Rating
- 1. Please give an overview of your role and what this involves on a day-to-day basis:
- 2. Have you learnt any new skills or developed existing skills?
- 3. To what extent do you enjoy your programme?
- 4. How well organised/structured is your programme?
- 5. How much support do you receive from your employer?
- 6. How much support do you receive from your training provider when working towards your qualifications?
- 7. How well do you feel that your qualification (through your training provider) helps you to perform better in your role?
- 8. Are there extra-curricular activities to get involved in at your work? (For example, any social activities, sports teams, or even professional networking events.)
- 9a. Would you recommend abrdn to a friend?
- 9b. Why?
- 10. What tips or advice would you give to others applying to abrdn?
My role within the team is an ESG Investment Administrator. In my day to day role I am involved in a variety of tasks across the team. I am support with work including submissions, quarterly reports, position statements and research. I also work at producing voting reports that we can provide to our clients.
I have learnt so many new skills during my time at SLA. I am much more confident now and enjoy public speaking. I have also become a lot better at time management as I am trying to best balance my work and university commitments. I have also developed my analytic skills, through using programmes like Excel.
I really enjoy the programme. Although I can sometimes find it hard to balance full time studying and full time working it has been an amazing experience so far. I feel so grateful to have the opportunity to earn my degree whilst learning practical skills in the workplace and doing a job I love.
My programme is structured really well, the university provide so much support and guidance on not just the degree but wider skills as well. A lot of the responsibility in how I manage my time is down to me. This has positives and negatives but has definitely allowed me to focus on what is important, discipline and time management.
I feel a I receive a lot of support from my employer. I have regular catch ups with my manager and we discuss anything that I am finding challenging. I also have a catch up with my mentor every two weeks where I discuss the Graduate Apprenticeship and anything else I feel I need extra support from.
I receive a huge amount of support. I have a course leader who I am always able to go to if I have any problems and the module leader. There is also a success coach as well who can help me with work. There are so many resources available to support me during my GA that can also be found through the university.
I think the qualification helps me to perform much better as I am constantly learning new skills and developing ones I already have. It also allows for constant reflection and allows me to meet with different parts of the business to find out more about what they do which, whilst working from home is something I have found hard to do otherwise.
I am involved with two of the companies networks. I sit on the working group for Balance which is a gender equality network. I think this is really important as I am able to see what is being done in the company but also get involved by hosting events etc. I am also a member of the YPDN (Young Persons Development Network) which organises a lot of events to help develop and also facilitate social opportunities.
Yes
I would recommend SLA to a friend as they have provided me with such a huge amount of opportunities that I never would have been able to do otherwise. I am working towards my investment qualifications, I have gained an Aprenticeship, I am now working towards my degree, I have been able to speak at events, I have met such a wide network of interesting people and I am working in a role I love. None of this would have been possible without the support of the company.
I would advise people to be yourself, the company want to know about who you are as a person and what your interests are so they can match you with the best department. I would also recommend having a mock interview before your actual interview so you feel more confident when it comes around.
Details
Degree Apprenticeship
Finance
Edinburgh
March 2021