SFE Work Experience Blog | Maya Abadan

Prior to my week of work experience at the SFE, I was a complete stranger to office life. I had prepared as best I could by researching the SFE, its activities, and the financial and professional services sector in Scotland, but I still found it daunting to begin with.

On my first day, I sat in on the weekly team meeting. I did my best to grasp the various concepts and acronyms and get a sense of what was going on. It was a steep but enjoyable learning curve.

Throughout the week, I was fortunate to be given an opportunity to work with various members of the SFE team experiencing different aspects of its role. Whether it was researching potential member firms for Jayne Currie, Director of Membership Services, or brainstorming ways to improve the user experience on getinto.finance with Sara Votta, SFE’s Programme Manager, it was enjoyable work. Sitting in on a membership meeting between Jayne and Sandy, the Chief Executive, taught me a substantial amount about analysing data.

Time spent with Ben Rose, the Director of Public Policy & Communications, gave me a better understanding of the SFE’s policy and outreach activities and I was asked to write a social media post about the exciting upcoming Scottish Financial Services Awards for Harry Meighan, who is the Marketing Executive. In addition to this, I helped Christy, the SFE’s Marketing & Events Executive, by assisting with invoicing for tickets in relation to the Annual Awards.

Particular highlights of my week were being asked to accompany Sandy to his meetings with the Australian High Commissioner and the Luxembourg Ambassador; not something I had imagined myself doing this week. I found it very interesting to listen to the discussions and I feel that I gained some understanding of how the sector works across borders.

Throughout the week, I learnt a lot about just how valuable the SFE is to the financial and professional services sector in Scotland, continuously working towards putting Scotland on the map as a global financial centre and driving innovation and economic growth. I also believe that I made progress with my communication, problem-solving and analytical skills and gained invaluable experience in a collaborative and professional working environment. Working on the getinto.finance website also opened my eyes to the fact that there are so many different career paths available in financial and professional services. 

I would like to take this opportunity to thank Sandy and the entire SFE team for being so welcoming, kind, and helpful, and for taking the time to teach me so much in just five days. It was a fantastic opportunity. I hope that I was able to add some value and feel like I have made some new friends. I hope to be back in the future!