MBA Portfolio on Finance Sector Employability in the United Kingdom

This portfolio provides an analysis of employability within the finance sector in the United Kingdom, focusing on the labor market, recruitment processes, and personal career development. It outlines aims and objectives aligned with the SMART framework, emphasizing the importance of vocational qualifications and professional certifications for MBA graduates. The portfolio explores the UK labor market trends, specifically within the financial services, highlighting the impact of Brexit and evolving recruitment strategies. It details common recruitment and selection practices in the UK banking sector, including CV screening, interviews, and background checks. Furthermore, the portfolio includes a personal profile, curriculum vitae, and elevator pitch, designed to showcase skills and abilities relevant to the finance sector. The creation of an online professional identity, particularly through LinkedIn, is discussed as a key element in enhancing visibility and attracting potential employers. The document concludes with an overall reflection on the journey and insights gained throughout the MBA program.

PORTFOLIO ON EMPLOYABILITY OF
THE FINANCE SECTOR IN THE UNITED
KINGDOM
1

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION..........................................................................................................3
AIMS AND OBJECTIVES.............................................................................................4
THE LABOUR MARKET AND RECRUITMENT PROCESS IN THE UK.....................5
THE FINANCE SECTOR LABOUR MARKET IN THE UK.......................................5
RECRUITMENT AND SELECTION PRACTICES....................................................6
PERSONAL PROFILE..................................................................................................7
CREATING ONLINE IDENTITY...................................................................................8
LINKEDIN ACCOUNT...............................................................................................8
OVERALL REFLECTION...........................................................................................10
REFERENCES...........................................................................................................11
APPENDIX..................................................................................................................13
AIM..........................................................................................................................13
OBJECTIVES..........................................................................................................13
SMART CRITERIA..................................................................................................13
SUMMARY OF LABOUR MARKET IN UK.............................................................14
ELEVATOR PITCH.................................................................................................14
CURRICULUM VITAE............................................................................................15
STATISTICS OF THE NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES IN THE BANKING SECTOR IN
LONDON FROM 2007 TO FIRST HALF OF 2015.................................................17
NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES IN THE FINANCIAL SERVICES SECTOR IN THE
UNITED KINGDOM FROM 2007 TO 1ST HALF OF 2015......................................18
2

INTRODUCTION
The Masters in Business Administration is a program that is designed to boost the
eligibility for the higher paying jobs and drive towards the successful career ahead. It
has a crucial role in building the professional network and applies the theoretical
aspects into practical implications. Although together with earning a degree in MBA it
is also vital to gain suitable work experience that will lend a better opportunity to grab
placement in future. The work experience adds to various benefits that help in
adding a value to the professional profile (McCollum and Findlay, 2015).
In context to the MBA degree, I am looking forward to gaining better work placement
that will drive me gaining experience in the finance sector and gain better insights
about the global businesses with my engaging personality. I am looking forward to
grabbing every opportunity in the finance sector so as to boost my employability and
work experience by gaining MBA degree. I have opted for the MBA placement
pathway as it will render solid grounding on the latest financial tools and markets and
will drive me towards the route of finance and service sector. It will help in building
strong base about the global business knowledge by enhancing the finance skills
and will make me competent enough so as to be sourced by the top companies with
whom I can give a start to my career (Wilton, 2016.).
Through the MBA placement pathway, the type of work experience that I can gain is
into the sectors of accounting, banking and finance, insurance and the financial
planning sectors that have a high employability rate and have many employers for
the MBA’s. Through these placement opportunities in the UK, it will allow me to get a
foot in the door through work experience. This will help me to gain better and long-
term experience in the retail banks and will also result in permanent positions.
3

