Banks have announced increases in graduate recruiting for this year despite the economic downturn.
One of the major losers in the recession, the Royal Bank of Scotland, aims to employ just under 600 graduates in 2010, a figure above the bank's recruitment levels before the financial meltdown. It said it will more than double 2009's number of graduate vacancies.
Citibank is to offer 330 graduate jobs and internships, 50 more than last year, and Barclays announced a rise of around a fifth in graduate recruitment across its various companies this year.
Professor Andrew Clare, from Cass Business School in London, said: "In 2007, when the financial crisis started, I thought maybe people would be put off from studying finance. But I was totally wrong. If you're 22 or 23, you're thinking long-term. I'm sure money is a motivating force. But this is an interesting, dynamic industry and that's the primary attraction."
