Students studying Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment (CISI) qualifications
from schools and colleges across London, Cardiff, Guildford and Birmingham have completed their academic year with a combination of insight days and work experience, discovering that an exciting career in finance is accessible to them.
The two weeks employability programme has been organised by the CISI and has involved 12 financial services firms and 14 state, grammar and independent schools including:
- Birmingham Metropolitan College – Birmingham
- King Edward VI College – Birmingham
- Stoke Sixth Form College - Birmingham
- Cleg y Cymoedd – Cardiff
- Epsom College – Surrey
- Wellington College – Surrey
- Guildford Grammar School – Surrey
- Ryde School – Isle of Wight
- Norton Knatchbull School – Kent
- Ipswich School – Ipswich
- City Academy Hackney – London
- Kemnal Technology College – London
- Trinity Secondary School Lewisham – London
- Morpeth School – London
This CISI Employer Outreach programme is part of the CISI’s employability initiative, now in its third year.
Shadowing practitioners in a range of roles, students have attended business meetings whilst working on a project which they then presented back to their peers. The 10 minute presentation which the students were asked to present on were either:
- How have the results of the EU Referendum effected your work experience employer, or
- Identify risk in a department of your choice, exploring the risk and its effects if it were to become a reality.
Additionally students participated in professional behaviour seminars, learnt how to identify the skills they have and how to translate these into what employers are looking for on CVs.
Kevin Moore Chartered MCSI, Director of CISI Global Business Development said: “This initiative has offered the students a valuable opportunity to learn the skills that employers are looking for in new entrants to the financial services sector.
“It has given the students a great overview of the opportunities available to them and to show what practitioners in financial firms actually do on a day-to-day basis.
“It’s also a great example of what can be achieved for young people when a tri-partite iniative such as this comes together. We would like to thank all the schools, the businesses and the CISI members who have helped make this experience such a success for the students.”
The students themselves were keen to voice their feedback on the experience:
- “I have really enjoyed the programme. On the insight days I learnt a lot about the different sectors of the financial services industry and also learned useful skills such as how to improve presentation skills and networking skills. During the work placement I met with members of different teams and got to have an insight into the daily work of people working in the financial services industry”, said Wendy Sun of Ipswich School, who attended a placement at Willis Towers Watson.
- “The CISI Programme has proved to be very beneficial for me. The many reasons why it has proven to be beneficial for me is because it has helped to develop my communication skills and time management skills as well. The work placement which was provided by CISI which was at Waverton Investment Management helped give me an insight into the financial world. This placement convinced me even further that I was to go into the financial sector”, said Dihan Rahman of Kemnal Technology College London, who attended a placement at Waverton Investment Management in London.
-
“Very supportive and informative, given me a much greater sense of direction with regards to where I want my career to go. The Legg Mason placement was very helpful and an eye-opening experience”, said Sam Tanner, Norton Knatchbull School Kent, who attended a placement with Legg Mason Asset Management.
-
“It gave me a very real insight into what goes on in a major financial institution such as Rathbones and processes invovled in placing orders (on the stock market) on such a large scale. I was also very interested in the way in which a particular equity or fund was researched and analysed so as to best fulfil the client’s objective.
- “The first day in particular I thought was very good and it was nice that so many busy people took time out to come and talk to us. The CV writing on the last day will no doubt prove useful”, said William Fawdry, Ryde School Isle of Wight, who attended a placement at Rathbones.
The CISI partners with schools, colleges and universities to offer qualifications and career education for young people to learn about the financial services industry and gain an understanding of the diverse job roles and employment opportunities available within the industry. If you or your firm can support our work with education both within London and in other regions nationally, please contact educationdevelopment@cisi.org