Tag Archives: economics

Chris, Financial Markets and the City

economics, Financial Markets and the City, , ,

Economics student Chris had a passion for the Financial Markets and the City and wanted to pursue this career path. He was accepted onto the Career Mentor Scheme and was matched with an Investment Manager at Risk Capital Partners LLP.

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Chris had some amazing feedback to give about the way the Career Mentor Scheme helped his career development.

What were the highlights of the scheme for you?

Being able to gain a thorough insight into the area of finance that my mentor works in. It is very difficult to get first-hand experience through the internet, so having a contact within the industry was an invaluable opportunity. My mentor helped me with techniques and gave me fantastic advice for EY’s internship scheme and assisted me throughout the process.

What did you find most useful from the mentoring experience?

Discussion about work experience are ongoing, but the insight that I have gained about the daily work life that my mentor participates in gave me a fantastic ground to base my future career decisions upon.

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

Participating in the Career Mentor Scheme is one of the most rewarding opportunities you will get in your time at Exeter. If you have any questions or concerns about a specific career path, a mentor can provide you with real-life experience and help guide you through these doubts, ensuring that you make the most informed decision about your post-graduation choices. If you are applying for internships or industrial placements, mentors are experienced professionals who often employ workers, so there is no one better to help support you and provide you with advice on how to succeed in your applications. There is absolutely nothing to lose by partaking in the programme and it will help you on your first step in the career ladder.

Madeleine, Accounting and Auditing

Accounting and Auditing, economics, , , , ,

Whilst in her final year Madeleine was undecided in terms of whether she should apply to graduate jobs or go travelling. She applied to the Career Mentor Scheme in order to get more guidance and career advice and was matched with the director at the Old Mill Accountancy LLP. This mentor has had a varied career within accountancy, working in different sized organisations and both in and outside London.pic-01

Madeleine found the Career Mentor Scheme really helpful. It helped her improve her confidence and make the decision to apply for graduate schemes. She developed her interview techniques and learned more about what is good and bad about the industry. She also developed her commercial awareness significantly.

What did you find most useful from the mentoring experience?

The thing I found most useful was what I learned about the accountancy sector. My mentor explained to me about the huge range of challenges facing the accountancy sector which meant that when I got to the interview stage of my assessment centres I was able to really impress the interviewer.

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

The mentor scheme is a great opportunity to get a deeper insight into a certain sector that you are interested in. What I learned from my mentor was very useful when I got to interview, as I had more of an understanding of challenges facing the industry. I discussed my professional experiences with my mentor which helped me develop my responses to competency questions and we also discussed the importance of and methods for becoming more commercially aware.

“By debriefing after interviews/assessment centres, I helped her to understand how employers view things and to refine her approach. She succeeded in getting a job offer from the best of the firms that she had applied to, which was a great result.” – Madeleine’s Mentor

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.

 

Rachel, Accounting and Auditing

Accounting and Auditing, economics, , , ,

Between May of her penultimate year and October of her final year Economics student Rachel was mentored by the UK/I Finance Controller at Unilever.

This mentor’s responsibility at Unilever is to lead a team of 80 people across all the key financial areas of the business. His has previously held various positions at Procter & Gamble, as a Financial Controller, Sales Finance Manager and Marketing Finance Manager. Prior to that he was a Tax Structured Finance Manager at Deloitte.

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Rachel discussed the advantages she got out of the scheme with us. Amongst other things their partnership achieved, Rachel received help with application forms and covering letters and developed her confidence to seek graduate level employment.

What were the highlights of the scheme for you?

Learning about what my career mentor did and getting advice on how to get there myself.

What did you find most useful from the mentoring experience?

Advice from somebody who works in the industry and can give advice on how to do well in interviews.

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

Make the most of the opportunity.

Christopher, Defence and Public Protection

Defence and Public Protection, economics, Politics and International Relations, , , ,

While in his final year of doing Economics and Politics, Christopher applied for the Career Mentor Scheme and was matched with a Defence & Public Protection mentor who was an Army Officer at HM Forces.

An Exeter graduate, this mentor’s previous employment includes being Company Commander commanding 100 infantry soldiers specialising in dismounted close combat.  He was also involved in contingency security planning and response for London 2012 Olympics including working with Special Forces, Met Police and civilian organisations. His other military experience has been broad, he has worked closely with senior officers, deployed on operations around the world, been responsible for HR in a major unit and have been a key planner for operations in Afghanistan.

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Christopher shared with us he had an outstanding experience being mentored. He achieved every single objectives which they had set at the beginning of their partnership.

What was the highlight of the scheme for you?

Getting to speak to my mentor’s contacts, and [having] his support and encouragement.

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

Absolutely excellent scheme – couldn’t be more useful. The opportunity to be personally mentored by incredibly accomplished people – even from a different field from your own – is invaluable.

The highlight for the mentor was the Meet Your Mentor Event and the focused preparation for a job interview him and Christopher did.

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.

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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.”

Katie, Customer Service

Customer Service, economics, , ,

Whilst in her second year of doing Economics with Industrial Experience Katie applied to the Career Mentor Scheme and was matched with a Centre Manager at Land Rover Experience, as her mentor.

This mentor has a wide experience of working in Customer Service, having worked in positions such as a Support Team Leader at Barclays Bank, Senior Partner at Clydesdale Bank and Relationship Manager at Santander.

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Katie told us more about the experience of being mentored for six months. Through the scheme she managed to achieve many career objectives, such as gaining a better understanding and insight into the industry.  What she found most useful from the mentoring experience was the networking opportunities, getting recruitment information along with developing her interview techniques and gaining work experience.

What were the highlights of the scheme for you?

Attending a networking Chamber of Commerce lunch with my mentor and setting up work experience in a bank for summer.

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

It’s a really worthwhile scheme and it’s really great to be able to have an outside perspective on careers from someone who is in your chosen industry and who has done it all before you. Make the most out of it and be enthusiastic, if you are willing to put more into the scheme with your Mentor then it’s likely you’ll get more out of the process – don’t just take the scheme as something to put on your CV and say you’ve done.

 Her mentor’s personal highlight of the scheme was:

“It was an honour to be part of this University scheme and what worked well for me was the ability to meet my mentee in person, on campus, to work through their objectives.”

Lucy, Law and Legal Services

Career Sector, Degree Subject, economics, Law and Legal Services, Politics and International Relations, , ,

Lucy, a second year Economics and Politics student who was looking to go into Law was matched and mentored for a period of six months by an experienced lawyer who graduated from a Politics degree at Exeter 10 years ago and has since then worked at three different law firms: TWM LLP, Irwin Mitchell LLP and currently Stephenson Harwood LLP in London. law-order-1240301

Lucy shared some insights from her experience with us:

What did you find most useful?

Insight into my chosen profession as I am currently not studying law.

What was the highlight of the scheme for you?

My highlight was visiting the office in London. It was great to be shown round and loved seeing inside a real law office whilst they were working. The offices were extremely impressive and showed what can be achieved in the law profession.

What objectives did you achieve?

I received a greater insight into the profession and had really interesting conversations with trainees in the graduate scheme. This gave a further insight I wasn’t expecting but was very helpful.

What message would you give students thinking of applying for the career mentor scheme?

Make sure to meet up with your mentor early on so that it is easier to communicate and develop a personal connection.