Where?

All major head office centres and operational centres.

Employers?

All major financial services companies.

HR in financial services

While banking and insurance are very much money businesses, money is not the only asset. People are vital to the business; indeed, they are more important than the money, because it is the people who represent the firm and get people to invest, it is people who run systems and make sure customers are satisfied, and it is people who come up with the ideas about how the money invested can best be used.

The scale of the 'human asset' is vast. For example, Barclays employs 120,000 people - more than the British Army - while HSBC, one of the largest banks in the world, employs around 320,000 - more than the whole of the UK's armed forces!

This is a huge and complex area. Challenges range from employee relations among the vast workforce, all the way to recruiting and retaining the top talent in the company.

Some of the many areas covered include:

• salaries and rewards
• recruitment
• learning and development - a huge challenge when you have to get 320,000 people to follow the correct procedures in order to ensure that customers receive the products and services they deserve
• executive services and talent retention
• employee relations
• management of outsourcing services

Joining HR

HR requires a mixture of people and skills; jobs exist at both graduate and non-graduate levels. As HR has become more interwoven with regulatory and employee protection issues, the number of jobs has mushroomed.

Many HR jobs are interwoven with positions in Operations and Administration (see: Operations and administration)

At management levels, recruitment will be via the graduate entry scheme. Usually a 2:2 or a 2:1 will be required.

Whether a graduate or not, you will be expected to have an eye for detail and organisation, be capable of building excellent relationships with people at all levels and have a thick skin!

Developing your career

People in HR need to be trusted and seen as professional. Not surprisingly, professional qualifications are often seen as an appropriate demonstration of these attributes, as well as giving you basic knowledge.

Most large banks and insurers will offer you the chance to take professional qualifications, which in the main will be from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD  www.cipd.co.uk). These qualifications range from NVQ level up to their full Chartered level or even beyond.

Which qualifications you take will depend on whether you are looking to develop and show competency in a specific discipline within HR, or to demonstrate the ability to manage a large portfolio of HR responsibilities - in which case, the level of exams and commitment will be higher.