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES
My current aim will strive to attain a work placement in the finance sector in the
United Kingdom that will help me to gin long-term employability in the same.
By applying the SMART framework two objectives that will help me in attaining
effectively the desired aim are as under:
1. To gain vocational finance qualifications in tax, investment and accounting
management until July 2018.
2. To seek schemes that will offer me a clear pathway into finance career and
help me to gain a recognized professional qualification from the bodies of
CFA institutes.
These aims and objectives have been made aligning with the work schedule that I
follow being a full-time MBA student. And the objectives are framed in accordance
with the SMART framework that is attached in the appendix (Ashton, et al. 2016).
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THE LABOUR MARKET AND RECRUITMENT PROCESS IN THE UK
In this section, the labour market in the UK is depicted that will render basic statistics
about the trends of the labour market in the UK related to the employability and other
considerations. In addition to this section, the following section will depict the
methods of recruitment and selection that are employed in the finance sector of the
UK market in which I am seeking to achieve a work placement in (Dmitrieva, et al.
2014).
According to the trend as depicted by the UK labour market statistics in the UK the
labour market is depicted by the full-time, part-time employment, unemployment,
economic inactivity which are depicted in the appendix.
THE FINANCE SECTOR LABOUR MARKET IN THE UK
According to the Labour market in the UK the net employment score in the financial
services is nearly 14%. But according to Andrew Kail, the PWC Head of Financial
Services the way ahead of finance sectors in the UK is quite uncertain as the Brexit
negotiations still remain unresolved. There also arises uncertainty in the finance
sector of the UK in terms of the wage pressure due to Brexit (Bratton and Gold,
2017). In the UK the financial services companies in the past are less positive as
only 19% of them have implemented a pay freeze and 66% of them have increased
the pay (Melanthiou, et al. 2015).
Since 2007 credit crunch the financial sector has not shown any low confidence but
due to lack of clarity of the Brexit the financial service sector in the UK is depicting a
low confidence and is expected to render major impact on the labour market of the
UK (Dodds, 2017).
According to the employment rate that prevails in London in 2017 it fell by 0.2
percentages and is facing an opposite trend as the employment rate is increasing in
recent months. According to ONS, the labour market data of London has shown a
slight increase in the unemployment rates and the employment rates together with a
slight fall in the inactivity rate. The unemployment rate has remained unchanged and
in the context of sectors, the finance and insurance sector has a negative job growth
by 13000 (Stiglitz and Rosengard, 2015).
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In the context of the recruitment strategy of post-Brexit, the development and impact
on this sector are still unclear as there is lack of information so that it can build its
recruitment strategy. In the UK in the year 2015, nearly 81,700 candidates were
placed in the finance jobs (Custódio and Metzger, 2014). According to recent
recruitment trends in the finance sector of the UK, the candidates that possess
software skills and technologies are preferred. The employers are in a sight to recruit
those candidates that are excellent in the SaaS experience and have all advanced
modelling skills with SQL.
According to the recruitment trends in the UK social networks are being preferred
that are now registered i=on LinkedIn. The own talent pool development has been
eliminated by many organisations in the finance sector they are using the LinkedIn
for executive recruitment and reaches them within no time. This leads to saving the
cost and time and results in green recruitment saving lot of paperwork. The social
media platforms are being used widely by the finance sectors to recruit the
employees and gain audience engagement (Binder, et al. 2016).
RECRUITMENT AND SELECTION PRACTICES
In the finance sector of the UK, the recruitment and selection process that is
common in the banking sector involves assessment and evaluation of the
recruitment and selection process. This process involves the selection process which
consists of CV screening, interviews, background checks, employment tests and so
on. The recruitment process of this sector usually follows few stages that involve in
its first stage job analysis that depicts the nature of responsibilities and tasks
required for the post in the finance sector (Schaper, 2016). After this, the job
evaluation is performed where the value of a job is assessed so as to reward and
attract the candidates. In the further stages, the job description is developed where
more details are provided and then a person specification is created which identifies
the characteristics of an ideal person and then work towards attracting the applicants
that are found to be suitable through various sources of recruitment.
In the selection process, a preliminary interview is conducted with recording
completed application of the candidates. Then an employment test will be conducted
to check the intelligence, aptitude, interest and personality of the candidates that will
help in discovering all skills and qualities of candidates. Then later comprehensive
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interview is conducted and then reference checks are conducted together with the
background checks and criminal records (Böhm, et al. 2015). Then a conditional job
offer is provided to the selected candidate and then the physical examination is
conducted which guides the final selection process.
In addition to this nowadays the green human resource management is also gaining
popularity that utilises a set of environmentally friendly practices which utilises the
technology and saves resources such as paper printing. This renders and fulfils
environmental responsibilities (Bleijenbergh, et al. 2016).
PERSONAL PROFILE
Under this section mu personal profile will be taken into a discussion that will include
the curriculum vitae and elevator pitch comprising of my skills and abilities. This will
also undertake my online profile that will be undertaken in this section. According to
the demand of the finance sector, I will develop the skills and the needful knowledge
that will aid me in my work placement through my MBA placement pathway. I have
undertaken the best format for my CV that will attract the employer’s attention and
will highlight my skills and abilities. In my CV I will depict my personal skills, hobbies
and abilities that will help me in getting my work placements (Cridland, 2016).
In the next section, I have also prepared my elevator pitch that has effectively
demonstrated my personal skills, abilities creating a good impression while
presenting myself for a job in the finance sector. As I am fresher I have no work
experience but I have the skills and the qualities to get fit for the job as I am really a
very reliable person and have immense energy. Although in my elevator pitch no real
time experience will be seen I have the energy and tactics to apply my knowledge
and skills such that my career can be developed and success can be accomplished.
Through my elevator pitch, the various situations and contexts will be easily dealt
with as I have attended many events and conducted them which have rendered
many practical experiences of managing and understanding the finance. The
elevator pitch will clarify the job target and will keep it on paper in a good format. My
elevator pitch will cover my interests, backgrounds, skills and abilities. It will not
cover the work experience as I have recently joined my MBA course so I have no
work experience. This will focus on depicting my interest in finance as I want to go
7

