salaries for graduates in banking and finance are typically among the best available, especially with bonuses included.

Moving between banks is commonplace, as there is a great deal of headhunting activity with rival banks trying to poach key individuals and teams. For those who choose to remain in the City for life, there are numerous routes to managerial and even director level positions.

Due to the intense competition for places, relevant research is essential for a successful application. Sources of information include specialist financial publications such as the Financial Times, The Economist and The Banker, as well as broadsheet newspapers and numerous websites.

Insight from Morgan Stanley

Your success depends on being equipped to take on new career challenges. Morgan Stanley prepares you for responsibility, starting with introductory programs known for their depth and rigor. Continuing tutorials and programs from Morgan Stanley University offer new skills and knowledge to people at every level.

Outside the classroom, your most important professional growth takes place on the job. The Morgan Stanley culture of mentorship means that you work with senior people who want to help you achieve your personal and business objectives.

At Morgan Stanley you will find a wide variety of challenging roles. You will be encouraged to make full use of your skills, and offered opportunities to learn more and advance your career. To attract and keep the best in the industry Morgan Stanley nurtures our employees’ talents through a culture that is open and inclusive, where people can achieve their individual and professional goals.

Career mobility within Morgan Stanley is one of the keys to your success and the Firm’s. We take an active approach to getting the right people into the right jobs at the right time. Our firm’s talent management efforts offer programs and initiatives to provide learning opportunities, improve knowledge and skills, and actively help employees manage their career path.

Insurance
While insurance is known as an industry that takes school-leavers and trains them from scratch, there are also significant opportunities for graduates, particularly with the larger international firms based in London.

These firms operate graduate training schemes, which will train you in a variety of areas, and progress you to early management status in many cases. Smaller firms tend not to provide graduate training schemes, but will take you on in a junior role and train you and support (and usually fund) you through your insurance qualifications.

In terms of progression within the career area, this varies significantly between roles. One thing in common though is that qualification in the professional exams leads to significant increase in status, responsibility and of course salary too. As an actuary, the long qualification route pays off with very high salaries, especially if you take advantage of the opportunity the career area affords to reach senior strategic management levels within a firm.

As a broker, underwriter, claims officer or risk manager, there are again good opportunities for progression through the management strata of organisations. A small minority of people set up their own brokerages later in their career.

Actuarial
The actuarial qualification is a sound basis for a business career. Qualified actuaries progress to posts of greater seniority, as they acquire expertise and responsibility. An actuarial training can also be a springboard for a career in related financial and business areas – including those cited in the ‘Job Role’ section, as well as accountancy, banking and others.

In addition, the actuarial qualification offers the prospect of an international career – of the UK’s qualified actuaries, 72 percent are based in the UK, the remaining 28 percent overseas. The profession works with other international actuarial bodies to arrange reciprocal recognition of the professional qualifications between the different bodies. The majority of overseas opportunities are in Australia, continental Europe, India, New Zealand, Pakistan, and South Africa.

In short, the time and effort investment involved in training as an actuary stands to be amply rewarded in terms of long-term career prospects.