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Top Insider Advice

If you’re applying for an Early Careers role such as a Graduate or Apprentice scheme, hiring managers won’t expect you to have a whole host of work experience to draw upon. They will, however, be looking to understand what kind of person you are, what skills you have, and what makes you tick! So don’t be afraid to talk about the sports team you play for or manage at the weekend, the examinations you’ve racked up for playing a musical instrument, your involvement in a community group or your passion for learning foreign languages!

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Career path

Careers Lead

First Central

From 10/2021 to 11/2024

project support officer

First Central

From 09/2020 to 09/2021

Administration Coordinator (for CAMHS Academic Programme)

First Central

From 07/2020 to 09/2021

Company

What do you like about your job and the company?

It’s so rewarding when we match an ambitious person just starting out on their chosen career with a role that will let them make real inroads into where they want to get to... particularly when the role is aligned with a structured development programme where they’ll gain industry-recognised professional qualifications along the way.

Greatest achievements

Since I joined First Central in October 2021, I’ve worked with business leaders to continue the great Early Careers work that was already going on. I’m also delighted to have introduced new Graduate or Apprenticeship roles to several teams that weren’t previously offering any such opportunities (including Data & Analytics, Technical Support, Data Operations, Data Science, Procurement & Supplier Management, Legal, Risk and Compliance and Finance). I’ve also just agreed our first ever undergraduate sandwich placements for this year (in Underwriting and Claims & Fraud).

Other insiders

Angela W

Policy Review Specialist

Top Insider Advice

They often outweigh the negatives but get overlooked. Is a bad day really a bad day? Weigh it up and look for the positives. You’ll probably find it wasn’t so bad after all.

Joe M

Leadership Development Business Partner

Top Insider Advice

My advice would be to grow and develop with the business and don’t box yourself in with one particular career route in mind as other career paths can open up.

Alana R

Top Insider Advice

Throughout my career I’ve been on a learning journey regarding how I communicate. When I first started out, I was very shy and found it difficult to communicate confidently. I’d be nervous sending an email to someone I’d never met and spend hours over-analysing the content to make sure it was ‘perfect’ before sending it. As I sent more and more emails, met more people, and put myself out there for presentations, I grew in confidence but I still had a lot to learn. I’d often go into the specifics of everything and give people information overload because I was worried about missing something important. I got a lot of feedback around this and was regularly asked to “keep it high-level”. I really had to work at this, and I needed to get help from peers, mentors, managers and external research to understand what this meant, when it mattered and how to be effective at a higher level of detail. With years of practice, I am now much better at communicating and that’s helped me progress into a leadership position. This is just one example of me learning a skill which I thought was impossible. If I can do it, so can you!

Discussions with Lauren M
What is the dress code?
in Career Tips·mercredi, mai 3, 2023
1 response
85 views
How much holiday will I get?
in Career Tips·mercredi, mai 3, 2023
Picture of Julia
2 responses
93 views
In what ways will my career progression be supported?
in Career progression·mardi, avril 25, 2023
Picture of Ali
2 responses
93 views
What is the work-life balance like in your role?
in Career Tips·jeudi, mars 23, 2023
Picture of Marco
Picture of Kerry
5 responses
191 views