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.

Deutsche Bank 'I Have a Dream' Program interviews

I was a bit hesitant when I was making the decision whether or not to publish this post. When I started this blog I knew that I wanted to give the best advice and share my journey into finance even if it included some downfalls so I guess it's the best decision to post this even though I'm a little disappointed.

I recently applied to Deutsche Bank's I Have a Dream Program which gives final year A- Level students an opportunity to take part in a paid placement in one of the banks divisions. I was attracted to this program because I am interested in a career in investment banking so I thought this program would provide me with an excellent first step into the career. The application consisted of the usual personal details, education, work experience details and a few questions such as, "Why do what to work in an investment bank?"

I really wanted to take my time with this application. There was a word limit on each of the competency sort of questions so it was really important that I answered the question to the best of my ability in order to display my interest. To do this I made sure that I also got advice from my college's careers adviser. When I was ready I sent off my application. I actually expected it to take a couple of weeks before I got a reply but less than a week later I received a call from Rare Recruitment. Rare Recruitment are involved in the program as they'll provide ongoing support and personal development for the students that have made it onto the program. They told me that I was successful and had made it into the first round on interviews. Afterwards, I received a follow up email providing me with details of the interview.

House of Fraser audition

So yesterday (13/08/2012) I attended my first ever job interview/assessment. I was pretty nervous because I didn't know what to expect. I managed to get there quite early meaning I was the first person there. After waiting for 20 minutes more people started to arrive and they were really nice. One of the girls was shocked that I managed to get an interview at House of Fraser with only doing work experience and not having an actual job. 

Not long afterwards the recruitment lady took us all into a room where we were split up into 3 groups. We were given a brief on an imaginary character that we had to form as our own and create an outfit for her. There was only 10 minutes to do this and then we went down to the shop floor to get the outfit which were were going to present to the panel. It was really important that I had to make sure I made an input with ideas and showed that I was getting involved because all of us were being assessed the whole way through even on the shop floor. 

Finally, when we got back upstairs each group had to present their idea in front of the panel. It was good that each group did it one by one without the other groups that which took off the pressure a little bit. In my opinion, I think that the presentation was successful but there is a lot of competition. I'm just thankful for the opportunity and I've learnt stuff from others just in a small space of time :)