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 has a lot of varying tasks so a lot of the time no day is the same but a few of the reoccurring tasks I have include collating data and uploading it to various sites/documents. Other tasks include checking through excel documents to make sure information has been properly input. I enjoy my role and believe that the work I complete is meaningful, which I think is a big factor in the enjoyment of my day to day duties.
I have definitely learnt a lot of new skills in my time so far. I think the biggest skills I have developed on/learnt is communication and time management. These are my two biggest skills which I use on a daily basis. I have learnt good communication between my team and my time management skills have helped me prioritise what tasks to complete first and how to split up my day in order to maintain maximum productivity. There are also a huge amount of external and internal training courses to learn many different things such as excel skills and other physical and mental training in order to maximise potential. These have been extremely helpful and definitely accelerated my learning during the course of my time here. A professionally recognised exam is also provided during our time. This has taught me independent revision and learning skills, while also helping me acquire a qualification which can help in my future career. The skills I have learnt are definitely transferable and helpful in other aspects of my life.
I have received a huge amount of enjoyment throughout the duration of my time working here. I believe that the company culture and people are the biggest reason for enjoyment. I believe that the company have exceeded my expectations in terms of training and support. There is a huge amount of support provided by everyone in the business. There is a huge encouragement for learning instead of a pressure to get everything 100% perfect first time which I think is another big contributor to how much I enjoy the programme. In conclusion I very much enjoy the programme and believe that in general my expectations have been exceeded. I would urge anyone who was offered the position to take it as it has been a brilliant experience, especially in terms of progression and learning.
I think that there has been a huge amount of organisation and structure to the programme. To start with the induction it provided a lot of useful information and made me feel very welcome and ready for a good start. I think it was especially good considering it was the first ever virtual induction (due to COVID) The training provided has also been excellent, there has been internal and external training sessions which have been provided and I believe they have been extremely useful and taught me many new skills which have excelled my learning in the business, and helped me settle into my role much quicker. There has also been a huge amount of support provided by surrounding teams, and people in my immediate team. There has also been a huge amount of support from the early careers team. A "buddy" system which has been provided also helps to create a safe environment for any questions you have. In conclusion I think that the there has been a massive amount of support and structure in the programme, there is a lot of opportunities to learn which I think have been organised very well and has helped my development a lot.
The support since joining this programme has been excellent. My manager has been very good in supporting any training sessions and has expressed to me how I should prioritise them, he is also very approachable so I can very comfortably ask any questions. The HR team has also been great in supporting by saying how people can message them at any time for help. There is an emphasis on how learning is important and that there is no pressure to get everything absolutely right first time which I think means people are more open and likely to ask questions which in my opinion creates an inclusive and supported environment. I believe that the support received could not be any better, it is clear that asking questions and learning is the many priority of the programme, and that any questions can be asked with no judgement.
I think that the support could be better however there is more than enough resources to comfortably revise and learn the content, I think that it would've been helpful to have the content broken down into hour a day sessions to make sure that you can cover it in the most efficient way possible.
The qualification has been extremely helpful when it comes to performing in my current role. The qualification gives a broad view on the entire industry which helps me understand why my role is important and how it affects other parts of the business. It also helps me understand how surrounding roles help the business.
There has not been too many extra-curricular activities but I think the reason for this is due to COVID, and how there are no offices or places open. There has been some social zoom calls with the other trainees however these have been set up by the trainees and not the business.
Yes
I think that it provides an excellent place to learn and develop your career. There is a lot of opportunities and support so I think that it is definitely a good place to work. There is a lot of focus on development which I believe is the most important part, especially at the start of your career.
Some advice I would give is just to be honest and open. People applying should be people willing to learn and ready to work. I think that the best advice I could give would be to not be nervous, everybody here is very welcoming and supportive, and if you put in the work there is the opportunity to learn a lot!
Details
School Leaver Programme
Finance
London
April 2021