Engineering students are now being courted to join the ranks of one of South Africa’s biggest banks, as Absa Capital said their mathematical skills would equip them well for a career in finance.

“Engineers have good mathematical skills, superior practical nous and usually end up becoming as good, if not better, managers as their MBA and finance counterparts,” said head of trading Mike Bagguley.

He added that as engineers are used to utilising their knowledge under pressure, making them ideal candidates for the highly-pressured trading floors of big banks.