If you told me three years ago that I would be in a career in finance and continuing to sit exams, I would have said you were mad. However, it’s the best thing that could have happened to me.
I took an unconventional route to get to where I am today. Unlike many of my peers I don’t have a background in accounting or finance, I studied French with Management Studies at the University of Aberdeen. However, when I graduated, I was not sure what I wanted to do so I tested out various roles in recruitment and administration before I landed on my feet at AAB Wealth in November of 2017.
I had never considered a career in wealth management and to be honest knew very little about the industry. However, wanting to build on the skills I had gained from my previous roles, I did some research and, already knowing about AAB’s great reputation, applied for a role that sounded a bit different and had scope for progression.
I joined AAB Wealth as trainee client services support. This involved preparing all administrative paper work and ensuring clients had a smooth experience through our whole process. One of the first things I realised about AAB Wealth was that no matter your role or position, your opinion is valued. From experience, this is a trait that is very rare within organisations. If I recognised processes the department could be doing more efficiently this was discussed and then put into practice almost immediately; I was amazed.
Within a year I was promoted to team leader of the client services support team. I became supervisor to four junior members of the team, coaching them and developing their skills for their roles. On top of this, I took on the financials for the department which included processing our income and monthly reporting figures for the board. This was something I had never been involved with before and it was a huge learning curve, but I found the role really rewarding and discovered skills I wasn’t aware of thanks to the support of our management team.
Which takes me to the present, I am working towards my diploma and beginning my training to become a paraplanner. The technical knowledge I have gained from my exams and day-to-day work will be utilised in the report writing and analysis behind the advice our Financial Planners give to our clients.
If anyone is considering a career in Wealth Management I would recommend it whole heartedly. AAB Wealth are fantastic to work for, your day-to-day work varies as every client’s circumstances are different. When people think of Wealth Management they think stock markets and ‘Wolf of Wall Street’ traders but there is so much more to the industry than that. At AAB Wealth it’s about helping our clients to achieve the lifestyle they want and at the end of the day, that’s the part I find most rewarding.
