Compliance Apprentice Review

Compliance involves mitigating compliance risk to the business and preventing the business from losing reputation within the industry. This is achieved by advising different business areas on how to ensure they do not breach regulation and completing monitoring reviews to give feedback to the business on whether changes need to occur in the way we are operating.

Throughout my time in compliance, I have developed my communication skills and have picked up new skills such as report writing and regulatory knowledge. I have advanced my communicating skills through liaising with the business on different projects and topics and how to deliver constructive feedback to issues. My report writing skills have developed through my compliance monitoring reports, learning the importance of structure and how to ensure findings and evidence are concise. Furthermore, reading through the FCA handbook on regulatory topics has also increased my knowledge and understanding of regulatory areas that the company could breach.

Throughout my time on the program so far, I have thoroughly enjoyed my experiences in the Compliance role and have learnt and developed skills I will take with me for time I am in Compliance for. I have enjoyed the interaction with senior staff on a day to day basis and have the feeling that you are a valued part of the team.

My programme is structured through the balance between "in the office working" and my academic qualifications and "off the job" training. In my on the job work, I know what I will be working on due to being assigned tasks and reviews to conduct which is really helpful when planning my schedule. my off the job training is also very clear and understanding in the MyKapApp supplied by Kaplan where I can go onto online and work on my tasks assigned to me by my talent coach.

Throughout my time so far on the apprenticeship, I received significant amounts of help and guidance from my employer in my compliance role. At any point when I am unsure on what to do or areas that I have not seen before, my team are always on hand to help and guide me in the right direction. I also have weekly team meetings and one-to-one catch ups with my manager to discuss recent work and to see where I can improve my development in compliance.

During my time on the apprenticeship, I have received help on my qualifications through my talent coach assigned to me by my training provider, Kaplan. My talent coach has supplied me with assignments to progress through my course and help me pass my exam on Compliance. In the near future, I will be meeting with my talent coach in person to discuss my personal development and how I can maximise my apprenticeship as a whole.

I believe the topics I am learning in my professional qualification will assist my role as I will have knowledge about the compliance role and the different aspects that contribute to the compliance function (e.g. Financial Crime, Monitoring, Advisory etc.). This knowledge is useful as it provides exposure to how other people within the department perform there roles and the responsibilities that come with it.

Extra-curricular activities are slightly limited at Fidelity, maybe due to its location but there are times there are the occasional events whereby the apprentices get to meet and socialise at the London office. We recently also had the apprentice and graduate Christmas party which was very enjoyable and also have our team social events where we went to a comedy show aswell.

Yes

I would recommend Fidelity to a friend due to a number of reasons. Fidelity has a very good culture and everyone is always available to help and are very supportive. Also, the work I encounter in my day to day role is also varied and I always have a new challenge to face when I turn up at the office.

My advice to others looking to apply to Fidelity would be to research the company and have some background knowledge on its history. Also, I can do attitude goes a long way and if you were to show willingness to learn and develop, I am sure Fidelity would be a great place to work in the future.