Information Security Trainee Review

I work on Incident Response team within Information Security and my day to day work far exceeds what I ever thought I would be doing as the trainee of the team. The workload is very equally shared among the team and I'm certainly not made to feel like a trainee. Thrown in at the deep end is much more fitting! As soon as any alert of piece of work requiring action comes into my team everyone is involved in ensuring the firm is secure. No day is ever the same and therefore the actual work I do is extremely varied.

Through dedicated training and just getting to work with the skilled people on the team, my technical knowledge has developed hugely. I've also seen a notable improvement in my communication and presentation skills. Schroders is heavily invested in the development of their staff and it's certainly noticeable.

I thoroughly enjoy the programme, the working environment at Schroders is fantastic. My team and the other trainees I started with have also been a major reason why I enjoy my job so much. I genuinely don't believe I could have had a better entrance to the industry I wanted to work in.

As mentioned above, I really don't feel like a trainee at all. I'm treated just like every other member of my team and therefore I definitely feel valued by Schroders. When I started I expected to be treated as a trainee, which is understandable because I am. It was quite surprising how much involvement and responsibility was given to me.

The programme has only been running for the last few years so I wouldn't say it's a finished product yet. It is well structured and it's certainly a good programme but there's room for improvement. The main thing I value is that the company will listen to what you have to say and therefore it's constantly evolving and improving.

We have various training days provided throughout the year from a host of training providers. We don't have a single training provider so to speak so this question is not overly relevant. The trainers we have had so far have all been great but they run the course for the day and that's it. There is no ongoing support from trainers but nor would I expect there to be.

The support from Schroders is overwhelming. I'm still amazed at how heavily the company invests in their employees. From the training provided to the amount of time senior managers dedicate to sharing their knowledge and experiences with you.

Schroders pays an annual salary of £20,000 for the programme i'm on. As far as salaries go for programmes available to school leavers I think this is very competitive. Working in the City of London isn't a cheap place to work so I doubt anyone has ever said they get paid enough, trainee or otherwise. Schroders does give you a loan towards your season ticket which you can repay monthly which was really helpful when I started.

Schroders is constantly sending internal emails around detailing events they are running each month and the company does come across very social. However the majority of activities I do outside of work are with my team or the other trainees which we organise ourselves for the most part.

Yes

I think you will struggle to find a better entry level programme into the City of London and into the financial sector. I recently attended the national apprenticeship fair to represent Schroders as I was more than happy to recommend Schroders to anyone interested.

Take it seriously and do your research. Regardless of the role you are applying for make sure you have taken some time to learn about the company. If you get to the video interview stage, practice it before you do it for real!