Bewildered,

Thing is that some companies (very few) are accepting the Merit of a Masters as a 2:1 as theoretically its the equivalent. However, the basis is that u have to have a 2:1. I have done an Internship in a Financial Services company in the UK as well for a month but it took me 3 months to find it. No I am an EU citizen and in that case u don't need a visa. Thanx, right now the dominant thought, between the two, is just to burst more applications and maybe do an MBA after a few years that i 've worked.. Or start the CFA exam which would be very advantageous at the moment..

True DanB, lot of people told me to look in consultancy firms and I might stick with it... I just have the offer from the uni now and really don't know if it will be a waste of money, effort and time just to go 15 places up!

Hazyjane, I agree with you but the point is to step your foot in the door and that's the hard part cause you have to distinct your self from others. By which way? Either experience or to be from a top 5 University. The second Masters could work either way i think. Either the employer would respect the top notch uni and might give me a chance or could say that the candidate is too afraid to compete in the market and enrolls to further education. A reply from a top uni is waiting and I think I have to give a little bit more thought if I am to play with the rankings (that is to attend a school which is in the Top 5 instead mine which is in the Top 20).

Hi all,

I am a recent graduate and I am applying for jobs. At least I was. I finished my masters in October and then did some travelling and came back in January in order to find a job. I will explain you my situation, what I believe and then I would like your opinion.

In my BSc in Finance I was really into societies, clubs, a real outgoing person sometimes leaving my standards behind ending up with some B's or C's. That gave me have a 2.5 / 4 from an American uni in a EU country. I then wanted to do a Masters and decided to choose the best UK university possible for my GPA. I 've been accepted from quite a lot, and of course rejected from the LSE list and so on, but the one that I chose was University of Surrey since the modules were far more interesting than any else. It was ranked 22 in the UK so I believe it was a good choice but nevertheless not excellent. I completed a Masters in finance awarded with Merit. When I finished in October, then satisfied, went with some friends travelling. January came back in the UK and started to looking for a job. The story is like this: No Graduate scheme from a reputable bank (or even firm) would accept an equivalent of 2:2 in the UK. I had only 6 months working experience in my country (you well know how obsessed are the HR's to have a work experience in the uk) thus they wouldn't pay much attention. Postgraduate Merit didn't redeem my 2.5 GPA (2:2 equivalent) which clearly sucks as the firms insist in the Undergrad degree honours.

Taking all these into consideration and adding the huge factor that a great portion of the middle level of Investment banking departments is removed is leaving graduates hopeless. Why? Because now almost every fired person (who are A LOT) has experience and the employer should choose them instead of someone that just finished his Masters with a little experience. After numerous applications, some interviews (with big banks in which i didn't go through as I didn't have experience), lots of rejections I ended up with a one-month internship in a small firm in the financial services sector. Nothing big, mostly research, settlements of investments etc. After my internship finished (the firm was full of specialists and there was no room for juniors, true fact) I was back on the course to search for a job. Didn't want to stay home all day doing applications so I enrolled and got 2 diplomas self studied in the IFS school of finance and the Chartered Institute of Investments.

Now my real dilemma is.. Should I enroll for a second Masters Degree in a no1 university such as LSE, Imperial etc (again not sure if they are going to accept my application) in order to boost my academic qualifications (would it help?) or should I continue with the burst of job applications (investments related) but taking into consideration that most of the employees are hiring either the top unis or experienced individuals? Any new ideas, opinions, recommendations are welcomed and appreciated. Thnx!

Greg