Finance: the Marmite sector

It would seem that, increasingly, you either love it, or hate it. 

Finance & Insurance has appeared in both the 10 Most Popular and 10 Least Popular sector lists, published this month by TalentPool. It's the first time since we began our monthly surveys of recent graduates (sample size of 1,000) that we've seen a sector appear in both lists. 

43% of current job-seeking recent graduates are interested in a career in Finance & Insurance - making it the second most popular sector at the moment. Just last month, Start Ups topped this list.

But at the same time, 39% of those surveyed said they absolutely didn't want to enter the sector, as it ranked as the 7th most ruled-out sector. 

It's also notable that this means that 82% of all graduates had a view on this sector: they either know they are interested or they know they are not. Most sectors elicit a reaction either way from fewer than half of those surveyed; understandable given the range of opportunities out there. 

So it's clear that, increasingly, graduates are informed about the world of finance - and have formed a view on it. This is good news for the finance sector, given it will be increasingly straightforward to identify future leaders. But oddly, it may also be good news for other sectors which, instead of competing with banks and insurers, are able to engage those who have decided that Finance & Insurance absolutely isn't for them.