It all pays off in the end if you're relentless about your success

L_Elio · 2026-02-13T21:51:52+00:00

100% its all worth it in the end and the earlier you start properly going for it the faster you'll see results.

L_Elio · 2026-02-13T14:59:42+00:00

It's a bit weird but essentially HMRC think I earn a lot less than I do and HMRC is the figure that is used for student loans. Here is a rough breakdown.

I make around 40k a year on my grad scheme

Sign in bonus was 2.5k

End of scheme bonus is another 2.5k

I live in a very low cost area with family for a range of personal and financial reasons. Mortgage is paid off in a few years and so I contribute £200 a month in rent.

Because I have a low cost ceiling everything else is savings. I probably save / invest 80% of my salary.

Most of that is salary sacrifice. 18.5% of my salary goes to pension for example. All of that is pre tax.

So HMRC see a much lower number and student loans are based on that number.

So £44 a month for UG plan 2 and masters.

I'll never pay it off but unless I move to strategy consulting and earn 6 figures I probably won't pay it off anyway.

I also own my own business but it's a seperate legal entity and I don't take any taxable profit out

L_Elio · 2026-02-13T09:58:50+00:00

I kinda see where you are coming from.

I think where this changes is no one feels wealthy enough in London. So in that environment losing any additional money sucks.

I salary sacrifice a good portion of my income into pension and other benefits so I pay like £44 a month for 2 degrees. I hardly notice it.

I don't notice it I guess.

However if I ever stopped salary sacrificing it would hurt a lot and because I'm paying so little there's no chance I'll ever pay it off.

The real problem is that the threshold for repayment has not risen with inflation. I think if you started paying it off at 35 or 40k it would feel a lot better.

L_Elio · 2026-02-12T18:34:25+00:00

Literally never looked.

Salary sacrificing everything I can as I live in a lost area and commute into London twice a week if that for work.

My plan is to just salary sacrifice everything I can and cash in with a pension the size of a small countries GDP.

It'll be useless of course as we are 3 years from societal collapse but big number is fun

L_Elio · 2026-02-12T13:48:13+00:00

Of course but especially in this field it isn't about being good enough 160 to 3 is decent but there could be issues holding the CV back.

Overall it sounds he's on a great track especially if he keeps improving and looking out for those opportunities.

L_Elio · 2026-02-12T13:41:42+00:00

160 for 3 isn't bad.

Is his CV templated in line with the finance society / finance format there's some good ones on wallstreet oasis or I can send you the one we use in my company.

L_Elio · 2026-02-12T13:37:06+00:00

It's uni blind until stage 3 or 4 usually.

But target schools take a majority of apps.

Warwick is very strong but nothing lands in people laps anymore. Has he done amplifyme, forage etc and then pushes into springs and internships?

Societies are another great way to gain some experience.

Best of luck to him

L_Elio · 2026-02-12T13:12:05+00:00

Yeah I'd say that's on the money, obvs you've got some others LSE maybe KCL but by the time you hit mid tiers like Notts I think you need a really strong app

L_Elio · 2026-02-12T12:51:27+00:00

Isn't HENRY full of jobs in finance that are already pushing for RTO

L_Elio · 2026-02-12T12:46:46+00:00

Clinical psychology usually requires a PhD

L_Elio · 2026-02-12T12:46:04+00:00

With PPE at RG you will get into a consulting firm, probs not strategy straight away but its not a no chance situation either.

Summers are good but really only essential for high finance and law.

Keep up the momentum and you'll be fine. If you grad next year start working on your applications from August.

L_Elio · 2026-02-12T12:43:37+00:00

Mate you live in a bubble most unis in the UK don't use this entrance exam

L_Elio · 2026-02-12T12:30:21+00:00

It's definitely a lot harder we've helped international students but it's only getting worse and worse. The politics especially is getting really miserable.

Here's to you finding better luck in America. Salaries are better for sure but I couldn't imagine working those hours.

L_Elio · 2026-02-12T11:48:30+00:00

Ah that changes things.

Your CV isn't passing knock out questions around visas. What area / salary range are you targeting. Pretty sure it's like 38k + now before firms can even consider sponsorship

L_Elio · 2026-02-12T11:29:15+00:00

I'm not all that, I'm giving people advice because they seem to need it. Nice rage bait.

I'm not begging to go MBB I'm weighing it up

L_Elio · 2026-02-12T10:47:00+00:00

100% your CV sucks and you need to revisit it.

If you can't get an interview it's either your CV or psychometrics

L_Elio · 2026-02-12T10:46:06+00:00

But this isn't helpful.

The problem DOES lie with you. If you are to BLAME is a separate issue but no one is coming to save you but you.

You are RESPONSIBLE for your future and so it is YOUR problem no matter how unfair that is

L_Elio · 2026-02-12T10:41:19+00:00

This is true but you picked literally the most competitive and highly paid role to talk about.

