Your Career, Your Future

Louise: Hello and welcome to Your Career, your Future, the podcast that takes you behind the scenes of what it’s really like to work in Jersey’s finance sector. I’m Louise Burrows, head of marketing at Jersey Finance.

Now, what if your summer work experience actually turned into your first full-time job? Well, that’s exactly what happened for today’s guests. I’m joined by Ella and Diogo, who both took part in Jersey Finance’s, life and Finance scheme, and I now work at KPMG in the Crown Dependencies. I’m also joined by Kim Hammond, who helps bring new talent into the business as part of her role as KPMG’s senior Recruitment advisor.

We’re going talk to them about work experience and how it can shape your future career. So, whether you’re a student thinking of taking part or you’re listening from one of our member firms, I hope that we can persuade you to take part in this year’s scheme. So, let’s get straight into it and meet our guests.

Can I ask you each to introduce yourselves? First of all, Ella.

Ella: Hi, I’m Ella. I’m an audit assistant at KPMG now.

Diogo: Hello, my name’s Diogo, and I am an audit assistant at KPMG.

Kim: Hi, my name’s Kim. I am a senior recruitment advisor for KPMG in the Crown Dependencies.

Louise: Thank you, and it’s lovely to have you all with us today to talk about life and finance.

For anyone listening who maybe hasn’t come across life in finance before, it’s a scheme that matches local six form and college students with finance firms here in Jersey, and it’s a structured work experience placement that takes place over the summer holidays. It all starts with our meet and greet event where students and firms get to know one another, and it helps them find the right fit after the event.

Jersey Finance manages the matching process, so we align students with the firms and the job roles that suit what their interests are, and it makes it really easy for employers to get involved, and it also gives students a supported and confidence building first step into the finance industry. So, Ella and Diego, let’s go right back to the beginning.

How did you first hear about the scheme and what made you decide to apply and, and Ella, should we start with you?

Ella: Yeah, so, I first heard about it during school, so we have a really good quiz advisor at Holier School who actually went through and, um, advertised the life and finance scheme, and then we had an opportunity in class to go through and actually apply for it.

So yeah, that was my first time hearing about it and I just thought it’d be. A great scheme to start off with and uh, I was always thinking about doing finance as a career.

Louise: Super. And so I understand you were at the same school, but how does that compare to your experience and, and what drew you to the scheme?

Diogo: I first heard of the scheme when I did my work experience at Jersey Finance as a marketing assistant. And one of my first tasks was to research the events that Jersey Finance plan and host. And as I was researching, I found the life and finance scheme and I thought it was a really good opportunity to grow my cv.

Gain a bit of industry experience because I knew that finance was a possibility in the future. And then in year 12, when Charlie and Jess came into holier to launch the scheme, it reminded me of my work experience and how interested I had been at the time.

Another factor was that in year 12, I was really undecided between university and going straight into the world of work, so I wanted to get a little bit more experience into the world of work to help me choose between the two.

Louise: Yeah, I think that’s a perfect case study because when we’re that age and we’re at sort of a level stage, you know, year 12, six, former, we’re at college, you, you don’t always know what you want to do yet. You’re undecided. You maybe perhaps know what your skill sets are or you know, the things that you don’t want to do.

And I think that, uh, coming into a program like this just really gives you an opportunity to explore without any commitment or without any concerns really what, like what you might do in the future. So, it’s really interesting always to hear about what draws people into the scheme. Thinking back now to your placements, what did you enjoy the most?

Um, was there anything that maybe surprised you or was different to how you expected it to be? And dear girl, I’ll come to you first this time.

Diogo: So, for my placement, I worked at Ogier and at Ogier I was on a rotational working experience where I worked in different departments such as the private wealth and funds team.

I really enjoyed meeting and working with different teams because it allowed me to get a real feel of what each department does. They gave me tasks that a real administrator would be doing. So, I did feel like I was contributing to the overall success of the team, which just felt really good. And then something that surprised me was I often found myself talking to different people about their career paths and how they ended up in the position that they were in now.

And it really highlighted how different career paths in finance can look and how university is in need of these financial sector jobs. Especially in Joes where there are so many school lever opportunities like KPMG who offer the scheme to become a fully qualified accountant at no personal cost while gaining a salary.
I think it’s good to note and something that I wish school leaders who were interested in finance knew more of.

