Student Review

The insight day was very useful and enjoyable indeed. I found that the group working aspect made it lively and variable, I got to network with many other students from all over the UK. The interactive trading rounds were applicable and practical, which gave us all a good feel of what a day in the career would be like. Overall, this was a very well organised insight day.

All the human resource staff and graduates from many schemes were welcoming and friendly. During the lunch, they were ready to answer any question about their career path and experience at M&G. It made me feel valued and not at all neglected or ignored, and I would definitely apply to work here.

Not much guidance and supported were given. However, we did receive group feedback for each round of the trading exercise. This was helpful to some extent, as it gave some indication of whether we were acting more risky or too safe as a group in our stock portfolio selection overall.

I am currently studying dentistry, while the insight day was on investment management. Because of this, the skills and information were not directly relevant. However, as I do invest in equities personally, the trading exercise was useful in refining how I assess a company’s fundamentals. It also helped me develop how I work in a group.

It was extremely well structured. The timetable and schedule of the day was sent out by email a few days prior, and everything ran on time. The breaks and exercises and talks were distributed very well throughout the whole day. Overall it was well rounded and comprehensive for our needs.

It was lovely and fun. Everyone was collaborative and eager to learn. The atmosphere was full of energy, and I really enjoyed the group working aspect of the exercises. Although some discord did happen as wee disagreeed on our points of view, we eventually did resolve it in the end.

Having the opportunity to listen to staff from all levels of seniority and from many departments and areas of business was incredibly helpful in shaping my understanding of the working culture and roles that each of them performed. Although I feel that some more time networking could have been allocated, it gave me a good sense of the full time role.

Speaking to different individuals gave me multiple perspectives on the company culture. This was slightly confusing as they gave different answers to what they felt was the common feature in working culture that united them and their coworkers. However everyone was supportive and helpful, so that was my main takeaway.

After attending the insight day, I have significantly increased my clarity and certainty to pursue a career in investment management. Although more practical insight could be given on fixed income and alternative investments besides equity, this gave a good general idea of what a career is like in this field. I really liked it.

Lunch time was the main networking session. We met with graduates and networked with them. It was only an hour long, with only a few graduates and many students attending. As a result, we did not get to spend much time speaking to the graduates. Those I did speak to were great.

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I did attempt to find out about the social impact or volunteering initiatives that employees could undertake in the firm or with the firms support. I learnt that the graduate scheme has 2 compulsory days per year in which graduates could choose to take two paid working days to volunteer or fundraise for a charity.

I would definitely recommend this to a friend as the event was useful, fun, and provided deep insight into a general day in the life of a graduate at the company. The networking opportunities could be improved, but in general it was a very worthwhile and memorable experience, and it would benefit potential applicants.