ahead with the same sector and seek for the job opportunities in the same (Cridland,
2016).
8

CREATING ONLINE IDENTITY
In this section of the portfolio, a reflection will be rendered on creating an online
identity that will help in the development of my online professional identity so that
employers of the finance sector can approach me within a short time and I can get a
rich exposure to the interest field of mine. This will also communicate my
experiences and achievements to the employer when it comes to background
checks through my online identity. As one of my online identity, I have a LinkedIn
account that has rendered much implication to me regarding job opportunities.
LINKEDIN ACCOUNT
Prior to my MBA course, I did not have much inclination towards creating an online
identity but after creating an account on LinkedIn I was able to explore many
important aspects of it. This is a better medium to promote me in attaining a job in
the finance sector. It has several advantages as well as disadvantages attached to it
(Brown, 2017).
One of the major benefits that my LinkedIn profile will render is that when an
employer will search my name on the search engines like LinkedIn and Google then
he can definitely find my name on the top searches. This will help to increase my
name visibility and will give a strong evidence and reliance on the employers at the
same time. A majority of recruiters in the finance sector to gain information about the
backgrounds and personal details visit the LinkedIn account which will help them in
examining the mutual peers and the colleagues of the same sector through which
more information can be traced out.
Through the LinkedIn account, I am able to establish better contact with my
professors and the employees of the finance sector that I am interested to get my
work placement in. through better understanding by spending more time on a
LinkedIn profile I learnt various professional aspects which also helped me to learn
the differences such as the difference between the CV profile and the LinkedIn
profile. LinkedIn is an informal presentation of work experiences and the personality
rather a formal CV presentation (Higginbotham, D., 2017).
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In order to get an access to my LinkedIn profile you may visit:
linkedin.com/in/deekshithalladi
This profile is tailored such that vast audience base is captured and could attract
more employers through the display of my skills, achievements and other abilities
through LinkedIn (Jeffrey, 2016).
10

