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:

Royal Bank of Scotland Career Insight Programme (22nd August- 23rd August)

Last month, I attended a two-day career insight programme at the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS). This event was aimed final year A Level students who were interested in pursuing career in banking and to allow them to learn more about the Royal Bank of Scotland and what they do.

This event was held numerous times during August and there are a few more in September. The one I attended consisted of 24 students. The application process for this was held online were I had to fill in my personal details, qualifications and answer two motivational questions. A couple of weeks after I did that I received a phone call from a member of the Early Career team at RBS informing me that I have gained a place.

Day One:

The first day was held at the Bankside office. The day began with a mini networking session but this was with the students. We were all served breakfast and we had around 45 minutes to go around and get to know each other. It was a bit awkward at first because we were thrown into it straight away but I tried my best to move around and get to know others. We then had an introductory session into RBS. The person in charge of the event gave us an overview of what RBS is about and what opportunities they offer for undergraduates and graduates. Secondly, we heard from Jennifer Holloway, a personal brand specialist, who spoke to us about how to build on our personal brand. I found this really helpful as she really made us think about how you may be seen by others and how this could affect your impression on people. One thing that stuck with me was when she asked "What do people say about you when you're not in the room?", with the answer being, "Whatever it is, that's your personal brand." This really made me think about how I act when I first meet people and what could I possibly change to avoid giving the wrong first impression. After that there was lunch and then another guest speaker gave us more of an insight into RBS and the roles and responsibilities of the different areas of the bank which are :

• Retail/ Commercial bank
• Investment bank
• Private bank (Coutts)

Furthermore, there were two other guest speakers. The first speaker was from Enactus which is a non- profit organisation which enables progress through entrepreneurial action and the second speaker was from The Prince's Trust. This section of the day was to inform us on how to make the most of university. I was quite attracted to Enactus and luckily they do work with the University of Surrey so I will be looking into that once I start. To end the day we got split up into groups of two and shadowed current summer interns at RBS. I got to shadow two interns who worked at Coutts which is the private bank owned by RBS. The students I was with and I got to visit the Coutts building in Strand, London which is really beautiful. It was different to see how quiet Coutts really is unlike the other RBS buildings and find out what the interns do there. The interns I met were so kind and gave a lot of good advice.

A Level Results Day!!!

After waiting for sooooooooooooo long on Thursday 15th August 2013 I finally received my A Level results. This results day wasn't the same as others. This results day was extremely important as I was finding out what university I would be going to in September. Especially the night before, I was so so nervous but the day arrived..... I logged into UCAS Track at 7:30 am and discovered that I got into my firm choice the University of Surrey!!!!

I was extremely excited when I saw this as I REALLY wanted to go to Surrey. The campus is beautiful and the university is now 2nd in the Guardian League Table for Economics above universities such as LSE, Cambridge and UCL. I'm so relieved that all this stress is over. Literally, I spent half of my summer worrying about results day and now it's come and gone just like that. This post is a bit late but I have exactly a month left before I move in. I have so much shopping to do and prep in this space of time but surprisingly I'm really relaxed. It's quite daunting the idea of moving away from home. I question myself sometimes if I'll be able to cope but I guess this is all part of growing up.

In relation to my career progression, these were my A Level results:

Economics: A
Government and Politics: B
Maths: B

An Insight into HSBC (Wednesday 24th July 2013)

Last Wednesday (24th July) I attended the HSBC insight day at Canary Wharf. This event was advertised on the HSBC graduate careers website under the Pre- University Programme section.

I didn't manage to take a picture of the building myself but it is absolutely beautiful. It is incredibly tall and I was so overwhelmed by it. The inside is also very beautiful and modern, I was really impressed. The building has one of those see-through lifts and it was actually quite scary because I'm scared of falling from great heights so I tried not to look down.

The event took place on the 6th floor and all of us that attended were provided with refreshments before the day began. It was nice to be surrounded by other students who were interested in banking and weren't exactly looking to do the same degrees in university. There was also a mixture of males and females so this wasn't an insight day aimed specifically at females like some are.

Firstly, there was a brief introduction on HSBC's Balance Network who sponsored the insight day. The Balance Network aim to promote gender- balanced workforce. Additionally, there was sessions on an overview of HSBC, an overview of Markets and a Q&A session with four Analysts. These three sessions provided more of an understanding of what HSBC is about, what a section of investment banking is like and what it's like to be an Analyst at HSBC. This was followed by a networking lunch with members of all business areas. It gave us the chance to find more about the different types of sections in investment banking such as Mergers & Acquisitions, Sales and Trading. 

HSBC Work Placement 1/7/13 - 12/7/13

In the first two weeks of July I took part in the HSBC Work Experience Programme. 

I previously did a blog post on how I got onto the programme so if you haven't read it already here is the link: http://madetoaspirehigher.blogspot.co.uk/2013/04/hsbc-work-experience-placement-offer.html

Initially, my work placement was only meant to last one week but I managed to get it extended to two which was actually very beneficial.

On my first day I didn't do much but that was expected as I needed to settle in. I spent the majority of my time at the back office of the branch where the senior clerks sit. I will not lie there was a lot of filing to do but I guess that it's part of the job and that is part of the role of the senior clerks when dealing with paperwork.

I was also given a work experience booklet which included the history of HSBC and some information to help me learn more about the bank. 

I was also assigned a small project to interview one of the employees about their role etc. I have not completed that yet because the branch was quite busy during the two weeks I was there, but I will go back just to complete that as it is a part of the programme.

Over the two weeks I had set responsibilities given to me to do at the beginning and end of the day. I liked that because it meant that when I arrived in the morning I wouldn't have to wait on someone to tell me what to do, I could just go in and do my tasks. Every morning there would be a little meeting where the managers discuss the targets for the staff, how well they are doing as a bank and any praise they received from customers. On Tuesdays there would be a longer meeting of 45 minutes. This is where new campaigns would be discussed and any issues would be raised.

Goldman Sachs- A Level Girls Inspire Programme- Friday 22nd February 2013

On Friday the 22nd of February, I attended what I would describe as an insight day at Goldman Sachs. This event gave girls who are currently doing their A levels an opportunity to find out what Goldman Sachs is all about. The event was held on two separate days with the first one on the 15th of February. I would say there was possibly more than 50 girls that attended the one I went to and we were all placed in one huge room on tables so we got to interact with each other. I was immediately impressed when I got there because it was the first time in ages where I have been somewhere and my name has been spelled right :)

Goldman Sachs building