Good morning.  

Did you know that the average person spends around 90,000 hours at work over their lifetime? That's a lot of coffee breaks, water cooler chats, and hopefully, some incredible career milestones! So, here's to making each moment count and turning those hours into a fulfilling and rewarding adventure.

🎙️ Quote of the Day:

"Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do." - Steve Jobs

Applications Closing This Week

• Engineering: EP UK Investments

• Law: Weightmans

• Pharmaceuticals & Science: Johnson Matthey

• Technology: William Grant & Sons

• Wholesale & Retail: Dunbia

Banking Trends in 2024: Challenges & Opportunities

• Interest Rate Adjustments: 📈 Banks face the challenge of adapting to higher interest rates after a decade of lows, impacting lending volumes and margins.

• Risk Management: 🚨 Rising inflation and potential recession are increasing lending risks, pushing banks to re-evaluate lending strategies and focus on stable fee-based income.

• Innovative Solutions: 💡 Opportunities lie in customer-centric innovations like "help me save" apps, digital investment advice, and sustainable lending options.

• Customer-Centric Growth: 🤝 Success in 2024 will hinge on banks' ability to deepen relationships, personalize services, and assist clients in managing their finances effectively in tough times.

• Investing in Digital Growth: 🌐 Banks will emphasize enhancing digital capabilities with tools like dynamic pricing engines and next-best-offer algorithms to improve customer experience and sales efficiency.

Where do I even start (2nd & 3rd year students)?

•  Connect with Advisors Early: 🌐

  Seek advice from academic advisors to discover unique job titles aligned with your interests.

• Diversify Your Job Search Platforms: 🔍

  Use both industry-specific websites and general job boards for a comprehensive job search.

• Tap into University Resources: 🎓

  Leverage career advisors and supervisors to explore untapped opportunities within your academic field.

• Research Companies Effectively: 🕵️‍♂️

  Invest time in thorough research, exploring websites like LinkedIn and grad-specific platforms.

• Strategic Application Crafting: ✍️

  Create detailed responses to common questions, saving time by tailoring them for each application.

Tell Me About Yourself

• Type of Question: 🎯 The "Tell me about yourself" question is an invitation to present your professional qualifications and experiences.

• Purpose: 🕵️‍♂️ Interviewers use it to gauge how well your qualifications and past work experiences align with the role's requirements.

• Example: 💬 An instance of this question could be, "Can you walk me through your professional background and why you think you're a good fit for this role?"

• Snapshot Strategy: ⏳ Start by giving a chronological overview of your work history, highlighting key positions, responsibilities, and the duration of each role.

• Accomplishment Highlight: 🏆 For each role mentioned, articulate a significant achievement, focusing on quantifiable results and how you added value to the company.

• Fit and Awareness: 🔗 Conclude by acknowledging the specific needs of the role you’re applying for and why your skills match those needs, creating a direct link between your experience and the employer's requirements.

Submit your answer! We'll review it and provide feedback to ensure you're on the right track!

Test yourself with this real interview question?

Question:

Your line manager has increased the final quarter targets by 20% and is keen to exceed the offshore bonds target. You must now decide how to inform and motivate your team to meet these new challenges. Among the following options, which would you be 'most likely to make' and 'least likely to make'?

Responses:

A) Send an email to your team letting them know about the new targets for Q4.

B) Call an immediate team meeting to let the team know about the new targets and say that people are welcome to come to you if they need further information or support.

C) Allow the team to enjoy their Christmas holidays, congratulate them on a job well done this quarter, and wait until January to tell them about the target hike.

D) Meet individually with all your advisors as soon as possible and explain the challenge to them. Ask for their thoughts and input on how they might go about meeting the targets and addressing the offshore bonds push.

Correct Answer: Most Effective Response: Response D. Meeting individually with all your advisors and explaining the challenge to them, asking for their thoughts and input on how they might meet the targets and address the offshore bonds push is the most effective response. This approach helps the advisors take responsibility for planning how to meet their targets and allows for the best ideas to come forth since they are directly involved with the clients. Informing them in advance also allows them to prepare themselves.

Least Effective Response: Response C. Allowing the team to enjoy their Christmas holidays and waiting until January to tell them about the target hike is the least effective response. This does not allow sufficient time for your advisors to plan their approach to the increased targets and for you to help them with this.

Let us know your thoughts, comments and feedback! 💌