Women's Investment Insight Week Review

I had a really great four days at Fidelity.

The emphasis that Fidelity placed on making sure we were engaged and interested in the firm, and the industry as a whole was great. As it was a women's insight week, the emphasis was on showing that asset management and the finance industry is suitable for women too and that was a very prominent feature of the week.

There was always someone around to ask questions to, and that was very much encouraged throughout the week. I left on Thursday much more aware of the different divisions and type of work that is carried out at Fidelity and that was absolutely down to the fact that everyone I met throughout the week was very open and willing to answer questions and expand on points.

I developed my presentation skills as two of the activities that we did were presenting ideas as part of a team to everyone else. My teamwork and research skills were also developed, particularly by working with girls that I had only known for a few days. The information that I received about asset management will definitely help me in choosing an internship and beyond that, a career in financial services.

On Monday I was given a schedule for the week which briefly outlined what we were going to do each day and I found this very useful. Also the talks that we listened to were well structured in that each person spoke about a different division and line of work within asset management.

It was a very nice atmosphere both because of the openness and engaging nature of the Fidelity employees, and the friendliness and willingness to learn of the other girls on the insight programme. The general working atmosphere at Fidelity seemed to be one of integrity and valuing employees' opinions and work, rather than a cold, corporate environment.

Since it was an insight programme, rather than investing in me it was more about showing me what asset management is like and what it is like to work at Fidelity, and that they did very thoroughly and made each day very engaging.

We were given a lot of information about graduate programmes and the work done within each rotation in each division. Also speaking to recent graduates and people who've worked at Fidelity for decades gave me a very good idea about what day-to-day life is like in Fidelity and what would be expected of me.

One of the very first presentations that I watched highlighted strongly Fidelity's culture and the value that they place on integrity and innovation, and the importance of their clients. I found this very useful and interesting and I left at the end of the week with a strong idea of the company culture at Fidelity.

Each of the talks, whether it be about Solutions, Fixed Income or Equities, explained fully what a career in this division at Fidelity entails, and I found this very useful. I was also able and encouraged to talk to various professionals working in these divisions and by speaking to them gained a better understanding of what I could potentially do in the future.

I was reimbursed for my daily commute which was a train and a tube ticket. There was also the option of staying in accommodation for the week which the company paid for. Many of the girls stayed in accommodation but I found it easier to commute. Either way, we were reimbursed.

We had a networking lunch and a networking dinner where there was a variety of people, graduates and senior employees, who openly spoke to us, told us about their job and how they came to work at Fidelity. I found this very useful and the atmosphere was very relaxed but simultaneously informative.

There were plenty of networking opportunities throughout the week, not only with Fidelity's employees but also the other girls on the insight programme. This was lovely as it brought us girls closer together and at the end of the week everyone left knowing each other pretty well. The social events were great.

By speaking to the employees I got a sense of what types of things they do aside from work. The general feeling was that most of the employees organised their own events/clubs and in that way everyone got involved. There was not that much detail about such activities and I learned more about the employees' work than their socials.

I would definitely recommend Fidelity's Women's Investment Insight week to a friend because I left knowing much more about asset management, the contrasts between the buy and sell-side in the financial industry, and financial services as a whole. The atmosphere of the week was very engaging and all about learning and understanding where I could potentially fit in in the future.