We caught up with Leon from The Male Undergraduate of the Year Award 2015

It has been over a year since the Undergraduate of the Year Awards 2015 and I've learnt a lot in the 10 months that I've been at L'Oréal so far. Both the Award and the placement that followed has given me invaluable experience that I believe would help me in whatever career I decide to pursue. 

I've launched products and managed my own projects and budgets; delivered on leading digital initiatives that my Brand had never done before; coordinated my own team to help organise our annual National Conference; and also exposed myself to very different experiences, from legal, commercial and digital to PR and photoshoots!

This time last year, I would've never thought I could be gaining so much by spending a year in industry and I'm glad I took the decision to defer my postgraduate year for this. I've learnt a lot about my strengths and blind spots and I am clear on what my areas of development are. I now feel well-prepared for whatever I finally decide to do in future!

If you are interested in applying to The Undergraduate of the Year Awards 2017 please pre-register here - http://undergraduateoftheyear.com/register 

Lauren attended Women in investment banking and has now secured a role with Deutsche Bank!

Attending the Women in Investment Banking event gave me a comprehensive overview of the industry and dispelled any misconceptions I had about pursuing a career in finance. The day was full of a wide range of activities from skills sessions, where we had the opportunity to learn more about the various application processes, to a buffet lunch, where we got to meet various representatives from the participating banks.  

I particularly enjoyed hearing from the keynote speaker, Virginia Laird, the Chief Administrative Officer for EMEA Markets and Securities Services for Citigroup. Virginia originally trained as a Lawyer and this is just proof to show that you don’t need to have a degree in Economics in order to pursue a career in Investment Banking! I also enjoyed hearing from the panel formed of equally inspirational women from the partnering banks. It was clear to see how passionate they all felt about their careers and this motivated me to apply to the insight programmes offered by the attending companies.

Since the Women in Investment Banking event, I have been fortunate enough to have been offered a place on the Deutsche Bank Graduate Outreach for Women (GROW) programme which is aimed at first year university students. The programme so far has been a fantastic opportunity to not only learn more about the financial industry, but also to develop skills that are needed to pursue a career in this field. As part of GROW, I have also been allocated a mentor who is incredibly friendly and she has been able to offer me lots of help and advice. I am glad that I attended the WIIB event otherwise I probably wouldn’t have thought about considering to apply to this amazing programme.  

I think anyone who is considering a career in Investment Banking should apply to this event as it is a great way to learn about the different opportunities available within the industry and see if it somewhere you could picture yourself working in the future. It is also a great way to meet employees of some of the biggest companies in finance and ask them any questions you may have. I found the day thoroughly enjoyable and recommend you apply as soon as possible! 


If you're interested in a career in investment banking pre-register here to be the first to find out about our next event http://targetjobsevents.co.uk/women-in-investment-banking/pre-register