What is it?

Goldman Sachs is one of the few global investment banks that managed to increase its profits in the wake of last year's collapse of the sub-prime mortgage market in the United States. Its profits for 2007 were $11.4 billion, up more than 21 per cent on 2006 earnings. The bank employs about 30,000 staff across its investment banking, securities and investment management operations, including more than 5,000 in London.

What jobs are on offer?

The bank is planning to hire about 250 new analysts in 2009, a very similar number to this year's intake. There are vacancies in each of the bank's ten main divisions, including global investment research, investment banking, merchant banking & private equity, human capital management and technology.

Where are the jobs?

London is Goldman Sachs's European headquarters, but there are also graduate vacancies in Frankfurt, Zurich, Geneva, Paris and Moscow.

What's the pay?

None of the well-known investment banks publicly disclose their graduate starting salaries, but most are paying £35,000 to £40,000 to this year's new recruits and these rates are unlike to change significantly in 2009.

What's the competition?

Despite the wall-to-wall coverage of the crisis in the City over the past 12 months, research from The UK Graduate Careers Survey 2008 shows a record number of university-leavers applied to work in investment banking this year. Applications for next year are likely to drop back a little, but the top banks are still expecting up to 100 applicants per vacancy.

How is the bank rated?

Goldmans Sachs has been the top-rated investment bank for the last decade and has been ranked in tenth place in The Times Top 100 Graduate Employers for three consecutive years.

How do I apply?

There's no time to lose. Applications for 2009 close on October 19, see www.gs.com/careers for full details.

- The new edition of The Times Top 100 Graduate Employers for 2008-2009 is published next week, price £16.99. The Times is publishing a special supplement on graduate employment to coincide with the publication on September 17.

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