Where have I been?

Hi everyone! I actually apologise as I have completely abandoned this blog. I can't believe I haven't posted anything for over 2 years.

The reason for this post today is I received a comment today and I just couldn't believe people still read this blog and I'm so glad that people have been encouraged by it. The reason I started it in the first place was to encourage people who wanted to go into financial related jobs as I felt there wasn't much advice out there when I was looking a few years ago. A lot has changed with me and I can't believe I started this blog 5 years ago. Finishing A levels and university seemed such a long way to go but it's here already. It's interesting to see how at some point you think you are so sure and set on what you want to do in the future and you get there and it looks completely different or things didn't go the way you planned them to.
Not to worry this isn't a post of disappointment on not doing what I thought I initially wanted to do according to my '16 year old self' [first post back in 2011 I said I wanted to be an Investment Analyst] but a post of celebration that I made it through university graduating with a 2:1 in Economics and I am now working for Barclays.

In the last post I talked about doing a placement year in between my degree. I didn't end up doing that after all, I just did 3 years of university instead. I did no internships during university as well so it's such a blessing that I managed to get a job 3 months after graduation. I absolutely loved university and I'm so happy that I got to experience it, I met amazing people and had so much fun. It did get challenging at times with the degree itself but it all worked out!

If anyone does want advice on university feel free to ask by commenting. Anything from studying to staying in accommodation on or off campus and even commuting to university if you are in that situation- I have faced all three scenarios lol. Even job searching etc. I didn't know exactly what I wanted to do so I can give advice on such decisions too.

Brief catchup!

Hello everyone :), I know I haven't posted in months and I apologise for that! Good news is that I have finished my first year of university and I receive my results in two weeks time. To be truly honest I am having a bit of a dilemma deciding what career path to take which is why I haven't been too active in looking for opportunities and posting about events. I know from previous blog posts it seems I have been so sure but I am trying to make some decisions. First year (planning for career wise) hasn't been too eventful as I am planning to do a placement year (a year I take out between my 2nd year and final year (four year degree programme)) so there wasn't many opportunities that I can really apply for because of that as a lot of them require me to be in my second year of a four year degree. I am hoping that as I am entering second year in October I will have a lot to share, especially my journey on looking for a year placement and perhaps applying for spring programmes as well but I will see. I'm really honoured that people are still reading my blog and I hope that my previous blog posts have been a great help to you!

God bless xoxo

First Semester!

Soooooooooooooooo it's the end of the first semester at university. I actually cannot believe how fast these three months have gone. It felt like just yesterday I was leaving home and moving into halls and now first semester has ended, it's the Christmas holidays and I'm back at home for three weeks (might shorten it to two instead). To be honest, I do miss university. One thing I have appreciated is independence. I have definitely changed since I went to uni, trust me being away from home is not as bad as it seems.

In terms of my course, I think I'm enjoying it so far. I will not lie dropping out has crossed my mind but I was seriously over-exaggerating. In my opinion, at the moment the workload isn't as much as I experienced during A- levels. I do have quite a lot of free time during university when I think about it but that doesn't mean it's acceptable to slack. Fair enough first year doesn't count to your degree but it's very important if you want to apply to internships in your second year and in my case, a year in industry.

ACS in the city: Banking forum (31/10/2013)

"ACS in the City is a unique diversity talent attraction platform where leading private and public sector organisations connect with and attract high- achieving and promising black students from universities across the United Kingdom." : acsinthecity.com

Through my university's ACS (African and Caribbean society) I was informed about the ACS in the city banking forum. ACS in the city have and are also running a public sector, law and Google top black talent forum.

I decided to apply for this event because I felt that as a first year undergrad this would be the best time to be more active when it comes to my career because not long from now I'll be applying for spring weeks and placements. The application process was fairly straightforward. All that was required were personal details, CV and a couple of motivational questions. My advice when it comes to motivational questions is that to dedicate some time on them. It may seem really tempting to just answer the questions without truly taking your time to read what they are asking of you. When I answer motivational questions instead of filling it straight away on the application I create drafts on Microsoft Word. One reason why this is a good idea is because motivation questions normally have word limits so it's a great way to check the word count as you type. It's also really important that you answer the questions as best as you can within the word limit. This can be quite tricky because you may have loads to say but you can't say it all.

The day of the banking forum: