Our graduate programme
The thought of life after graduating can be a daunting one. At Scottish Friendly we understand that at this point you may not know what career path you want to focus on, so we give you the chance to experience loads of them.
We provide a comprehensive overview of how a financial services business works, along with the tools to grow in what you're passionate about. We’re committed to offering internal and external training, as well as giving you time to earn relevant qualifications.
Find out more about life as a graduate at Scottish Friendly below, from two of our colleagues - Sumith and Ashley - currently working their way through our graduate programme.
Sumith Sam
My background and journey pre-Scottish Friendly
My degrees were in Business (Hons) and International Marketing (MSc). I worked in retail before joining Scottish Friendly.
Why apply for a Scottish Friendly graduate scheme?
I developed an interest in working within the financial sector during my final year of university. Scottish Friendly being the UK’s leading mutual life and investments organisation was the primary reason for choosing to apply for the role. Having an opportunity to do placements in different departments within a large organisation was the other reason behind choosing the graduate scheme.
My career journey so far at Scottish Friendly as a graduate
Currently, I am working in Operations - Change, this is my third placement within Scottish Friendly. Previously I had worked in Claims Customer Service and Customer Contact Centre.
Support and training I have received
The support and training I have received within the company has been exceptional. Each department had an assigned trainer to train me on duties and tasks for the role in that department. There were also workshop sessions for management skills and other soft skills such as emotional intelligence. I was assigned a mentor to support my journey through the programme. This has been helpful as it provides an additional support through having a professional relationship outside of the line management structure. This has also provided me a space to confidentially discuss goals, objectives, and concerns.
What I love about Scottish Friendly
I love how everyone in the company works for the customer’s best interest and all the colleagues I have worked with were incredibly supportive and always happy to help.
How will this programme help develop my career?
This programme has been a huge learning curve and has provided me with an opportunity to gain an in-depth view of the financial sector from different perspectives. As mentioned above, working in different departments within Scottish Friendly has provided me with a wide-ranging skill set and has enabled me to gain knowledge regarding a wide variety of financial products. I believe the skills and knowledge gained from the graduate programme will enable me to progress my career within the organisation or in the wider financial sector.
Ashley Robertson
My background and journey pre-Scottish Friendly
Before Scottish Friendly, I previously studied accountancy for three years at college, before starting 3rd year at Glasgow Caledonian University - ultimately gaining a 2:1 Bachelor’s degree. Throughout this time, I maintained a part time job within the hospitality sector to ensure a steady income. During my last year of study (2019/2020) Covid and lockdown hit, resulting in a very stressful time to complete final projects and my dissertation with no face-to-face guidance and minimal advice. Due to these unforeseen circumstances, I decided to go full time in my current job to ensure job security due to the job market crashing.
Why apply for an Scottish Friendly graduate scheme?
Whilst researching graduate jobs online using job websites and LinkedIn, I saw a graduate job advert within Scottish Friendly. Reading the job advert, what attracted me to Scottish Friendly first was being able to move to different departments within the company. This has allowed me to see how different parts of the business works and how it all comes together to provide the best service for our customers. This wasn’t an option I had seen offered by any other companies, and I was very interested in gaining extensive knowledge within different areas of the business.
My career journey so far at Scottish Friendly as a graduate
Initially, I started out within the Contact Centre, gaining extensive knowledge of our products and processes and helping our customers as a first point of contact. Following this, I was then working within the Customer Services department processing death claims to our partnerships. Currently, I am doing a 6 month placement within the project and change team within Scottish Friendly. This team is designed to help implement changes in response to regulations or that will improve the experience for colleagues and customers.
Support and training I have received
The support and training was informative, giving us in depth product and process knowledge – particularly when we started in the contact centre. This was then built upon moving to a back office team, learning the process of partnership claim payouts.
What I love about Scottish Friendly
What I love about Scottish Friendly is how the company goes the extra mile to make sure it doesn’t just feel like ‘just a workplace’ and make you feel appreciated for the job you do.
Over the last year Scottish Friendly has celebrated public holidays and have generously provided us with things like pancakes, easter eggs and advent calendars. These small gestures show the appreciation for the work we are doing, and it is not going unnoticed.
Furthermore, we have had a weeklong event for ‘health week’ which we could sign up to the things that took our interest. This included yoga and meditation classes, flu jags and chair massages.
How will this programme help develop my career?
This programme will allow me to gain/expand on essential skills, which I will be able to carry forward to future jobs. This is a graduate management position, the skills I have built upon are leadership, decision making, and critical thinking.
