HOW does this sound for a first job: £35,000 to £45,000 basic salary plus a joining bonus (a golden hello) of £5,000 to £10,000? To die for? Perhaps, but the top financial employers aren’t charities — they pay extremely well and in return expect you to break delicate parts of your anatomy in the course of duty.

A career in the City is an attractive proposition for many with its high-adrenalin assignments and generous pay packets, but it is worth looking beneath the gloss before commiting yourself. In this series of articles we will give life in the City a reality check by talking to both recruiters and the recruited to find out what life in the Square Mile is really like.

Stress is a fact of life, but in the City it is contagious and can encourage some pretty unhealthy habits. It is no coincidence that the City is Britain’s busiest centre for Alcoholics Anonymous, Narcotics Anonymous and Gamblers Anonymous. One 43-year-old consultant who has chronic fatigue syndrome and has just quit the City says: “Many employers provide comprehensive private medical insurance, which includes a free trip to The Priory if things get out of hand. The trouble is, as soon as you’ve been given a clean bill of health you’re back at your desk facing the same situation that led to depression and compulsive behaviour problems in the first place.”

This is no place for the sensitive or for those who value their free time. For investment bankers and market analysts the day starts so early you’ll be eating breakfast the night before.

Overtime is obligatory, typically an additional 10 per cent to 20 per cent of your normal working hours, and it’s usually unpaid. Then there’s the mandatory socialising. Graduate trainees are expected to participate with enthusiasm in a range of team-building exercises and events — great fun or a ghastly prospect, depending on your mood and attitude.

If it sounds tough, it is. An actuarial consultant in his late thirties, who recently moved into investment banking, says: “I hear so many graduate trainees say that they’re planning to do five or maybe ten years in the City and then get out. The problem is that it’s all too easy to get trapped once you get used to the money and the lifestyle — the smart flat, kids in private school and high-maintenance partner. It might look glamorous from the outside but the reality is that they’re financial handcuffs.”

Still interested? Then you could consider doing an internship, which is where you work for your prospective employer in the summer holiday before your final year at university. Work experience will help to boost CV and job applications, because it will show that you are keen; it will also give you an insight into what life is really like in the sector.

Some jobs require specific qualifications but most top employers will take any degree discipline provided you’ve got a first or an upper second from a decent university.

You’ll also need to be able to demonstrate initiative and drive plus good analytical, communication, numeracy, literacy and team-working skills. Fitting in is what really counts. If you like the idea of asset management you need to be passionate about it. Find out in advance what the unique selling points of your target firms are. If you get interviews for the same job with three different employers, you’ve got to do a very good impression of being sincere and committed to the unique corporate ethos. The people hiring you think of it as a marriage contract.

Debbie Harrison is a senior visiting fellow at Cass Business School. Follow the series at www.cass.city.ac.uk/thetimes

Times Recommends

• Inspirational leadership
• How to get a new job
• The reluctant CEO