From the Lab to Finance: My Journey from Chemistry to Banking.
I took a gap year after leaving sixth form to travel and spend some time away from fulltime education as I had no idea what I wanted to do at university. I did apply through UCAS and was accepted into th University of Bath to do study Engineering but I rejected the offer. Unfortunately after only about 2 months of travelling in East asia (mianly Japan) COVID hit and I was forced to come home :(. I then began looking at which university courses interested me, sustainability and the environment have always piqued my interest and eventually applied to study Sustainable chemistry at The University of Sheffield. During the summer of my second year I completed a paid internship wiht Arcadis (a design consultancy company) and particularly enjoyed my time in global stratergy and fincance departments and enjoyed using the data the company had collected to solve problems and maximise efficiency. This led me to apply to a whole range of stratergy consulting and financial companies Graduate Schemes and thankfully I successfully joined the LBG sustainable Consumer Banking scheme in September.
I provide insights to stakeholders to help shape our stratergy.
I am currently on my first placement in data in the transport side of the business. My day to day role consists of data analysis on Excel and creating interactive PowerBI reports for stakeholders and clients to interact with. I also look for opportunities to allow the business to be more proactive in the delivery of what's best for the customer and also present stratergies and areas for improvement regarding automation and maximising effieciency. I am also tryign to develop my coding skills, namely in DAX and Python and understandng how data can be used in the personalisation of a customer's experience specifically to the individual.
Presenting insights and impacting the stratergy decsions made.
I do enjoy being able to meet with clients and stakeholders aiding in diagnosing issues and idenitfying opportunities for growth and improvement through data visualisation tools, presentations and storytelling.
Find what makes you happy and DO IT.
I know it sounds super cliche but if you can find something you enjoy doing you're almost certainly going to be insentivised to do it more often and do it well. Obviously there will be times in your career where you struggle and find things difficult but if you have a goal you're determined to work towards and you can find enjoyment in your work you will succeed.
