Graduate Profiles Detail United Kingdom

Harikrishnan works in the control team at one of the largest investment banks in the world. His role involves ensuring that the bank is reporting everything it does correctly to the government regulator. He describes his role as ‘the second line of defence’, analysing data to ensure all trading is done in the right way, and creating mechanisms that prevent any errors.

I love the fact that every day there is a new challenge. Every day there are new scenarios to look at, and new solutions to come up with. And I gain satisfaction from the fact that I play an important part in upholding the bank’s good reputation. I work in the company's operational risk and regulatory control team where we ensure that the company is adhering to strict regulatory reporting guidelines while trading.

It gave me the technical skills needed for the role. I'm from a non-tech background and the course was great for providing me with the grounding I needed in terms of the tech required, especially Python. I was asked several questions relating to this at my interview, for example on things like uploading an Excel file to Python. I was completely new to Python and programming at the time, but was able to answer these questions because of a module called ‘Programming for Data Science’, which helped me to understand and read Python code.

The course also provided excellent networking opportunities. The ‘Fintech Environment’ module included talks by many speakers from the sector, including bank CEOs, heads of FinTech companies, and start-ups. It was great for giving us a perspective from the employers themselves, as well as invaluable contacts.

Get familiar with the approaches that UK companies use in their graduate recruitment. For example, I always tell students interested in investment banking to practice behavioural questions. I attended interviews with Goldmans, JP Morgan, Lloyds and Morgan Stanley, and they all used that approach, where basically they are looking at your character and whether you would fit the organisation. It can really help to practice using the STAR model of ‘situation, target, action, result’ for answering the types of scenario questions used in these interviews.

Look into the gamut of tests the company may use, including mental aptitude tests, and dual test games. These approaches are very popular, and there are often sample tests that can be practiced online.

Do your research and build your knowledge of that industry. For investment banking for example, some financial knowledge will really serve you well. Learn about the various financial products and how the stock market and trading life cycle works in the world.

When writing your CV, rather than simply describing what you do on a daily basis, focus as much as possible on how you have actually helped your employer – how you have been an asset, and what you have achieved for them. Make sure your CV is tailored to the role applied for, focusing as much as possible on what the employer is looking for, so as to maximise the likelihood that you are using the key words their automated selection processes are looking for.

And finally, start researching the UK job market as early as possible, so that you can consider all the various graduate programs and options ahead of their deadlines – which can be very early.