Category Archives: Banking and Financial Services

Matthew, Banking and Financial Services

Banking and Financial Services, economics

Matthew, Economics student, applied to the Career Mentor Scheme to gain a better understanding of the financial sector in order to learn about the specific professions that he may wish to pursue. Through the scheme, Matthew was matched with an Economics graduate from the University of Exeter who is now the Assistant Vice President at Barclays Wealth, having been with the firm for 10 years.

“Extremely valuable in helping you achieve your goals”

Matthew tells us more about his experience below:

What were your highlights of the scheme?

Learning about my mentor’s business and past career, and different models for approaching Insight into the financial world. I was able to gain a greater understanding of the system and how I can utilise my skills to find the job right for me.

What did you find most useful from the mentoring experience?

Networking opportunities and personal development.

What message would you give to a student thinking of applying for the Career Mentor Scheme?

This is such a useful way to get an insight into your desired career. Your mentor’s knowledge will be extremely valuable in helping you achieve your goals and ultimately they were in the same shoes as you at some stage. They can draw on these experiences to give you the best opportunity to kick start your career!

Charlotte, Banking and Financial Services

Banking and Financial Services, Business and Management

Charlotte, Management with Marketing student, applied to the Career Mentor Scheme to expand her knowledge of different industries and learn more about building confidence in networking. Through the scheme, Charlotte was matched with a Management with History and Industrial Experience graduate from the University of Exeter who is now a Senior Manager at Barclaycard with years of experience with the organisations and within the banking industry.

Charlotte tells us more about her experience below:

What objectives did you achieve?

Charlotte achieved all of her objectives including:

  • Increased knowledge of effective interview techniques in this sector
  • Improved personal development skills
  • Widened my contacts and networking opportunities

Charlotte also gained advice for her fourth year of studies and graduate job applications.

What were your highlights of the scheme?

CV check, shared with me his old CVs & personal development plans, mock telephone interview with one of my mentor’s colleagues.

What did you find most useful from the mentoring experience?

CV advice, talked through the whole application process and this gave insightful information which I did not know, mock telephone interview with really detailed feedback.

What message would you give to a student thinking of applying for the Career Mentor Scheme?

I would fully recommend applying for the scheme. You can shape the relationship with your mentor so there is such a wide range of things to get out of the scheme.

Hoi Yan, Banking and Financial Services

Banking and Financial Services, , ,

Hoi Yan, a Finance and Management student, wanted to pursue a career in corporate finance but needed the guidance of a experienced mentor to help her reach this goal. Through the scheme, Hoi Yan was matched with the Head of IPV and Curves for Centrica. This role involves product control, financial control and legal entity control and thereby has extensive experience relating to the finance division of corporate entities. This mentor’s previous work experience includes Vice President for JP Morgan, and he is also ACA qualified.

Hoi Yan achieved all of her objectives including personal target areas of work experience, job requirements and personal developments. Hoi Yan also increased knowledge of job hunting resources, improved knowledge of further professional sources related to this sector and increased knowledge of good and bad aspects of the profession.

Here is what Hoi Yan thought about her experience:

What were the highlights of the scheme?

During the scheme, I learnt about my career prospects and work experience which are very valuable through my mentor. This gave me an insight of developing my career prospects.

What did you find most useful from the mentoring experience?

My mentor’s work experience gave me inspiration for career development. During the mentor scheme, I was able to learn from his work experience and hence develop my personal skills.

What message would you give to a student thinking of applying for the Career Mentor Scheme?

For students who are aggressive and eager to develop career prospects, it is an opportunity to get in touch with professionals. They could acquire best knowledge of their chosen sector and lean work experience from the tutor. It would be a valuable chance to improve their personal skills and create networking opportunities.

Michael, Banking and Financial Services

Banking and Financial Services, economics, , ,

Michael, a second year Economics student at the time, was interested in going into the Financial Services sector and applied for a mentor in this industry. He was matched with a Director at EY. This mentor graduated from the University of Exeter with a BA in Economics and Politics in 1997. Between 1997 and 2002 he worked as a Manager in Fraud Investigation at PricewaterhouseCoopers, before working at Credit Suisse as a Global Head Securities Customer Onboarding from 2002 to 2010. He then joined HSBC in 2011 as the Global Head of KYC Data Remediation.