Louise: No, it’s a really good point and it’s something that we hear so often that misconception that, oh, you’ve got to have gone to university and got a university degree to be able to get into the industry.

And it’s really not the case. There’s, there’s so many opportunities to get in. Indeed. If you’ve got a university degree, there still is. That’s great. But yeah, absolutely. Um, having a university degree or not having a university degree certainly isn’t a barrier to, to coming and working in the industry.

Ella, what about you? What stood out most during your placement and did anything challenge your expectations of the industry?

Ella: I’m not going to say I had a lot of challenges during my time. I think I actually found it a bit more relaxed than I thought I would. I initially came in and I was like, I obviously dress very professionally and I’ve obviously put on a professional manner.

And actually when I walked into Alex Picco Trust, it was really. Chill and there was a lot of young people and it was just like such a nice environment. And I feel like I actually had a lot more conversations with people about what I was, what I was thinking of doing and what I was going to do after this.

Like I didn’t really know what I was going to do. And I think having that rotational scheme was just great because I worked in hr, I did trust, I did accountancy. So, seeing all those different sides, I was like, actually, there’s a lot of stuff that. I never considered about doing that. I could do so, yeah, not many challenges with it.

I mean, obviously it was quite difficult ’cause it was during the summer, and it was nine to five. But actually, after getting in the rhythm of it, like in the middle of the week when I got through to like [00:06:00] Wednesday, I felt like I was already in there and it was like I felt a part of a team, which was great.

So yeah, not too many challenges.

Louise: No, but some really interesting themes that you picked out there. First of all, the depth and the breadth of the opportunities that’s available in the industry. You know, whether you are a really keen mathematician and want to go down the accountancy route, or whether you have more the sort of the soft skills.

You know that we talk about that a lot, about the ability to communicate with people. The ability to organise yourself and organise your time is probably more of a skill that you need. And secondly, I think it was really interesting that the industry’s a lot more relaxed than you thought it would be.

It’s not all, um, sort of people in suits and being very formal and very professional all the time. We, we talk a lot about authenticity and bringing your, your whole self to work. And I think the industry’s really changed over the last of 20, 30 years to, to become a place that embraces all different types of people.

So that’s really good to hear that, that’s, that’s been your experience too. So do you think then the scheme helped you build your confidence when you actually started looking for jobs after school?

Ella: Yeah, totally. Like I actually sat down with the lady that was in charge of my life in a finance placement and she sort of helped me with my CV as well.

And we actually did a pretend sort of interview, which really, really helped me when I applied for KPMG. And I actually thought, wow, I’ve, I’ve come into this for two weeks of my time and I’ve, I’ve learned so much and I also think. With it, you sort of know what you’re going into already because I think two weeks is definitely enough time to feel like you’ve settled in somewhere.

So yeah, I definitely think it did help me when I was applying for jobs and actually what I wanted to look for in a job. You, you get the right feel for somewhere and it’s not just, oh, did they like me or did I actually like them? And. The sort of atmosphere in the interview.

Louise: yeah, I totally agree with you.

It’s a two-way process, right? When you go into an interview, it’s as much about whether you are going to enjoy the job and whether you are going to fit well in that role as it is, whether, whether the company likes you. And I think when you are, perhaps when you’re younger and coming out of school, uh, you don’t realise that.

So it’s great that those two weeks just give you those insights. And I think, you know, if you come into to somewhere for two weeks, you, you have got a feeling of whether this could be something that you, you want to do sort of more permanently. So, it’s great. Diogo, how about you?

Diogo: Definitely at the meet and greet event.

I was obviously looking for companies where I could see myself working in during the summer and getting a bit of insight, but as the opportunity to have a quick five minute chat with these firms is often really hard to arrange, it allowed me to also look for potential employees And being in year 12, this really useful to have a list of a potential employee.

’cause you go into year 13 and as soon as you’re in year 13, these school leave or entry level jobs start to open. And as a result. I was one of the first people in the year to be applying for these jobs and getting the offers. So, it left me in a secure place in the beginning of year 13 ’cause I knew where I could see myself coming and I wasn’t scavenging for jobs last minute.

Louise: Yeah, absolutely. So, just to give a bit more on, on how the meet and greet works, we end up with about, I’d say around 30 firms on an average year and. 30 firms are, are all present. They, they have their sort of stands or their, their tables and the students can go around the room. You can talk to as many or as few of those firms as you like.