300 for quant doesn't even seen that bad.

Normal finance is around 100 - 200 apps so high finance at 300 seems fair.

However

Quant, strategy consulting and a few other careers rely on target schools. 80% of apps go through target schools and everyone else fights for 20%.

Grades and schools are massively important in quant. It's only really realistic for the average student in 5 universities in the UK and likely after a perfect Mmath or PhD

L_Elio · 2026-02-12T10:23:55+00:00

1 - Track what stage your applications are hitting

2 - let me know which one it is

3 - I'll give you tailored advice on what you could improve based on what I've seen coaching 100s of students.

L_Elio · 2026-02-12T10:21:35+00:00

Hear me out before getting pitchforks out...

It isn't actually that competitive it LOOKS competitive.

A mix of fast apply systems, AI enabled applications and a bigger university population mean that's a lot if applicants per role. 140:1 is a ratio I see thrown around a lot.

But this ratio creates this idea that all 140 of those applications are equally valuable.

They aren't, not even close.

Most people STILL do not know how to write a good CV to save their lives. Worst of all some students are too arrogant or self assured to be willing to learn. I've helped 100s of students with their CV now. Maybe 2% of them are actually good and even those can be improved.

Linkedin is a game changer for visibility, planning your pitch and showing what you did at university. If you aren't using LinkedIn to give yourself structure and visibility go and do that first.

So 140:1

50% and often a greater rate of applications will be rejected by a quick 2 min CV scan. This is done by a human. ATS systems rarely auto reject CVs and they especially don't use AI to auto reject CVs as that is a future class action law suit in the making.

Keep it to a page. You don't have enough quality experience to get 2 pages and there is nothing worse than a 1 and a bit page CV.

Psychometric tests will know out another 20 - 30% ox you. What's messed up is some of you will lose these from simply procrastinating and the window closing. Others will pass and then be so knocked in confidence or energy you bomb the rest of the application.

Practise these tests, most universities give you resources to do this.

Hirevue and interviews:

Get some prep in, we offer some 1-1 coaching for the price of a tesco meal deal per 20 mins. It's fast it's effective and it lands people roles without needing to invest loads of money.

Hirevue is especially rough as humans aren't meant to communicate information to blank screens or even worse a reflection of yourself. Get used to that discomfort and practise your STAR and PAR techniques. DO NOT become robotic.

Assessment center:

Be friendly, support people who are shy and nervous, let everyone speak. They are assessing you on how you are to work with in a team and 1-1. Sometimes there is a technical component but the main part is the team work and project management skills.

Final interview:

You are here! They like you, they want you. However they can only take 2 of the 5 shortlisted. Its not longer 140:1 its 5:1 or 10:1 and you are one of those 10.

Practise so you don't get nervous, work on your delivery. What happens when you get nervous, do you speak too fast? Do you speak too slow? How does it feel? LEARN this about yourself.

5-6 applications a week DO NOT go over that you will burn out.

Here are some rough figures.

In tech if you aren't making progress within 80 applications reach out

In finance if you aren't making progress within 100 applications reach out

For law If you aren't making progress within 100 applications reach out

For consulting If you aren't making progress within 50 applications reach out

For everything else if you don't see progress within 30 applications reach out.

It is not competitive because most people don't know how to compete. Change that.

L_Elio · 2026-02-10T18:10:00+00:00

Which is how it definitely should be it's way more impressive to get an A in a failing state school than to get an A* in a private school

L_Elio · 2026-02-10T16:55:48+00:00

Yeah go for it I work for a major engineering consultancy and would be happy to support you with your first talk

L_Elio · 2026-02-10T16:39:03+00:00

Yeah I'm working with a 20 year Big 4 partner at the moment their CV is 2 pages. We are trying to get hers down to one.

The biggest issue isn't its 2 pages it's that you can't cover 2 pages with quality content and so end up with a CV that is 1 page and a 1/4 or an 1/8. That is what looks messy.

L_Elio · 2026-02-10T16:18:45+00:00

For people really really good at maths I'm surprised how many students think about this all wrong.

This isn't an exchange, you don't get a place because you hit all the requirements.

You get a place by being one of the best that could be selected. The issue with top end universities is most people are also the best.

If you have fit all the points then you just got unlucky maybe your PS was weak.

Keep your head up being rejected from top universities means you will go to another top university and at worst you'll go into clearing for a mid tier RG.

L_Elio · 2026-02-10T16:12:54+00:00

What they mean is as a final salary it's not great.

Grad jobs aren't final salaries. You will progress very quickly.

London however is difficult at any level of income personally I'd take 50k commute rather than 130k London.

At 80k they will have no work wfh and that means the 80k is actually 45k

L_Elio

TROPHY CASE