The financial services sector offers a diverse array of job opportunities. As a global-reaching industry, the roles available are highly skilled, well-paid and are inherently value-creating.

For many, this makes it an ideal sector to build a career in.

But there are still engrained stereotypes about what a job in financial services is like – is it really all business, maths, and accounting? The reality is that a sector as vast as finance comes with diverse skills requirements.

The Financial Services Unified Schools Programme was created to address this. Developed in partnership between Scottish Financial Enterprise (SFE), along with Developing the Young Workforce (DYW) and Skills Development Scotland (SDS), it aims to inspire pupils to consider and explore financial services as an employment option

To learn more about how the Unified Schools Programme helps both young people and financial services, DIGIT spoke with Nicholas ‘Nik’ Bobb, a Programme Manager at HSBC.

Opening Doors

After being introduced in 2016, the Unified Schools Programme completed its successful pilot in Edinburgh before spreading across the country. Its long-term aim is to reach and support up to 5,000 young people through the programme right across Scotland on an annual basis.

From inception, the initiative was designed to open the doors to the financial services industry for young people from every background, in an effort to challenge stereotypes about the sector and reach pupils who might not have previously considered it a career option.

“The idea was to get young adults into these organisations so they can see that we’re not all mathematicians, that financial services isn’t just banking, and that there are so many roles that they may be unaware of,” Nik explains.

Like so many endeavours, the Unified Schools Programme was disrupted by the onset of the pandemic. Instead of physical events to get young people on premises – allowing them to see inside financial institutions – the programme went online.

However, this digital transition helped to create new for the programme. It removed some of the time and geographical obstacles facing young people, such as the cost of commuting, timetable clashes, or simply being in a region without many finance companies.

Learning these lessons, the programme now offers multiple ways to engage with young people, including videos, talks from experts and other presentations, all accessible when the participants need.

“Self-service is important because we’ve got to be aware that young adults might not be able to interact digitally at all times – digital poverty is something that we have to be aware of,” Nik explains.

“So, going online gives young people options and different ways of doing things.”

In addition, using digital channels means that the Unified School Programme was able to extend its reach.

“Everyone’s got more comfortable doing digital events or video conferencing,” Nik says. “Whereas before you were limited by physical geography, that has now disappeared. Most schools in Scotland can now use video conferencing.

“The key goal is to go as far and wide as possible and see as many schools as possible.

“That’s why we have engaged with schools in Glasgow, in Moray, in Perth. And we want to really stretch that reach so that areas that may not otherwise see themselves in financial services hubs will now see that financial services is an industry that they can get involved in.”

More than a Bank

For people leaving school, no matter their background, education, skills or interests, financial services can make use of their abilities.

“I always challenge young adults to name a profession that doesn’t interact with financial services,” Nik says. “They fail every time. And the reason is that financial services is an industry that everyone has to interact with.”

Tech skills, for example, are in high demand by financial services. Websites are created by designers and programmers, as are the apps and other platforms a digitised world runs on.

“I think we need to take a broader view of the financial services industry that centres the importance of technology. Modern finance has integrated with technology in ways that make them inseparable.”

This in turn helps access a range of people who, depending on their skills or backgrounds, may not have previously considered financial services.

“My role as a Programme Manager is to coordinate resources,” Nik adds. “I don’t have specialist skills to do the programming but I’m responsible for the finances that allow that project to happen.”

The end result is that finance needs every skill imaginable.

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Unfortunately, for people who don’t realise how many skills are needed, these stereotypes can discourage people from entering the industry.

“A lot of young adults are deselecting themselves away from the industry,” Nik warns. “This might be because they associate it with maths, or it might be because of their gender or their ethnicity.

“The Unified Schools Programme is here to demonstrate that financial services is inclusive of people with different skills and from every background, so that everyone feels they have an opportunity to enter the industry.”

As the world becomes more digitised, financial services is no different, though any digitisation journey is long and multi-faceted. This will, in turn, dictate the kind of skills that are needed.

“This industry is moving more and more into technology,” Nik says. “The technology skill sets are going to be become very prominent, as is the management of those skill sets.

“I also think customer focused and customer facing roles will continue to change over time and will become even more important, because as we digitise we’ve got to make sure that we don’t leave anyone behind. So products are likely to become more bespoke and specialised.

“I am a firm believer that you can come into financial services, never leave the industry and have many careers,” Nik adds.

Collaboration

Collaboration lies at the heart of the Unified Schools Programme. From the companies involved, the schools that provide candidates and the government bodies helping coordinate it, it is designed to leverage each group’s strengths.

As such, a large part of the programme is about breaking down barriers, not just for young adults, but for all the organisations involved. With all this access to talent and opportunities in one place, the Unified Schools Programme makes it easier to connect the two.

“A financial services institution can just turn up and have a ready-made process,” Nik says. “And on the other side, the schools have a ready-made engagement.

“For the financial services firms involved, it is an opportunity for them to work collaboratively with other members of the industry,” Nik adds. “It’s a competitive industry, but its also a supportive ecosystem that works collectively when there are shared interests on the line.

“At the end of the day, the more talent we can attract to the industry, the better it is for everyone.”

Broader Agenda

Colin Halpin, Global Head of Market Data Management for Barclays and SFE Board Sponsor for Skills and Inclusion, added that the programme is a vital part of the industry’s broader agenda.

“Scotland’s financial services industry is internationally recognised, with Edinburgh and Glasgow the two largest financial centres in the UK outside of London,” he said.

“Developing skills and inclusion is vital as we continue to build from this position of strength. The Unified Schools Programme is a great example of how we can achieve this by communicating the benefits of the industry to the next generation, and I’m delighted with the way that it has progressed, even through the challenges brought by the pandemic.”

He added: “As we move forward, the initiative has a key role in our broader skills and inclusion agenda by helping us to attract diverse and inclusive talent, supporting our continued growth and development.”

DIGIT Leader 2022 | Join the Conversation

Nik Bobb will be speaking at the upcoming DIGIT Leader Summit on 28th April.

He will join an impressive conference line-up, including presenters from Skyscanner, BAE Systems, MadeBrave, AND Digital, Waracle, Netwomen.io and Hanya Partners.

To secure your place now, visit: https://www.digitleaders.com/

The conference is free to attend for people working in IT / Digital and C-level leadership roles in end-user organisations.