Rothschild & Co: Pathways to Banking and Finance programme
Rothschild & Co is one of the first large financial institutions to have successfully piloted the Pathways to Banking and Finance programme. Working in partnership with the Sutton Trust, the programme aims to increase social mobility across the banking and finance sectors as a whole.
It was reported recently that while only 7% of the UK's population has been independently educated, 51% of leaders within the financial sector went to an independent, fee-paying school. The Pathways to Banking and Finance programme works with a number of state-funded schools in London and has been developed to help widen access to this crucial sector. Aiming to target students before they make choices surrounding further education, the programme seeks to educate students so that they can make an informed choice regarding their future.
Rothschild & Co recently piloted the first Pathways Insight Week with ten Year 12 students who are studying at nine different schools across London. The students participated in a number of business led presentations, soft-skills training, as well as career guidance and interview sessions. The students valued the opportunity to meet other like-minded students and business professionals across the firm through networking activities and work-shadowing sessions.
Throughout the week the students were also tasked on a current affairs project and were then invited to present their findings to a group of senior Rothschild & Co professionals. All opinions were exceptionally well-researched and it was evident the students presentation skills along with their confidence greatly improved across the week. The students were undoubtedly impressive and it was an immensely satisfying experience for both our bankers and the students alike.
We, at Rothschild & Co, are privileged to be part of this programme and will be hosting two further 'Insight Days' in 2018 where we will meet at least a further 40 students. We have introduced a stay-in-touch scheme with the view to place strong candidates onto 2020 early development programmes which we currently have in place across numerous divisions. The Pathways to Banking & Finance programme at Rothschild is set to continue for years to come, and we are very excited at the prospect of welcoming and nurturing exciting new talent in to our business.
Students who took part in the Rothschild & Co Pathways Insight Week with our HR and Community Investment representatives