FAQ
1) How do you work?
Your graduates may be in a classroom, but this is nothing like their university lectures. Filled with case studies and mini-simulations, it is interactive and involving. Your graduates will receive a comprehensive, non-mathematical introduction to the key elements of the financial services industry.
Case studies
We use case studies to illustrate best and worst practices, what and how things can go wrong and right. By highlighting real-life consequences graduates are shown a wider view of the marketplace and the wider implications a decision can have.
A half-day orientation of the Reuters or Bloomberg products at their respective premises is built around exercises to replicate the type of work the graduates will be asked to do as soon as they start their roles.
2) How can I ensure the training picks up on the nuances of my organisation?
Through research into your organisation, whether through talking to line managers, accessing your company intranet, reading your research documents or meeting with your marketing & communication team, we are able to make direct reference to specific products and services within the graduate programme. This allows us to contextualise your company's offering within the market and ensure your graduates understand how and why your company fits and its individual culture.
3) Is training best on or off site?
Facilitating a graduate programme at your premises can be an easier option if you are involving senior managers from your firm to present (something that we often recommend). It often also allows graduates to orientate themselves within your building. If you choose to do this, you will have full support from our Graduate Client Services Team who will be available at the start of each day to help prepare and set up the room and ensure all props are in place.
However, if the preference is to hold the training off-site, where the graduates are not exposed to the demands of their future line managers, we are able to facilitate this at our training centre in London.
4) Do I keep the grads together or break them up?
A big advantage of graduate programmes is that it allows cross divisional bonding to occur very early on. This ensures that not only do your graduates understand what is involved within different business areas, but also that they have their own ready-made network to ask questions when they have begun their roles. We run evening events to help build these initial bridges.
5) What's the optimum graduate programme length?
If you are planning to rotate your graduates around different business areas, a short, sharp programme introducing your organisation to the financial markets will work well. If your graduates already know in which areas they will eventually be working, a longer 'immersion' programme will be required to ensure they understand all aspects of the world.
6) How can I assess their performance?
We continually assess the graduates through a variety of methods, objectively and subjectively, as a group and on an individual basis. These assessments are aggregated at the end of the programme to provide a comprehensive review, allowing you to identify abilities and weaknesses and verify learning outcomes. They also provide a reliable measurement of return on investment.
Assessment can take any, or a mix, of the following forms:
Formal multiple choice exams
Ongoing online mini quizzes
Marking and recording of case study work and performance on simulations
Subjective feedback on professional skills (including diligence, teamwork and leadership capability)
