Frederik has not secured an internship position at HSBC but he was also offered a graduate role at BDO with no prior financial experience and before the end of our coaching.
Graduate with MSc in Economic History Research from LSE, BA (Hons) in History with Economics.
Frederik reached out to me just after completion of his Master studies in Economic History Research at LSE. He has already tried to get into a graduate scheme 6 months ago while he was studying, however he wasn’t even able to reach an interview stage. With a new graduate recruitment starting Frederik wanted to make sure that this time he was successful. He was aware that his CV needed to be improved, but he especially needed help with writing interviews and preparing for interviews.
The key challenges he was facing were:
• His CV didn’t highlight his accomplishments and strengths
• He didn’t understand how to “sell himself” effectively while writing cover letters
• He lacked overall understanding of graduate recruitment process
• No prior interview and assessment centre experience
• He lacked understanding in how to answer various interview questions
• He didn’t know how to beat his competition and stand out in a competitive job market
Frederik had a clear vision for his future career – he wanted to secure a graduate scheme in a financial industry. However he was worried that having no prior financial work experience or relevant academic degree will be a major obstacle that we will need to overcome. As most graduate schemes are open for graduates from various majors as long as they are able to demonstrate their motivation and that they have required competencies. In order to compete with other top graduates with financial majors it was extremely important for Frederik to identify what makes him standout, what makes him a better candidate than anyone else. One of my coaching USPs is my ability to identify each person’s “star factor” to make sure they stand out in a job market and this is exactly what I helped Frederik to achieve. I’ve also created a personal brand for him which helped Frederik to highlight his “star” factor in his CV, cover letters and LinkedIn profile. We worked on improving his CV and LinkedIn profile and I helped him to write strong and targeted cover letters by teaching him how to demonstrate a genuine interest in finance and that he is the best candidate for the job. Writing cover letters was something that Frederik struggled the most, so just like with my other clients I revised all his cover letters and applications to increase his chances of securing interviews. Within one month Frederik started receiving invitations to video and telephone interviews and I helped him to prepare for them by practising answering motivational, competency and strength based interviews.
I helped him to prepare for every step of the recruitment process including interview and assessment centre practices. He got well equipped on how to answer motivational, competency, strength and commercial awareness questions and how to succeed in case studies, in-tray exercises, presentations and group exercise. I’ve not only taught Frederik how various strategies stand out in group discussions and write effective reports but I also shared real case studies used at assessment centres that he would know what to expect on the actual day. We also worked on boosting his confidence and self-belief which helped him to succeed in interviews and later in assessment centres.
My coaching has enabled Frederik two secure two offers before the end of my coaching programme – internship at HSBC and graduate role at BDO. During my coaching Frederik learnt how to identify and capitalise on his “star factor” which undoubtedly boosted his confidence and was one of the reasons he landed a job in finance without any previous financial experience.
“I got it! HSBC just informed me that they are offering me an internship. I am over the moon! I have to say you are a godsend. I want to thank you for all the sessions but especially for the one Monday. I felt so much more confident after it and the work we did helped me enormously during the assessment day. I am so happy! Thank you so much!”
