The path to a successful career in finance is evolving. While the "university-first" route was once considered the only gateway to the industry, Ruairidh Kilgour is part of a new generation of professionals choosing to bypass the lecture hall in favour of immediate, high-impact experience. Now a manager at a global consulting firm, Ruairidh opted for a Financial Services apprenticeship to secure a "massive head start" on his peers. By balancing the academic rigor of the ICAS Chartered Accountant (CA) qualification with the realities of client-facing work, Ruairidh’s journey offers a blueprint for how young professionals can build significant career capital from day one.

This summer, Scottish Financial Enterprise was pleased to host Maya Abadan for a week long internship as part of our commitment to nurturing future talent in Scotland’s financial and professional services sector.

As part of Maya’s internship with SFE, she wrote a short blog reflecting on her experience. You can read it here.

Before my internship I didn’t really know what to expect when I went into the workplace. The internship has made me realise that I might not go to college next year for joinery and would like to find a job in financial services.

In this post, we'll dive into the journeys of three individuals who've successfully navigated this transition: Mark Kane, Senior Project Manager at M&G; Jamie McMillan, Operational Risk Director at Barclays; and Ben James, Director at Baillie Gifford. Their stories highlight how their military backgrounds didn't just prepare them for a new career but actively gave them a unique edge.

The SFE Data & AI Steering Group has outlined nine key principles to guide the responsible use of this technology, emphasizing transparency, ethics, security, and continuous innovation. By following these guidelines, the industry can unlock AI’s full potential while maintaining the trust of customers, regulators, and society.

In our latest insight blog, Jonathan Brill Chief Executive at Eduvate highlights the important role that collaboration will play in tackling financial inclusion here in Scotland as well as key ways in which the financial services industry can support in order to reduce the financial inclusion gap.

Fionn Travers-Smith, Financial Inclusion Manager at Phoenix Group has written our latest insight blog outlining the purpose of the firms new Funding Future’s Programme and how you can get involved.

To mark Social Mobility Day, our Chief Executive Sandy Begbie has written an insight blog discussing the importance of addressing socioeconomic inequality through to the skills system. Read the ful blog here.

Dexter Amos from the SFE YP Climate Change and Journey to Net Zero workstream has shared his thoughts on World Bike Week and the benefits that can be realised by factoring even just a little cycling into our daily lives – from better mental health to saving money and boosting your energy.