Nicole Mallare
Financial Services Graduate Apprentice, JPMorganChase
For Scottish Careers Week, we're showcasing the people building their careers through apprenticeships across Scotland’s financial services industry.
Nicole Mallare is a second-year Financial Services Graduate Apprentice based in Edinburgh. Through her apprenticeship, Nicole combines university study with a professional role as a Programme Manager in Fund Services Operations, gaining practical experience while working towards her degree.
Her journey highlights how apprenticeships can provide opportunities to develop professional skills, build valuable industry connections and take on responsibilities from an early stage in a career. We caught up with Nicole to hear how the experience has challenged her expectations, helped her grow in confidence and opened up new possibilities for her future.
1. What first attracted you to an apprenticeship, and what made you choose this route over other options such as going to university or straight into employment?
What drew me to a graduate apprenticeship was the chance to have the best of both worlds: full-time employment while studying towards a university degree. Work and study are designed to complement each other, so the programme takes competing priorities into account, and that gives a much better work life balance. The university side follows the same idea. The coursework is practical rather than a deluge of theory, so I understand what I am learning, why it matters and how it applies in the workplace.
Beyond the learning itself, the route has opened doors that I don't think a traditional degree or going straight into employment would have offered. My coursework, for example, has been a great excuse to expand my network and build my personal brand. Needing interviews and case studies gave me a genuine reason to reach out to very senior stakeholders, and those conversations have led to connections I might never have made otherwise.
2. Can you tell us a bit about what your apprenticeship involves day to day? How do you balance learning new skills with gaining practical experience in the workplace?
As a Programme Manager in Fund Services Operations, my day to day depends on which projects are being prioritised at the time. Most of our work falls into two workstreams: stakeholder management and data automation. Because of this variety, no two days are the same, which suits me perfectly as I am constantly intellectually stimulated.
That variety also makes it feel natural to balance learning with practical experience, because for me the two go hand in hand. I learn best when I can apply something straight away, so whenever I pick up a new skill, I look for a way to use it on my projects. Staying curious helps with this. With every new project or task, I ask questions and look for opportunities to improve our existing processes using what I have learnt along the way. As a result, my studies and work constantly feed into each other.
3. What have been the most important skills or experiences you've gained during your apprenticeship, and how have these helped you develop professionally and personally?
The most important skill I have developed through my apprenticeship is effective and adaptive communication. Over time, I have learnt to adjust my approach to the person I am speaking to, whether that is a subject matter expert or a senior leader. This has made a real difference to my work, as it allows me to engage a wider range of stakeholders and, in turn, speed up project delivery. It has also made me a more engaging storyteller, which has been just as valuable outside my projects when networking and building visibility across the industry.
4. Has your apprenticeship challenged any assumptions you previously had about the industry or the opportunities available to you?
The apprenticeship has demystified the culture of the firm for me. Before I started, most of what I knew about the industry came from films and TV shows, where it is always portrayed as a hostile, cut-throat, and daunting environment. I assumed that would be the reality, but my experience has been quite the opposite.
While there is healthy competition, it is mostly with myself, as I push to perform better each month. The people around me, on the other hand, are genuinely supportive and always rooting for me to flourish in my career. You can see that culture in how many opportunities there are to ask for help, find mentoring and upskill in different areas. It has shown me that the opportunities open to me are far broader than I once imagined.
5. What support have you received from your employer, colleagues or mentors, and how has this helped you settle into the workplace and progress in your career?
From the start, I have had a very supportive team and line manager who understand the reality of juggling university and work as an apprentice. Many of my colleagues came through early careers programmes themselves, so they are naturally empathetic towards my situation and know exactly what I need in order to grow.
That understanding shapes the support they give me. Alongside mentoring me in the skills I need as a Programme Manager, they have helped me build visibility and exposure by giving me autonomy on projects where I work directly with senior executives. This has often meant being thrown in at the deep end, whether that is leading tasks or facilitating senior calls. Looking back, that trust has accelerated my growth more than anything else. It has given me a real glimpse of what my manager's role involves and a clearer sense of where my own career could go.
Beyond my immediate team, our HR programme managers have also been a great source of support through their frequent check-ins. They actively encourage us to speak up if something can be improved and are always eager to hear our feedback. This helps make the rest of our programme a better experience for each new cohort that joins every year. They have also been proactive in helping us find opportunities outside the office, which I am very grateful for because these experiences have broadened my perspective beyond my day-to-day role and allowed me to build connections across the wider industry. Most meaningfully, they have given me the chance to give back by speaking to school pupils about the programme and showing them that an apprenticeship is a real option. Having gained so much from this route myself, it is incredibly rewarding to help the next generation discover it too.
6. What would you say to someone considering an apprenticeship, and what is something you wish you had known before starting yours?
I would tell anyone considering an apprenticeship that it is a genuinely effective way to start a career. It can seem daunting at first, as many people assume it is very difficult to juggle university and work at the same time. However, the programme is framed to make that balance achievable. In fact, I know people who went to university and had far less work life balance. Their jobs were completely separate from their studies, so they had to manage night shifts and overtime on top of their coursework and exams.
As for what I wish I had known before starting, it is that your organisation is not there to catch you out. They are there to help you grow because they are investing in you. With that in mind, don't be afraid to step out of your comfort zone, learn new skills, and reach out to colleagues at every level. In my experience, the more senior someone is, the more likely they are to say yes to a conversation or catch up, because there is a real culture of nurturing young talent.
Nicole’s experience demonstrates that an apprenticeship is about much more than gaining a qualification. It can provide a platform to build confidence, develop professional relationships and take on challenges that might otherwise feel out of reach early in a career.
Her advice to anyone considering this route is to embrace opportunities, step outside your comfort zone and make the most of the people willing to support your development. As Nicole highlights, employers are investing in apprentices because they want to see them succeed.
For anyone interested in following a similar path, JPMorganChase’s apprenticeship scheme will open for applications in January 2027, offering another opportunity to combine university study with practical workplace experience and start building a career in financial services.
To find out more about the different routes into Scotland’s financial services industry, visit getinto.finance, where you can explore career opportunities, discover different pathways and learn more about the sector.
Through stories like Nicole’s, we hope to showcase the breadth of opportunities available across Scotland’s financial services industry and encourage more people to consider apprenticeships as a route into a rewarding career.