What are opportunities for progression like starting out as a graduate?

Good morning!

Not quite sure if you mean progression to a more senior position within the bank as a new grad or progression in terms of the experience/rotations you are able to gain as a grad, so I’ll answer both as they’re linked. I can’t speak for all Graduate schemes because I am on the Commercial Banking (CB) one, but I assume they all follow similar paths, and just for background - the CB grad scheme is split into 4 six month rotations, so you are in a different team every 6 months but at the same level in each team.

As a graduate you are either starting out completely new into banking or have maybe done a year placement / a couple of 8-12 week placements, therefore your understanding of what is on offer / what you might enjoy is likely somewhat limited. The CB grad scheme enables you first to fully explore the 3 key areas of CB with your first 3 rotations – Coverage (client facing), Product (debt transactions) and Risk. After this you are able to choose either a Coverage or Product placement as your final rotation. It is here, once you’ve started your final rotation, where you are able to ‘progress’ / roll-off from the graduate scheme in a permanent role. You would roll-off as an associate and you would do this by finding job openings listed internally in teams that you would like to join– it’s quite likely that you will have really enjoyed one of your rotations and you want to go back to that team or one similar depending upon open job offers at the time. Saying that, many grads wait until completion of their final rotation to search for a roll-off position.

I think (and I could be very wrong!) it’s highly unlikely you move to a more senior position before you complete 3 rotations & likewise I think it highly unlikely you roll off as an associate director*. However, moving through the 3 key areas of CB enables you to experience all parts of CB and really understand what happens within CB. You also have significant sway into which team you move into at each rotation change and exploring other teams / networking is greatly encouraged within LBG, as this enables grads in particular to hone in on what teams they really want to join, greatly helping your roll-off decision.

*Some parts of CB may roll you off at technically a higher level than an associate, but that is due to specific team structures, not in terms of your responsibilities as far as I understand.

Hope this helps and in short - after 18months you can (this might change so please correct if wrong) apply for permanent internal associate roles but many grads don’t roll-off until they’ve completed the full 24month scheme.

Thank you! This was really insightful