Some students come into the room with already half a dozen names of the big firms that they want to talk to that are going to be there. But then also we’ve got some members that offer fantastic employment opportunities straight out of school that aren’t necessarily household names. That’s. The nature of Jersey’s finance industry, some of them are quite sort of private, quite sort of confidential.

But then it’s an opportunity to maybe get exposure to some of those firms and, and learn, like you say, know the names that you want to be looking out for when you’re, when you’re looking for your, your first real job. So we’ve got a student’s perspective on the scheme and I want to touch now on why work experience is also a great opportunity for firms.

So coming to you more now, Kim, you’ve taken part in the scheme for several years now with KPMG. What do you think the scheme adds, um, how does it add value to your workplace and why is it important to provide these opportunities for students?

Kim: I think it’s a really important opportunity to offer both to the employer and to the students as well.

I think we’ve touched on it multiple times already, but it’s all about raising awareness to local students of what opportunities are there locally within the finance industry, and also really just explaining what it means to work in finance. What roles are out there. I think sometimes when we talk about jobs in finance, we pull them all into.
One industry, but actually that’s not the case. There are so many different roles, just taking accounting for one. You know, at KPMG, we have three client facing departments that graduates can choose to go into, and that’s just in our company alone. But then you look at the wider finance industry and there’s so many options, and I think that can also seem quite overwhelming for students when they’re trying to decide with the lack of knowledge of what these areas are.

So having a scheme like life and finance, where not only can they choose a company. To go and do work experience, and I think what sets this scheme apart is they have the opportunity before the placement even takes place to just go and have a conversation with companies and they can find out what they would be exposed to if they were to choose that company or select that company for the placement.

It’s a really great opportunity to meet with. Recruiters or meet with managers from different companies and find out a little bit more so that they’re making an informed decision. But not only that, I think then once you get placed as an employer, once you get placed with that student, the likelihood is you know that student.

’cause you’ve had that conversation at the meet and greet, so you know what they’re looking for. You’ve already asked the questions so you can tailor the placement to what they are wanting to get out of it. And it makes it much more valuable on both sides. We’ve had. Some amazing students come through our doors through the life and finance scheme over the past few years, and even whilst Di Diogo and Ella didn’t do their placements with KPMG, we’re very, very lucky that their placements, they did have had a really positive experience for them and they’ve now come to work.

Well, they’ve chosen finances and industry that they want to work in and they want their career to start in. And they’ve come to work for us at KPMG. So [00:12:00] it has a, it has a really positive knock on effect, but it’s, I think it’s the. The educational piece that makes it so important.

Louise: Yeah, and I think for students to be able to come into that environment where there’s no commitment, you can go and have a little chat with the firms.
If you don’t end up working there, if you don’t end up putting ’em on your placement, that’s absolutely fine. There’s no awkwardness. There’s no need to be sort of having conversations or emails back and forth, which I think is intimidating at that stage in your life, right? To have to say to someone, oh, actually no thanks.

I don’t think I’m going to come and work for you. Thank you. And you know, we do all of that. We take that pressure off and we just make it as nice and as positive as an experience as, as we. Can, as a people led industry, I think we’ve got a real responsibility to invest in young talent today. Um, ensures that we’re building the workforce that we’re going to need for the future.

But something we often hear from firms is how to structure the placements. So they want to get involved, but they’ve got some concerns about maybe access to systems or they’re working with very sensitive data. So how can firms still create a really valuable and insightful experience for their students, but even within those constraints?
Kim: Yeah, absolutely. Obviously, working within the finance industry, there’s always going to be some concerns over what you can and can’t give access to when it comes to bringing students into the firm, particularly for a very short period of time. But I think it’s more about the format in which you give the information out.

So, if they, if they can’t have access to systems, can you arrange. Presentations or meet and greets with certain members of the team that can give them insights into their day to day. Could they do shadowing? Are there any internal team meetings that they could be involved in? Or could you potentially introduce them to certain skills training that will give them an idea of what skills they’ll need to learn if they join that particular career.

So, I think it’s about looking at maybe if they can’t do certain aspects of the role itself. Is there still a way of looking at how you can get that information across them? I think at the end of the day, the student wants to come away and I think you want the student to come away with a better understanding of, is this the job for me?
Can I see myself doing this after school and is this something I can see myself enjoying? And it’s about that information sharing and giving that better understanding and how we go about doing that. So, there’s so many different ways in order to give that experience, even if there are restrictions.

