# Finance, accountancy and banking

**Source**: https://www.york.ac.uk/students/work-volunteering-careers/options/sectors/finance/
**Parent**: https://www.york.ac.uk/students/work-volunteering-careers/options/career-ideas/podcast/

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

- [Overview of accountancy, banking and finance](https://www.prospects.ac.uk/jobs-and-work-experience/job-sectors/accountancy-banking-and-finance) careers from Prospects
- [BankersByDay](http://www.bankersbyday.com/ "BankersByDay") - information about banking, finance and fintech, including [finance career guides](https://www.bankersbyday.com/finance-career-guides/)

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

- [Inside Careers](https://www.insidecareers.co.uk/) 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.

- ICAEW: [Accountants are embracing AI and securing their future](https://www.icaew.com/insights/viewpoints-on-the-news/2025/mar-2025/accountants-are-embracing-ai-and-securing-their-future) (March 2025)
- Bank of England: [Artificial intelligence in the financial system](https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/financial-stability-in-focus/2025/april-2025) (April 2025)

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](https://www.prospects.ac.uk/jobs-and-work-experience/job-sectors/accountancy-banking-and-finance/finance-qualifications) from Prospects.

For more information about professional skills and how to develop them, see the [York Strengths Professional Skills](https://www.york.ac.uk/students/work-volunteering-careers/skills/employability-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 or insight schemes open to first year undergraduates. These are typically shorter than the summer long internships offered to second year students.
- 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](https://app.joinhandshake.co.uk/) and on websites like [TARGET Jobs](https://targetjobs.co.uk/) and [Prospects](https://www.prospects.ac.uk/graduate-jobs).
- [UK Finance Tracker](https://the-trackr.com/uk-finance/) 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](https://www.seo-london.org/) and the [Windsor Fellowship](https://www.windsor-fellowship.org/). Visit the [drop-in](https://www.york.ac.uk/students/work-volunteering-careers/about/appointments/) in Careers and Placements for help finding more schemes.

Find jobs

Large graduate schemes are advertised through general graduate vacancy sites like [TARGETjobs](https://targetjobs.co.uk/) and [Prospects](https://www.prospects.ac.uk/graduate-jobs). You will also find these on [Handshake](https://app.joinhandshake.co.uk/). [UK Finance Tracker](https://the-trackr.com/uk-finance/) 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

- Trainee vacancies on [The Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy](http://www.cipfa.org/join/trainee-vacancies) and [The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales](https://train.icaew.com/)
- General vacancies on [Chartered Institute of Management Accountants](https://myjobs.cimaglobal.com/) and [Accountancy Careers](https://www.accountancycareers.co.uk/)

### Banking (investment and retail)

- [City Jobs](https://www.cityjobs.com/jobs/banking) lists job opportunities across all specialisms
- [Graduate jobs and schemes in investment banking](https://www.brightnetwork.co.uk/graduate-jobs/investment-banking/) (Bright Network)
- [Graduate jobs and schemes in financial services](https://www.brightnetwork.co.uk/graduate-jobs/accounting-tax-audit/ "Grad jobs in accounting") (Bright Network)

### Insurance, pensions and actuarial

- Actuary vacancies on [The Actuary](https://www.theactuaryjobs.com/), [Actuarial Careers](https://www.actuarialcareers.co.uk/), and [Actuary List](https://www.actuarylist.com/), which also has a helpful blog about actuarial recruitment
- Insurance vacancies on [Insurance Jobs](https://www.insurancejobs.co.uk/)
- Pensions vacancies on [Pension Careers](https://www.pensioncareers.co.uk/)

Most large employers in this sector have multi-stage recruitment processes with early deadlines, so give yourself enough time to apply. Smaller companies may have simpler recruitment processes and are more likely to recruit year-round. Use our pages on [applying for jobs](https://www.york.ac.uk/students/work-volunteering-careers/apply-interview/) and the recruitment process to help with your preparation.

### Practice interviews on Shortlist.Me

- [KPMG audit](https://go.shortlister.com/j/6m8na)
- [Accountant](https://go.shortlister.com/j/y8rh8)
- [Banking](https://go.shortlister.com/j/69shy)
- more interviews and workplace simulations with different employers, and several skills / competency / strengths based interviews you can use to practise
- Register for the [interviews or activities](https://go.shortlister.com/marketplace/uniofyork) using your York email address.

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:

- Network with professionals - check [Handshake](https://york.joinhandshake.co.uk/) to see what events are running. Contact graduates in the sector through [York for Life](https://www.york.ac.uk/alumni/)
- Develop your business awareness by taking part in [enterprise activities](https://www.york.ac.uk/students/work-volunteering-careers/skills/enterprise/)
- Brush up on your numerical skills with the [Maths Skills Centre](https://www.york.ac.uk/students/studying/develop-your-skills/study-skills/maths-skills-centre/)
- Go to our [recruitment fairs](https://www.york.ac.uk/students/work-volunteering-careers/events/) to meet potential employers and find out more information about their graduate schemes
- Consider a [placement year](https://www.york.ac.uk/students/work-volunteering-careers/skills/internship-placement/placement-year/) to increase your chances of getting a job in this competitive sector.
- Apply for summer internships in York through [York Internships](https://www.york.ac.uk/students/work-volunteering-careers/skills/internship-placement/internship/)
- Join a student society like the [Investment and Finance Society](https://yorksu.org/activities/view/investment-finance-society) or the [Entrepreneurs Society](https://yusu.org/activities/view/entrepreneurs-society)

More resources: people to follow, podcasts, blogs

## Connect with York graduates

Join [York for Life](https://www.york.ac.uk/alumni/) 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](https://www.linkedin.com/) to make connections, follow organisations of interest, and find out what York graduates are doing. Find out more about [using LinkedIn](https://www.york.ac.uk/students/work-volunteering-careers/apply-interview/looking-for-work/job-toolkit/using-linkedin/) and [networking](https://www.york.ac.uk/students/work-volunteering-careers/apply-interview/looking-for-work/job-toolkit/networking/).

## Blogs and news

- [Accountancy Careers news](https://www.accountancycareers.co.uk/search/news/)
- [ICAEW blog](https://jobs.icaew.com/blog)

## Podcasts

From our [What do you actually do? podcast](https://www.york.ac.uk/students/work-volunteering-careers/options/career-ideas/podcast/):

- - [A career in corporate social responsibility, with Daniel Arda](https://pod.fo/e/be018)
  - [Changing careers: switching heritage for accounting, with Alice Yevko](https://pod.fo/e/cb527)
  - [Financial services](https://pod.fo/e/12543b)
  - [Life as a CEO](https://pod.fo/e/12890d)

### Practice interviews

You can use [Shortlist.Me](https://go.shortlister.com/marketplace/uniofyork) to prepare for job interviews. Try these interviews with employers working in finance and consulting:

- [Allianz practice interview](https://go.shortlister.com/j/5t424)
- [Mastercard practice interview](https://go.shortlister.com/j/28mdu)

Find out more about interview prep on the [Applying for jobs](https://www.york.ac.uk/students/work-volunteering-careers/apply-interview/) pages.