I didn’t have a strong sense of what I wanted to do with my life when I was in my teens and even my twenties. It’s very much been a case of seeing opportunities, acting on them and seeing where each one took me. It’s not been a foolproof plan (and calling it a plan is pretty generous), but I’m very happy with where I’ve ended up.
My time at university was spent studying Psychology. I loved it and it’s still useful today in understanding people, situations and how to navigate the world.
But that’s not what we’re here for. What we’re here for is financial services and paths to it.
So, I graduated. Did a post-grad which I enjoyed but also proved it was not the career path for me. And then I floundered, with no clue as to what was next.
While terrifying and distressing at the time, it was ok. It happens. I was lucky with supportive parents who let me find my way again and never put pressure on me. I worked in retail while I got myself back together. And then came a customer service job at Scottish Equitable, or Aegon as it’s now known..
That was the start of things for me. I spent a few years working my way up through customer services, taking on the gnarly, complicated cases no-one else really wanted but which I loved.
From there a job opened up in market intelligence – keeping an eye on the overall market and product landscapes and forming connections with our competitors for ethical information sharing and general camaraderie. We were good at the camaraderie…
The team and the role evolved over the years and again I worked my way up. This time to putting together packs of information and market data for the Aegon boards.
My final couple of years were spent in the insight team where I had a broader remit and got more involved in marketing communications and research. Aegon had a good professional development scheme, and they supported me as I got both financial planning and marketing qualifications over the years.
It was feeling like time to move on when I heard from a friend (and now feline) that the lang cat was hiring. For reasons I’ve never been entirely clear about Mark took me on, but that was far from the end of the story.
I’ve had various roles over the years (the joys of a small and growing company where you can have more opportunities to develop than you might think). I worked on market analysis, looked after all our lang cat branded reports (as well as the brand) and then settled back into my natural home of writing, editing and project management alongside looking after some of our lovely comms and PR clients.
None of it was planned but it’s become a career and one I love.
You don’t need a well thought through plan to build a career, just an open mind and a willingness to give things your best go. Financial services will certainly give you those opportunities.
