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I've applied to as many investment banks/trading firms as I could in the time available to me. This included:
Goldman Sachs
Merill Lynch
Citibank
JP Morgan
Deutsche Bank
ABN AMRO
HSBC
KPMG
Deloitte
UBS
Royal Bank of Scotland

I've managed to get onto the first stage of the interviews for JPMorgan, KPMG, Royal Bank of Scotland. Was rejected from all others, apart from Citibank and UBS.

I simply have no idea where I'm going wrong?

I have 5 A-Levels, all A (Maths, Further Maths, Economics, Business Studies and Russian) as well as 2 As (Additional Further Maths (A) , Art (C))

I achieved a First in my first year degree of Economics.

I am a keen participant of the college football team, I have a keen interest in art. I also participate in the paper trading games of the University Investment Fund group, which allows Stock trading and Foreign Exchange.

I have been involved in numerous group tasks that have been successful, such as Young Enterprise, which our group won the regionals.
I tend to be very quick thinking, and open minded.

I have spent an enormous amount of time researching each position, before applying. I have done an enormous amount of preparation about the role I wish to take on (Trading).

I have also undertaken further reading into technical analysis, fundamental analysis. I take a very keen interest in the markets. I am subscribed to the Economist and frequently read the news.

I go to Durham University

Yet I seem to be getting rejected from all. Does anyone know where I'm going wrong?

MaxZ wrote:Yet I seem to be getting rejected from all. Does anyone know where I'm going wrong?

Have you asked after the rejection letter what did they feel was missing on your resume

I've found in the past that a phone call or letter often provides a new insight into how you are viewed at interview or selection testing stages

Be mega polite say that you won't be offend by negative comments etc etc then most interviewers will give an honest reply

Hi, I'm a year of out of university and I'm working in investment / pension consultancy. I've been through tons of interviews for finance jobs, and I've a lot of classmates who either work or tried to get trading jobs. I might go into trading myself, after I get a few more qualifications

Firstly, you've done very well to get through the first screening of applications, most aren't read at all I'm sure. But your timing is unfortunate. Citi and UBS have had an especially hard time lately. C are cutting over 4,000 jobs worldwide, so you're going to have it tough

Have you any relevant work experience? Most of your competition is probably between 2nd and 3rd year, so you're at a disadvantage there

Regarding reading up on recent topics, you might look at the FT Alphaville blog and FTfm with the Monday FT. Watching stuff like Fast Money online on CNBC might help you speak more fluently about finance in interviews, cause I found it quite hard to talk about stuff I'd only really read about

I know about 8 people who got to round 2 with JPM, a year ago. It's extremely tough. They give you a description of a market in advance of the assessment day, then you play a trading simulation. Your loss/gain isn't important, it's the reasoning of your trades. You'd want to be well up on probability if you get to that stage

As noted above, the competition for places with major financial firms is huge both nationally and internationally. So to get as many first round interviews as you have is impressive in itself.

I'm currently in the jobs market and finding it tough even with a law degree and a politics masters, both from Newcastle uni, to get my foot in the door.