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Michael, having completed the scheme, let us know some of the highlights of the scheme for his career development.

He told us that he improved his personal skills, made a future professional contact in his mentor and developed his interview techniques – these being just a few examples of what he achieved by participating in the Career Mentor Scheme. Michael particularly highlighted that he increased his “knowledge of finding internships and work experience in this sector”, something incredibly useful considering how competitive the financial industry can be to get into.

What were the highlights of the scheme for you?

Meeting my mentor in London and seeing the EY offices was a good experience and getting the insight into interviews in the industry; as well as having a practice interview with my mentor was an invaluable experience.

What did you find most useful from the mentoring experience?

Gaining an insight into my chosen profession.

What message would you give to a student thinking of applying for the Career Mentor Scheme?

Make sure you choose your mentor carefully to ensure they’ll be the most applicable to your career and that you make the most of the time as part of the scheme.

Deziree, Banking and Financial Services

Banking and Financial Services, economics, law, , , , , ,

Studying towards a degree in Economics and Law, Deziree was keen to get into the Banking and Financial Services. She participated in the Career Mentor Scheme and was mentored by the Managing Director at Barclays Bank.

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Deziree told us more about the advantages of the scheme.

What were the highlights of the scheme for you?

I had the great opportunity in meeting with my mentor face-to-face early into the scheme. It had really given us the chance to ‘break the ice’ and get to know each other outside our email and text message exchanges. Finding a job is a daunting task for every University student, so I was very happy to have been paired with a mentor who had faced the same qualms as I did towards entering the employment pool. It was truly inspiring to hear his work experience from the best (investment) banks around the world, whilst keeping me aware of the pros and cons of each job. My mentor was also kind enough to provide me a list of resources to nurture my commercial awareness and knowledge into financial events.

What did you find most useful from the mentoring experience?

Perhaps learning in particular what the ‘compliance’ job role really entails has been very useful. Despite my embarrassing lack of knowledge on the profession, my mentor had been patient in explaining in depth of what the role not only requires, but also its benefits and disadvantages. His advice had certainly fuelled my desire to learn more about the job and even determined me to pursue a role in compliance.

What message would you give to a student thinking of applying for the Career Mentor Scheme?

I highly recommend joining the Career Mentor Scheme for any student, be it to gain a deeper insight into an industry, receive support in work placement applications or even to chat with a professional. Just from my first meeting with my mentor, I had already received so much useful information into the processes of securing a career and had my many questions about my future in the financial industry answered!

Megan, Banking and Financial Services

Banking and Financial Services, economics, ,

Megan, Economics student, was really interested in going into the Banking and Financial Services sector and she was looking for guidance into the industry. Through the Career Mentor Scheme she was matched with a Director at Lloyds Bank. He was responsible for US Private Placements.

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Megan found the Career Mentor Scheme very helpful and enjoyed her partnership with her mentor.

What were the highlights of the scheme for you?

A highlight for me was the initial Meet Your Mentor event, where I was able to ask my first questions and make a plan for the scheme, which was stuck with and achieved.

What did you find most useful from the mentoring experience?

The most useful thing about my mentoring experience was the professional help and opinion I was given on my CV, which has further allowed me to apply for placement level jobs.

What message would you give to a student thinking of applying for the Career Mentor Scheme?

Definitely apply for the Career Mentor Scheme. It will not only let you see the industry you may want to go into, but also provide a guide with your own professional development.

Jessica, Banking and Financial Services

Banking and Financial Services, economics, ,

Jessica, coming from an Economics degree participated in the Career Mentor Scheme and her mentor was a Managing Director at Deutsche Bank.

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This mentor provided Jessica with a lot of advice and insight into the industry. As a result Jessica developed her understanding of the industry as a whole – in particular she found out more about the reactions to new regulatory requirements.

Here is what she shared about the Career Mentor Scheme.

What were the highlights of the scheme for you?

