Bruin UpReach volunteer internship programme

At the peak of the pandemic, the future was and still is unclear, as an organization we understood our role to play within the financial services sector will play a pivotal part moving forward. It was clear that students were going to be hit hard and would be at a disadvantage to previous year groups.

As a company we reached out to upReach, a charity that helps disadvantaged students from across the UK to realise their potential. We volunteered for an interview preparation workshop with 3 students who are involved in the upReach initiative.

Due to Covid-19 upReach managed to put together virtual meetings with the students, each lasting 30 minutes scripted to the industry they were interested in pursuing. Within the recruitment industry we are constantly interviewing candidates, qualifying them for roles and giving them feedback or guidance on how to improve their interview techniques.

Nick White, Consultant, Europe, said that ‘During these interviews, it was refreshing to see that how enthusiastic and passionate they were for the industries they had chosen. This was something that I made sure to highlight to them in feedback to never lose this, being passionate for a role, company or sector as it is very memorable from an interviewers perspective.

It was good to give some advice on shaping answers to be concise, when you are first interviewing without experience you can ramble and it is only nature to – you start to think any silence can be awkward. It can often be better to explain your answer briefly and then follow up by asking “would you like me to expand on that.”

This was a great experience and as an industry we can be applying our practical experiences to students and help develop them so they are prepared in the future.’

Sophia Deen, VP, Investments & Front Office, said ‘I had the pleasure of interviewing three incredibly bright, talented, and unique individuals who are all students on the UpReach programme. I was tasked with asking the students various questions around the investment industry, their market knowledge and their career ambitions. The interview was rather formal, however, there were points where I was able to build rapport with the students. I was impressed with each students answer to the questions and intrigued by their passion for the investment industry. Following the interviews, I shared my LinkedIn profile and work email address with the candidates to keep in contact. A week on from the interviews, I took on a Graduate Analyst role with an Asset Manager and represented one of the students who now has a first stage interview.

I look forward to continuously working with the 3 students and helping them to secure their dream roles within the industry. The UpReach programme taught me that we all have a part to play in mentoring and developing the new generation entering our industry. I thoroughly enjoyed my time volunteering with UpReach and look forward to working with them again.’

One student even left feedback for Nick over LinkedIn afterwards, saying ‘You interviewed me for the upReach Investment Banking assessment last Tuesday. I just wanted to reach out and say thank you for your time and for the feedback you gave.’

To see more about the work that we do in the diversity space, please visit our website or contact one of our consultants.