OVERALL REFLECTION
Through this portfolio presentation on the employability of financial sector in the
United Kingdom important information has been grabbed about the labour market of
the UK with context to the finance sector. The recruitment and selection process has
also been discussed that are practised in this sector of interest. I have developed my
aim and objectives that have been developed in alignment with the SMART criteria
which will lead me towards the achievement of work placement through MBA
placement pathway. The development of my elevator pitch has made me ready to
brief about myself and my capabilities to the employer within 30 seconds. In a
section, the trends of the labour market in the finance sector of the UK has also
gained better insights that have helped me in deriving at the experiences that I can
explore starting my career with this sector (Brown, 2017). Through the last section
of my portfolio the importance of the online identity creation has been laid out that
has helped me to command over various aspects of the work placement as in
today’s scenario many employers in the finance sector in the UK are dependent
upon the LinkedIn accounts of the candidates and job aspirants that are in search of
jobs.
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REFERENCES
1. Ashton, D., Maguire, M. and Spilsbury, M., 2016. Restructuring the labour
market: The implications for youth. Springer.
2. Binder, A.J., Davis, D.B. and Bloom, N., 2016. Career Funneling: How Elite
Students Learn to Define and Desire ‘‘Prestigious’’Jobs. Sociology of
Education, 89(1), pp.20-39.
3. Bleijenbergh, I., Gremmen, I. and Peters, P., 2016. Timing ambition: How
organisational actors engage with the institutionalised norms that affect the
career development of part-time workers. Scandinavian Journal of
Management, 32(4), pp.179-188.
4. Böhm, M.J., Metzger, D. and Strömberg, P., 2015. 'Since You're So Rich, You
Must Be Really Smart': Talent and the Finance Wage Premium.
5. Bratton, J. and Gold, J., 2017. Human resource management: theory and
practice. Palgrave.
6. Brown, J., 2017. Labour market statistics: UK regions and countries.
7. Cridland, R., 2016. Finance Digest, 2016. BUSINESS 2016 FINANCIAL
RECRUITMENT TRENDS. Online available at
(https://www.financedigest.com/2016-financial-recruitment-trends.html) last
accessed March 2018.
8. Custódio, C. and Metzger, D., 2014. Financial expert CEOs: CEO׳ s work
experience and firm׳ s financial policies. Journal of Financial Economics,
114(1), pp.125-154.
9. Dmitrieva, N.V., Zaitseva, N.A., Kulyamina, O.S., Larionova, A.A. and Surova,
S.A., 2014. Scientific and theoretical aspects of the staff recruitment
organization within the concept of" Talent Management". Asian Social
Science, 11(3), p.358.
10. Dodds, J.C., 2017. The investment behaviour of British life insurance
companies. Routledge.
11. Higginbotham, D., 2017. Overview of the UK’s Financial sector. Online
available at (https://www.prospects.ac.uk/jobs-and-work-experience/job-
sectors/accountancy-banking-and-finance/overview-of-the-uks-financial-
sector) last accessed March 2018.
12

