Clockwise from top left: Gemma Steele, head of wealth international marketing, Standard Bank, talks about the function of her team and her role; Paul Groden, education officer for CISI Jersey branch, explains the significance of Jersey as a financial centre; Rebecca Aston, CISI ethics and integrity manager, delivers an integrity workshop; students speed networking; Rholo Mba, investment consultant at SWM Synergy, answering questions during the speed networking session.
The CISI currently partners with two schools on the island that offer CISI qualifications to their sixth-form students.
Our Insight events, which have taken place for the past three academic years in London, Liverpool and Manchester, provide an opportunity for young people to network with industry practitioners and develop their understanding about current issues and hot topics in financial services. They offer a chance for students to establish whether financial services appeal to them as a potential career path.
Thirty-eight students from across five schools in Jersey took part, along with 15 sector professionals from Standard Bank, Intertrust and a range of Jersey firms. The afternoon kicked off with students hearing short pitches from practitioners covering their background, how they came to work in the sector and what their roles entail on a daily basis. This helped students to gain a clearer picture of the breadth of roles and opportunities within the financial services sector, highlighting that finance is not just accountancy. Students did find out more about accountancy and audit, but they also heard from professionals working in marketing, human resources, financial advice, wealth management, investment management and risk.
This was followed with a speed networking session, where students could talk to individual professionals they heard from during the first session of the event.
In the second half of the event, Paul Groden, business manager of the International Wealth and Investment division at Standard Bank, provided an eye-opening talk about the opportunities and challenges that advances in technology will bring for the sector in the future
With integrity at the heart of the CISI’s ethos, it was fitting that the event concluded with Rebecca Aston, CISI ethics and integrity manager, testing students’ ability to make ethical decisions when faced with a series of challenging work-based dilemmas. The event received excellent feedback from the students who attended.
Feedback from studentsA student from Hautlieu School commented: “It gave me a deeper insight into what financial institutions do and helped me choose whether or not to go to university.” Another student from Victoria College said: “It’s great that you receive the opportunity to create connections with professionals and meet people sharing the same interests.”
Rachel Baxter, curriculum adviser, States of Jersey Education Department, said: “This was a wonderful opportunity for Jersey sixth form students to explore the detail of finance opportunities both on and off the island. The professionals were generous with their time and energy and the students responded with focused engagement. The buzz in the room was tangible and the students benefited from the face-to-face contacts and debates”.
Paul Groden, Chartered MCSI, education officer for the CISI Jersey branch, said: “Thanks are due to Standard Bank for hosting and to all the firms that participated. We hope that today’s event will positively shape the career choices of Jersey’s next generation of finance professionals.”
Inspiring futures and developing the next generation of financial services professionals
The CISI partners with schools, colleges and universities to offer qualifications and careers education for young people to learn about the financial services sector and gain an understanding of the diverse job roles and employment opportunities available. If you or your firm can offer support to our work with education both in Liverpool and in other regions nationally, please contact educationdevelopment@cisi.org