Louise: and I think that’s changed, right?

The industry’s view of work experience. I dare say in the past it might have been a way to sort of get a couple of weeks of, of free or, or cheap labour, whereas I think nowadays the industry is much more on board with their responsibility and their commitment to the future, that they’re doing it for sort of more, slightly more philanthropic reasons.

And yes. Takes time out of your business. And yes, it takes your people, um, to be commit to that, but realistically, you know, it’s a chance to see the new talent that’s rising through the ranks. Um, it’s an opportunity to showcase your business for potential future employees and, and that’s where you can sort of get the value back is, is maybe in a few years’ time when you get good students joining your firm.

Kim: Absolutely, and I think you see this with these work experience placements, that it’s also about building those connections as well with students. If they have had the opportunity to come into a firm, meet with the team, understand the working environment, and realize that it’s something that they might like, they, they are more encouraged to reach out to you in the future when it is time for them to look for jobs because they’ve, they’ve already got that connection.

They feel comfortable. It’s, it’s a lot more. Inviting and it’s a lot more encouraging for them. And it does take time out of your day as the employer. It takes time out of your week to invest in, in planning a, you know, a week of work experience or a week of shadowing and, and to put these trainings or these presentations in place.
But I think the reward you get from that further down the line adds so much value. I think the other thing as well, it’s not just about understanding from the student’s perspective of what the day-to-day job is that you’re bringing them in to do, but it’s also about helping them to understand what working in finance is really like.
I think Ella touched on it before that she thought, if I’m going to be coming into an office, it’s all suits and very formal and yes. Being on your best behaviour time. Yeah, yeah, absolutely. And it is to an extent. You’re, you are in a formal workplace and it’s very, very different to school. But it’s also welcoming and friendly, and it’s all, it’s about collaboration and it’s about teamwork, and it’s about adding value in other areas and making an impact.

And there’s so many different things that I think you can bring exposure to that can help to then make those informed decisions and hopefully bring them back into your talent pool later down the line.

Louise: Absolutely. I think the key word you say there is invest, right? It’s an investment. Absolutely. So, Kim, can I ask you a bit more about how you found the process of applying and being part of the scheme from an employer’s perspective?

Kim: Definitely, it’s so easy, and I think the fact that it is organized, run, and supported by Jersey Finance makes it even easier. I signed up, I think it might have been the day that the LinkedIn post went out about this year’s scheme. I saw it on LinkedIn, clicked on the link, filled out the very short questionnaire.

The details of who we were as a company, what we were looking for, hit submit, and then you get contacted by Jersey Finance shortly afterwards with the details of the dates and a calendar invite to the meet and greet. All you have to do then, as the employer is. Turn up to the meet and greet. It’s a few hours in the afternoon, talk with the students, and then after the meet and greet you then get contacted again by Jersey Finance who let you know which student you have been matched with.

So, there’s very little in terms of administrative. Tasks that you need to do as an employer. It’s all really supported by Jersey Finance, as we’ve already said. It’s just about investing your time in the work placement once you’ve got that secure and turning up to the meeting greet. But it’s a, it’s a great opportunity to meet with load of students on the island.

Louise: No, thanks Kim. That’s really good to hear. For employers considering offering this work experience placement, then what advice would you give them and how can they get the most out of the scheme?

Kim: I think I would. Consider not only the scheme, but the meet and greet portion of the scheme as well. So really having those conversations with students that are turning up to the meet and greet and asking them, what are you hoping to get out of this experience if you did come to our company for a work placement?

What would you want to get out of it so that you can then structure the placement around what’s best for the student as well. But also, as we’ve already mentioned, being a bit flexible with what opportunities you can offer whilst you’re there. Is it having shadowing opportunities with certain members of staff?

Is it presentations? Is it networking with other junior members of staff who also might be able to talk about their own experiences, but planning early, but also having those conversations and using that meet and greets really. Get the, get the knowledge from the students as well. ’cause at the end of the day, it’s them that you want to give the good experience to.

We’ve been very lucky in the students that we’ve had come through this scheme. I think the important thing to note, maybe both the student, but also for the employers, is that when students are taking part in this scheme. They’re putting themselves forward for it, but they’re at the age where they are starting to make really crucial decisions about what they want to do.