12. Jeffrey, R., 2016. Recruitment Trends in 2016. Online available at
(https://www.recruitment-international.co.uk/blog/2016/08/finance-recruitment-
trends-in-2016) last accessed March 2018.
13. London Data store, 2018. Labour Market Update for London. Online available
at (https://data.london.gov.uk/apps_and_analysis/labour-market-update-for-
london/) last accessed March 2018.
14. Masters in Financial NAlayisis Employment Report, 2017. Online available at
(https://www.london.edu/-/media/files/programme-files/master-courses/mfa/
mfa_employment_report.pdf?la=en) last accessed March 2018.
15. MBA Employment Report, 2017. Online available at
(https://www.london.edu/-/media/files/programme-files/master-courses/mba/
mba_employment_report.pdf?la=en) last accessed March 2018.
16. McCollum, D. and Findlay, A., 2015. ‘Flexible’workers for ‘flexible’jobs? The
labour market function of A8 migrant labour in the UK. Work, employment and
society, 29(3), pp.427-443.
17. Melanthiou, Y., Pavlou, F. and Constantinou, E., 2015. The use of social
network sites as an e-recruitment tool. Journal of Transnational Management,
20(1), pp.31-49.
18. Office for National Statistics, 2018. UK Labour Market. Online available at
(https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/.../employmentandemployeetyp..)
last accessed March 2018.
19. ONS Digital, 2016. Five facts about the UK service sector. Online available at
(https://visual.ons.gov.uk/five-facts-about-the-uk-service-sector/) last
accessed March 2018.
20. Schaper, M. ed., 2016. Making ecopreneurs: developing sustainable
entrepreneurship. CRC Press.
21. Statista, 2018. Number of employees in the financial services sector in
London from 2007 to 1st half of 2015. Online available at
(https://www.statista.com/statistics/298354/uk-financial-sector-total-financial-
services-employment-in-london/) last accessed March 2018.
22. Stiglitz, J.E. and Rosengard, J.K., 2015. Economics of the Public Sector:
Fourth International Student Edition. WW Norton & Company.
23. Wilton, N., 2016. An introduction to human resource management. Sage.
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APPENDIX
AIM
To attain a work placement in the finance sector in the United Kingdom.
OBJECTIVES
1. To gain vocational finance qualifications in tax, investment and
accounting management until July 2018.
2. To seek schemes that will offer me a clear pathway into finance career
and help me to gain a recognized professional qualification from the
bodies of CFA institutes.
These objectives are framed keeping in mind the criteria of Specific, Measurable,
Attainable, realistic goals.
SMART CRITERIA
Fig.1: Smart Goal setting criteria
Source: https://www.slidegeeks.com/business/product/business-framework-smart-
goal-setting-powerpoint-presentation
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SUMMARY OF LABOUR MARKET IN UK
Fig.2: Summary of UK labour market (Statista, 2018)
Source: Labour Force Survey, Office for National Statistics, 2017
ELEVATOR PITCH
Fig.3: My Elevator Pitch
15
“Hi, I’m Deekshith, and I am from India. I’m currently pursuing
MBA with a keen interest towards the finance sector. I have
developed an interest in the finance and investment sector gaining
practical knowledge and vocational qualification on tax and
investment management. I am looking forward to work in a
finance and investment company so as to boost my financial
interest and learn more about the finance sector.

CURRICULUM VITAE
Deekshith alladi
Phone no: [phone]
E-mail id: [e-mail]
Date of birth 08-01-1996 Nationality Indian
Sex Male Marital status Single
Father’s name Maheshwar alladi
SOCIAL PROFILES
LinkedIn linkedin.com/in/deekshithalladi
PROFILE
To secure a workplace where I can implement my knowledge and skills
in order to develop my career and accomplish goals and be successful in my life.
Even Though I have no real time experience, conducting several events and my academic
knowledge and theoretical knowledge can be applied Practically when an opportunity given.
You will find me to be energetic, confident and sensible, the type of person to whom you can
rely on.
EDUCATION
Jun 2011-Apr 2012 Sri Viswashanti high school 10th STD Vijayawada
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Jun 2012-Apr 2014 Sri Medhavi junior college Commerce Hyderabad
Jun 2014-Apr 2017 Acharya institute B.com Bangalore
Sept 2017–present University of Northampton MBA Northampton
SKILLS
Microsoft Word Smart Worker
Ability to work in a group and individual Efficient and Effective
Strong Communication skill Good Listener
EXTRA-CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES
Participated in Job fair, JGI venture Bangalore
Participated in college fest held, Acharya Institute Bangalore
HOBBIES
Playing and watching Cricket, Using social media, Watching Movies
LANGUAGES KNOWN
English- Very good command
Telugu- mother tongue
Kannada and Hindi
17

STATISTICS OF THE NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES IN THE BANKING SECTOR IN
LONDON FROM 2007 TO FIRST HALF OF 2015
Fig.4: Number of employees in London in the banking sector
Source: https://www.statista.com/statistics/298358/uk-financial-sector-banking-
sector-employment-in-london/
18

NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES IN THE FINANCIAL SERVICES SECTOR IN THE
UNITED KINGDOM FROM 2007 TO 1ST HALF OF 2015
Fig.4: Number of employees in the financial service sector in the UK
Source: https://www.statista.com/statistics/298370/uk-financial-sector-total-financial-
services-employment/
19