Finance and Commercial Academy Student Review

I work as a Finance and Commercial Academy student. Daily tasks differ depending on the placement you are in but will usually involve reporting on and interpreting different forms of financial information. It also includes dealing with and answering queries from different sources. You will have responsibility for a range of projects and interact with your team around you throughout the day as you will be working with them on a lot of things.

I have learnt a lot of new skills. We study towards a CIMA professional qualification which we are given study leave to complete classes. We also partake in many internal courses ranging from excel skills all the way to improving CV's and interview techniques. These are all organised and are part of the scheme, they are very useful and can be used to apply in your day-to-day job

I really enjoy the programme. The work can be challenging but is enjoyable and there is a big variety of things to do. The teams you work with are all very inclusive and help you out wherever they can. It exceeds the expectations I originally had and is very interesting to be a part of. The size of the company also adds to the enjoyment as there is so much opportunity to do different things.

We have a reward system which allows employees to recognise others for exceptional work. This is one way employees are valued. Within the scheme teams make sure that you are involved in activities and give you lots of opportunities when you first join so that you. They trust you so that you get to lead and partake in different projects for the team also which can be very rewarding.

The programme is extremely well organised. Induction is covered over a couple of days in a central office. Trainings are scheduled through the scheme to aid you in development. The majority of the work to organise everything goes on behind the scenes and we do not need to worry about it. Course, meetings and support are all set up in advanced and there you always know well in advance where you will be for your next placement.

The training provider we have dedicate a specific team to dealing with company employees so we get very personalised support. They are always available to contact for help and respond quickly. They are always more than happy to help us with whatever we need and usually have the answers to our questions and if not they will go and find them.

We receive support from a lot of different places. You will have regular catch ups with your placement manager to go over anything you like. HR are always contactable for any thing you may need from them. The line manager also is extremely helpful and can answer most questions and is always there for support. Everyone is more than happy to help out whenever they can and it makes you feel very valued.

The salary is very good for just coming straight from college. It certainly covers all living, travel and daily costs pretty comfortably. If you have to move locations you are also given financial aid for the move which is very helpful and more than covers the moving costs.

The company has a policy which allows all employees to have 2 days a year to do voluntary work in the community. This usually leads to teams setting up team events in the community which you can attend. Most teams will also have a team building trip at least once per year which you will be able to get involved with. With the amount of employees there are also lots of other opportunities to socialise out of work and there will more than likely be lots of people interested in the same thing as you.

Yes

They are a huge company. As they have sites across the country and the globe it means there are countless opportunities with this company. You can go in any direction you wish. The programme itself is extremely beneficial and will set you up with the skills and experience needed to land yourself most jobs. They look after and invest a lot in you.

Prepare well for the application process. It will involve a video interview followed by an assessment day. In a pressure situation like that the more you have prepared the easier it is to give a good representation of yourself. There will more than likely be a presentation stage to the assessment centre. This is the ideal opportunity to give the assessors a good view of how well you can prepare and allows you to show off your other abilities, spend quite a bit of time working on this.