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Finance, accountancy and banking

Accountancy and business services cover many areas, including accountancy, banking, auditing, insurance, taxation and financial management. Roles can be within the private, public or voluntary sectors.

Finance (together with consultancy) makes up one of the largest sectors to recruit graduates. Employers range from international companies to small businesses. Some firms have in-house finance departments, while others hire external accountancy providers.

Find out about finance, accountancy and banking

Research the sector and keep up with current issues by reading:

  • Inside Careers guides - careers information for Accountancy, Actuarial, Insurance, IP and Pensions

Use of AI in the Finance, accountancy and banking sector

AI is already transforming work in the Finance, accountancy and banking sector, largely in automating routine tasks, and in enhanced data analysis and modelling which inform decision making. However, AI is not replacing accountants and while some jobs may be displaced, new jobs will be created and AI can free people to do more high-value work. A successful career in this sector is likely to need a mix of financial expertise and technical skills in AI, data science and analytics, as well as adaptability, an understanding of the ethical implications of AI, and a willingness to keep learning.

What skills do I need?

Jobs in finance are often high pressure and involve working long hours. Depending on the kind of role, you will need to demonstrate these skills:

  • business/commercial awareness
  • analytical skills
  • problem-solving
  • communication
  • accuracy
  • negotiation
  • initiative
  • time management
  • organisation
  • interpersonal/people skills
  • numeracy.

While graduates of any discipline can go into these careers, for a career in finance you may have to take on-the-job finance qualifications to progress. Some graduate schemes include further qualifications as part of their schemes. For more information, read about finance qualifications from Prospects.

For more information about professional skills and how to develop them, see the York Strengths Professional Skills page.

Work experience

Work experience is essential for this competitive sector. You should think about:

  • Insight days and shadowing opportunities - many large graduate recruiters run insight days to give you a taste of the sector. You can also send speculative applications to smaller finance companies to try and arrange short work shadowing opportunities to help you decide if a certain job is suited to you
  • Internships during your first year - some firms offer short internships open to first year undergraduates. These are typically shorter than the summer long internships offered to second year students. You can see a list of opportunities on Student Ladder
  • Summer internships with finance firms are very competitive but give valuable experience. Some students are offered graduate jobs with the firm they intern with. Internships are advertised on Handshake and on websites like TARGET Jobs and Prospects. Student Ladder also has a link of firms that usually offer summer internships
  • UK Finance Tracker can help you keep track of finance recruitment programmes, including internships and placement year opportunities

There are opportunities exclusively for students from black, Asian or other ethnic minority backgrounds (BAME) to gain work experience in finance. Some popular schemes include SEO London and the Windsor Fellowship. Visit the drop-in in Careers and Placements for help finding more schemes.

Find jobs

Large graduate schemes are advertised through general graduate vacancy sites like TARGETjobs and Prospects. You will also find these on Handshake. UK Finance Tracker can help you keep track of finance recruitment programmes.

If you’re interested in a particular area of finance, look on these specialist vacancy sites:

Accountancy

Banking (investment and retail)

Insurance, pensions and actuarial

Recruitment process

Most large employers in this sector have multi-stage recruitment processes, which may include any of the following:

  • online application form
  • online interview
  • psychometric test
  • assessment centre, including presentations
  • interview.

Applications close very early for some schemes - some in December - so give yourself enough time to apply.

Smaller companies may have simpler recruitment processes. This may include applying with your CV and an interview for shortlisted candidates.

Use our pages on applying for jobs and the recruitment process to help with your preparation.

What can I do at York?

There are lots of things you can do right now at university to help you get the skills and experience for a career in finance:

More resources: people to follow, podcasts, blogs

Connect with York graduates

Join York for Life to connect with our global network of alumni. Start building your own network - find people from your course, look at different careers, ask questions and request a mentor.

Use LinkedIn to make connections, follow organisations of interest, and find out what York graduates are doing. Find out more about using LinkedIn and networking.

Blogs and news

Podcasts

From our What do you actually do? podcast:

Practice interviews

You can use Shortlist.Me to prepare for job interviews. Try these interviews with employers working in finance and consulting:

Find out more about interview prep on the Applying for jobs pages.