My name is Takudzwa Chauruka (if you don’t think you can pronounce that then TK is fine!)
I work on the Reconciliations team in Transfer Agency (TA) and I wanted to take this chance to talk about my journey to Northern Trust – bear with me it is a bit of a long story 😊
I came to the UK in 2017 from Zimbabwe to study Business Management and Finance. I was brimming with hope for a career in finance. I never really received much education on preparing for the job market (applying for internships, spring weeks, etc.) in comparison to my English classmates.
I thought all I needed to do was to come to the UK, earn my 3-year degree, graduate and a job would be all but guaranteed. I graduated in 2020 with a 2.1 honours degree and was ecstatic as I believed I was destined to start working in the financial services industry soon.
Apply, apply, apply
After graduation, I went on to make more than 150 applications (not an exaggeration) to anything financial services related. I put in applications to Investment Banking, Asset Management, Insurance, Management Consulting, Corporate Finance and Accounting graduate schemes to every well-known firm in the city. The results were three video interviews (which resulted in rejections), and the rest were automatic rejections.
As an international student I faced a big dilemma. The UK student visa offers a 3 months grace period after graduation that allows students the opportunity to find a job with a company that is willing to sponsor them. It is an exceedingly arduous process and not all companies are willing to sponsor or can sponsor based on UK Home Office guidelines.
Dilemma – what to do next
I had a conversation with my parents and I decided that I would do a Master’s degree to make myself more employable and to extend my student visas for another 2 years, which was permissible under new UK Home Office guidelines introduced in 2021.
Bear in mind that as an international student I am not eligible for government university loans, so my parents had to pay for both my undergraduate and Master’s degree out of their own pocket!!!
I subsequently went on to do my Master’s degree in Finance and Investments at the University of Essex. After a very tough year I graduated in 2021 – with a Distinction. I was now very sure that the job market would be much kinder to me than before.
After receiving my Master’s degree I then went on to put in over two hundred job applications in the industry. This time I went a bit further than previously even doing some in person interviews and a few assessment centres but still…no luck.
10,000 Black Interns
I was feeling quite down at this point when one of my mates told me about the 10,000 Black interns programme. I must admit I felt a bit uneasy at first - how would an internship help my career development when I held a Master's degree?
I decided to trust my instincts and applied for the internship. I got matched with five firms to interview with, including Northern Trust.
Putting my best foot forward
My interview was with the Capital Markets team and I felt well prepared. I had the interview and I thought it went quite well…until a few days later when I received an email from Northern Trust informing me that I was unsuccessful in my application.
At this point I was at my wits end not sure of how to proceed.
Then suddenly on a random Tuesday, I got a call from the Northern Trust Talent Acquisition team and they informed me that although I had been unsuccessful in the Capital Markets application, the team who had interviewed me had enjoyed talking to me and had referred me for another area that had an opening.
It was with the Global Fund Services team. The interview was a success and I was informed that I would be starting the internship in July 2022.
I started the internship in July of that year in the Business Process Management team in Transfer Agency (TA) where all the team were immensely helpful to me.
The pre-conceived notions I had learnt in university about the financial services industry being a mean dog-eat-dog world were instantly shattered by how the TA team treated me.
Fairly early into my internship, the Customer Success Managers put me into a few in person client service reviews which I have to say were the highlight of my internship. In the second month of my internship, I was rotated to the reconciliations team.
No looking back
I really enjoyed my work and the internship that was initially meant to be 3 months was extended by a further 2 months. After my 5 months were up, I was offered a 12 month fixed term contract role on the reconciliations team.
I immediately said yes and have been with the reconciliations team ever since.
Fast forward to August 2023 where I was informed that I had been offered a full-time role and that Northern Trust would be sponsoring my visa!
Happiness cannot begin to describe the emotion I felt when I was informed of this great news and last week on Friday, I received an email informing me that my Skilled Workers visa has been approved.
I am so excited for my future with this firm which has shown great commitment and I am especially grateful for the TA team who have always made me feel right at home.
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