Spring Insight Week Review

It really enjoyed the insight week. There was a lot of opportunity to gain real insight into the FCA and all their divisions. The programme was structured so that we had a diverse schedule with a range of different activities and tasks. It was really useful to be able to talk to graduates and directors about the FCA and everyone was always open to answering questions.

We were made to feel very valued at the FCA. A lot of emphasis was put on the future opportunities the spring week students could potentially have with the FCA either through the summer internship or graduate scheme. We were always encouraged to apply and to become a part of the FCA. We were always greatly welcomed by each speaker and definitely felt like we were valued and could bring a lot to the FCA in the future.

A lot of support. We were always encourage to ask questions if we didn't understand anything or if we had questions with a specific speaker. We had a presentation which we had to present at the end of the week and different employers were always happy to give their insight into things. You never felt uncomfortable about asking questions or looking for help with a particular things.

There were various skills sessions held during the week to do with presentation skills, and interviews which I feel were useful and will help me when preparing for activities like this in the future. Learning about the FCA also gave you a good "real-world" insight into the financial markets and gave you a good paroramic view of the different aspects of the financial sector which I think was useful for my degree and for anyone hoping to learn about this sector.

The insight was very well structured. We were given a full weeks schedule at the beginning of the insight so we knew what to expect each day throughout the day. The whole event was kept very well to time/schedule and we often had time to take a break and a couple of times throughout the day.

It was a really good atmosphere. There was the time to enjoy and have fun but also the right level of seriousness to make sure that we got the most out of our spring week. It didn't feel too dull or intense and I think the varied structure and activities help to contribute to that.

There was two skills sessions which were held on interview skills and presentation skills over the course of the spring week which was ere directly for the purpose of personal development. These were useful. When listening to different speakers they also made a good effort to encourage our personal development with advice consitpstently and I managed to learn a lot from those as well. So to quite a reasonable extent.

It strongly help. Not only were we given a great insight into all the divisions and departments of the FCA and what we felt we would be suitable in, we were also giving many opportunities to talk to existing employers and graduates and ask them about their experiences with working at the FCA and answer any burning questions we had.

There was a speedy strong emphasis put on the culture of the FCA and we had various talks that were directly and exclusively focuses on the culture that the FCA tries to uphold. It was a culture which I felt I paralleled and it was good to hear not only from speakers but from employers who would always consistently talk about the culture that have there.

It was very useful. There was a lot of differentiation made between what it is like to work at the FCA versus what it would be like to work somewhere else like an investment bank or a retail bank and that was something which I found really useful as I know what I can expect working at these types of banks versus the FCA. It also highlighted to me what I felt my skills and strengths were and how I could use that in my career.

We were not paid for the duration of the spring week but we were reimbursed for all travel expenses that the Spring week students had. This is to be done after the Spring week and we are sent a cheque to our homes having given in all receipts of travel. There was also given the opportunity to stay in a hotel for those that would be travelling quite far to participate in the Spring week.

There were plenty of opportunities available to network with other employees. We were given time to network with a large range of graduates that were on/ are on the graduate scheme and were given time to work shadow and network with the graduates as well. We were also given the opportunity to network with other employers that were part of diffent focus groups that they have at the FCA.

Really helpful. We were always encourage to ask any big or small question that we had about what we had been learning about the FCA over the week and the atmosphere was very welcoming. We were often given the opportunity to take down contact details in order to keep in contact and ask further questions that we may have in the future.

Yes, there were two aspects to this. One was to do with the focus network groups that they have at the FCA - there is a large range of different networks like the women's network or the lgbt network which are available for employees to get involved in. The second is the opportunity to volunteer and make an impact in the community. There was a large emphasis put on volunteering and this opportunity is available to all employers.

Yes definitely - learning about the FCA and the regulation is does to a majority of financial firms in the UK gives you a really useful insight into a wide range of things. The programme is well structured with the opportunity to learn from a large diverse range of employers. You get to know the students you work with really well and are able to really enjoy your time there.