A large part of my decision to join the Risk profession through the Civil Service Fast Stream was driven by the huge diversity of work on offer. As someone who doesn’t like to stay still and is always keen to seek out variety and new challenges, this seemed like a perfect way to gain a proper breadth of experience, giving me the flexibility to explore where my professional interests take me and to develop my skills within a living, analytical profession.
A great testimonial to this is the fact that, for my first year on scheme, I’ve been seconded to the National Wealth Fund to rotate around the three teams that make up their risk department. I’m currently part of the financial risk team, and my day-to-day is focussed on assessing the credit risk of various projects coming through the NWF’s investment pipeline. This has taken me deep into the research rabbit-hole on some fascinating new technologies across a spread of industries, from offshore wind to green steel, and this fully immersive education in investment finance has been supported all the way by some really fantastic colleagues.
Maybe it’s a cliché thing to say, but participating in work that genuinely makes a difference has been a very fulfilling experience.
Risk is a broad church, and I’d say give it a try to anyone who enjoys following their curiosity and most of all – asking questions, and I look forward to where the scheme will take me next.
