Category Archives: economics

Alexander, Insurance, Pensions and Actuarial

Business and Management, economics, Insurance Pensions and Actuarial, ,

Alexander, a Business Economics student, became interested in the Insurance industry after completing work experience with a reputable insurance firm in London. He applied to the Career Mentor Scheme to help confirm whether this was the career path he definitely wanted to take and to gain an understanding of what would be required of him as a graduate. Through the scheme, Alexander was paired with a Consultant for MW Enterprises. This mentor’s previous job roles include four Managing Directors positions at Integro, Towergate Specialist Risks, TL Risk Solutions and Towry Law after beginning his career as a Graduate Management Trainee at Royal & Sun Alliance.

“If you know you want to go into a similar industry as your mentor then 100% go for it.”

Alexander achieved all of his objectives including help to secure a graduate job, improved personal development skills and increased knowledge of effective interview technique in this sector.

Alexander shared some of his experiences;

What were the highlights of the scheme?

Skyping and building a relationship with my mentor. We really get along.

What did you find most useful form the mentoring experience?

The information that only a current industry expert could provide, gave me invaluable insight into the industry which was crucial at interviews.

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

If you know you want to go into a similar industry as your mentor then 100% go for it.

Adrienne, Accounting and Auditing

Accounting and Auditing, economics, , , ,

Economics student Adrienne participated in the Career Mentor Scheme and was mentored by an Executive Advisor at KPMG LLP. As such his main responsibilities were to identify sales opportunities in Technology Risk and Assurance services and to develop those opportunities into sales. This mentor also managed the delivery of Technology Risk and Assurance services to our organisation’s Construction, Infrastructure, Transport and Public Sector portfolio of clients including agreeing contracts, planning, work on site (fieldwork), financial management and agreeing deliverables with clients.

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Adrienne had an extraordinary experience in the year in which she was part of the scheme.

How do you feel the career mentor scheme has helped you overall?

  • Improved my confidence to seek graduate level employment
  • Improved my personal skills needed for graduate level employment
  • Helped me prepare for my next steps – graduate level employment / further study
  • Professional contacts from networking
  • Made a friend / future professional contact in my mentor
  • Greater idea of what the career path involves (audit)

How do you feel the mentoring process has enhanced your employability?

Gained greater knowledge of the field (audit)(good for interviews), greater knowledge of the professional qualifications open to me after university, improved personal skills (more confidence in interviews) and CV enhancement.

What did you find most useful from the mentoring experience?

Insights into my chosen profession/sector, greater knowledge of the professional qualifications open to me after university.

Why should students apply to have a mentor?

Now I have a greater idea of the career I would like to go into, the possible qualifications that I could partake in after my studies, an insight into where said career could take me. Really great insight!

 

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!

Simona, Accounting and Auditing

Accounting and Auditing, economics, Modern Languages, , , ,

Simona wanted to pursue a career in the Accounting and Auditing sector. As part of the Career Mentor Scheme she was mentored by a Non-executive director at BDO LLP. After completing his BA History and Politics and MA Modern European History with French at Exeter, this mentor also completed ACA and FCA. In 2005 he completed PMD at Harvard Business School.

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Simona shared an insight into how the Career Mentor Scheme was useful to her.

What were the highlights of the scheme for you?

I enjoyed having constant personal support, whenever I needed it, and having it tailored to what I needed at the time. For example when I had an interview coming up, I just emailed my mentor and we set up a skype call where he coached me through it.

What did you find most useful from the mentoring experience?

Getting one-on-one insight into the industry, being coached through an assessment day and interview.

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

I would highly advise it! I think it’s one of the best ways, aside from interning, to prepare for the professional industry while at university.

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.

 

Nathan, Management and Consultancy

economics, Management and Consultancy, ,

Nathan, studying Economics was looking to go into the Management and Consultancy sector. Being matched with an Associate Consultant at BCS Consulting through the Career Mentor Scheme really helped Nathan get into the industry.

At the time of their partnership this mentor’s main responsibilities were helping organisations to solve issues, create value, maximise growth and improve the business performance by providing objective advice, expertise and specialist skills which an organisation may be lacking. His previous work experience includes working as an Analyst at Accenture between 2011 and 2013.

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Nathan benefited from the scheme in various ways. He improved his personal skills needed for graduate employment and obtained help with application forms and covering letters. Richard proofread Nathan’s CV and helped him with job hunting resources.

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

The mentoring scheme is an invaluable opportunity to learn about an industry, get support with your applications and improve your skills. I am currently on my year in industry and I was able to walk through any workplace problems with my mentor such as how to get time from my managers when they were so busy. I gained so much confidence being able to write specific and tailored information in my applications, going through interview practise and setting goals. I also performed well in my recent performance review at work and have successfully secured a consulting summer internship for 2016, both of which would not have been possible without the support of my mentor.

His mentor said:

“[The highlight for me was] Nathan winning a summer internship at Deloitte and seeing how much that meant to him.”