My mentor went over and above what I expected from the scheme in terms of support. We emailed regularly over the course of the scheme particularly over summer and I went to his office every 3 weeks to discuss various queries. One of the major highlights for me was the support I received from my mentor in the run up to my Morgan Stanley interview – I was asked questions surrounding regulation in my interview and my mentor gave me various material to ensure I was fully prepared for these questions. My mentor always replied promptly to my emails whenever I sent them – even when he was travelling regularly abroad!

What did you find most useful from the mentoring experience?

Insight into the industry and opportunities beyond the operations department in Morgan Stanley being the sector I have secured a year placement. Being able to speak to someone directly within the profession who deals with regulation – he was able to explain to me how it is impacting a number of broad departments within the bank. Gained a long term contact – still keeping in touch and hope to possibly go into Asset Management at a later stage of my life in Deutsche Bank.

 

Oliver, Banking and Financial Services

Banking and Financial Services, History, , ,

Oliver, a History student participated in the Career Mentor Scheme and his mentor was a Global Head of Equities & Strategy at Jupiter Asset Mgmt.

This mentor has previously held a variety of positions in his career. He started off as Fund Manager at Sun Alliance Insurance Group and then moved to Senior Portfolio Manager at Fleming & Co. In 1999 he became head of Japan Portfolios Group at JP Morgan Asset Management until in 2007 he became Chief Investment Strategist for EMEA at JP Morgan Private Bank. In 2011 he joined Caledonia Investments plc as Head of Global Equity Income & Growth Team before moving to Jupiter Asset Mgmt.

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Oliver had some really great feedback to give about the scheme. The mentoring partnership with his mentor helped him obtain job hunting resources and gain an insight into the career. He also developed professional contacts and learned more about the entry requirements.

What was the highlight of the scheme for you?

Meeting my mentor – this was beneficial in a way that is often hard to achieve simply via email.

What did you find most useful from the mentoring experience?

My mentor’s advise was very honest and showed me how best to approach a career in the sector from the position that I was in.

Ray, Banking and Financial Services

Banking and Financial Services, History, Politics and International Relations,

History and Politics student Ray applied to the scheme at the end of his first year. He was matched with an International Banking Manager at HSBC Holdings plc.

Throughout his career, this mentor has gained experience in a variety of industries, including Customer Service, HR, Retail, Sales with Banking and Financial Services being his main sector.

AIPTEK

The partnership was a real success. Here is what Ray had to say:

What were the highlights of the scheme for you?

The shadowing experience. This allowed me to experience first hand the daily working life of my mentor, his responsibilities and the working culture at the company.

What did you find most useful from the mentoring experience?

The feedback and the ability to ask questions e.g interview tips, what makes a bad CV etc. to then be given realistic answers.

What message would you give to a student thinking of applying for the Career Mentor Scheme?

It is a brilliant way to not only make professional connections but to also provide you with a means to have those questions, myths and issues relating to the world of work properly answered.

James, Banking and Financial Services

Banking and Financial Services, economics, ,

In May of his final year James, studying Economics with International Study applied to the Career Mentor Scheme and was matched with a Management Consultant at IHM Associates Ltd.

This mentor studied Economics and Economics History at Exeter. Some of his previous employers include Union Bank of Switzerland, PwC, WJ Calder Sons & Co and Sutton Valence School.

bank-building-1223895

Through the scheme James achieved all his objectives, such as obtaining job hunting resources in the sector and obtaining help with application forms. He told us more details about his experience.

Were there any other objectives you achieved?

Gaining  knowledge on a specific programme – The Mountbatten Institute and assessing whether it was suitable for me.

What were the highlights of the scheme for you?

It was very useful to have somebody to talk to and bounce ideas off, somebody who knows the industry standards and workings. I particularly liked the critical side and the fact that my mentor would challenge me and was happy to say if he disagreed with my ideas. This was very useful!

What message would you give to a student thinking of applying for the Career Mentor Scheme?

Apply! Whether you’re looking for answers to specific questions or just somebody to chat to because you’re totally lost like I was, it’s a great scheme and well worth the small amount of time it takes to apply.

The highlight for his mentor was:

“…meeting someone different. Not just a new person but a student who had already graduated, so the focus was really on his employability and getting him in front of potential employees.”