So it’s a really important time not only for the students to be taking part in schemes like this, to add it to their cv, to build on their experience, to gain their understanding, but it’s also important for employers to, this is the time that students are really going to start wanting to engage with.

Companies, so this is the time to engage with them back. As I say, we’ve had some fantastic students come through our doors through this scheme. Some of them have gone on to working with KPMG, others have gone on to go to university, and hopefully we see them again in the future. But likewise, we’ve also got, as I say, students like a, and that are now doing fantastically well in our graduate scheme training to be qualified accountants and, and.

Building on the knowledge that they gained through their work experiences. So, I think it’s all beneficial.

Louise: And you must see a lot of CVS in your role, especially from younger people first coming into the industry. How much does having a work experience placement, whether it’s life in finance or does working experience more generally, how much does that help them set themselves apart from, from what’s quite an in competitive environment now?

Kim: It’s incredibly competitive and. I would say that any type of work experience that students can get onto their CV is beneficial. It does make their CV stand out because first and foremost, particularly for graduate schemes, recruiters and companies are going to be looking at your academic grades. We’re all students working incredibly hard to get the minimum requirements.

Now, the candidates, they’re going to be considering those that have been shortlisted have most likely already met that requirement. So, then they’re going to be looking at what else sets them apart on their cv. And if you have taken the time to attend life and finance meeting, greet, reach out and, and talk to and converse with companies, and then take time out of your summer.

As Ella said, it’s time out of your summer holidays, but it’s two weeks out of your summer holidays. And that goes on your cv and that looks really impressive to potential employers. So I think as much work experience opportunities as you can get before you have to make those big decisions are really, really important because then you know that you’re making those decisions with as much information as you could possibly get, and it might also potentially lead to a job further down the line.
So it’s, it’s got added benefit there.

Louise: So maybe let’s just finish with Ellen and Diego then. What would you say to a student considering taking part?

Ella: Just go for it. Honestly, just do it. Even if you don’t even think that you are going to touch finance, you’re not even going to touch an application for any finance jobs.
Just do it because I had no idea what I wanted to do at the start of year 12 and sitting there in the room with loads of different employers and just getting a sort of gist for any sort of opportunity I could do. Really, really helped and life and finance did solidify the my choice to go to KPMG. So, I just think going with an open mind, don’t have a list of employers that you want to go for.

Just go to any that sort of, you are like, oh, that’s caught my eye. Just do it just. Just go and do it. I know I’m really, really, really encouraging it, but I just think it’s such a good thing to do, and even it’s two weeks out of your summer, you just learn so much. And actually, I did a sort of blog for it and I still look at that today and I’m like, wow.

That was such a good opportunity and yeah, I just enjoyed it. So definitely do it. And also, I recommend, definitely do a rotational scheme. Um, like a rotational placement is great because I worked in compliance, HR accountancy like I spoke about before, and that also really helped me when I went into KPMG ’cause I knew what all of these different roles did.

So yeah, it’s great and just do it.

Louise: Diogo for you.

Diogo: Yeah, I couldn’t agree more. Not only do you get the industry experience, but you also grow your interpersonal skills and your professional skills because you’re working in a professional setting and often to like to differentiate yourself. It’s good to highlight the fact that you’ve got these skills that employees aren’t really seeing and your cv, but you can demonstrate if you go out of it, thinking finance isn’t really for me.

Great. At least that’s out of your way, you know that. But I would a hundred percent go for it. If there’s no expectation for you to know what audit is, for example, you’ll there to ask questions. You are there to learn and to find out if this area is for you. So, I would just go for it. You’ll get more out of it than you expect.
That’s for sure.

Louise: That’s fantastic. Thank you all very, very much. So that brings us to the end of today’s episode. A big thanks to Ella, to Diogo and to Kim for joining us and for giving us, uh, your insights and being so encouraging to students and, and firms that are thinking about taking part. This episode’s been all about the value of gaining work experience, how placements can build confidence and skills, and the important role that employers play in helping our students explore the finance industry.

So, if you’d like to get involved and find out more about the Life in Finance scheme, visit the Jersey Finance website. If you enjoyed listening to this episode, don’t forget to subscribe to your career, your future, and thanks for listening. We really hope that this inspires students to take the [first step into a career in finance.