Rayan is an Economics and Finance graduate from the University of Bristol. He secured a Banking and Markets Analyst graduate role at Baringa, through Bright Network. 
First, please tell us a little bit about yourself.
“I’m a final year Economics and Finance student, who’s always been keen on a career in Finance and Consulting.
Economics and being able to understand the impact of global politics on capital markets is what drove my decision to study the subject further and my interest in finance is from the key mathematical skills I wished to develop to help me further in a finance career.
I believe this reflects my ambitions, as I'm a keen problem solver and was drawn to consulting because I knew I'd be able to work on a wide range of projects and meet lots of different clients. The client facing aspect of the job was the main thing for me, as I love meeting new people.”
What motivated you to apply for your role?
“Baringa stood out as it was really client centric and has an emphasis on building meaningful relationships whilst being great at your work.
On a soft skill side, the role was perfect as I could interact with clients and always be at the front of all the actions, and I would never feel like just a number at a desk. Baringa is keen on developing the analysts to become experts in a chosen area, with scope to hone in on whatever you desire.
Personally, I love AI and Baringa offer me the chance to look at how banks can use and implement AI. The finance skill needed also stood out as I felt confident in my abilities from my degree and knew I’d be able to bring an analytical mindset.”
What was the application process like?
“The application process consisted of an online application with lots of long answer questions. It was very challenging to answer questions to a high level, but surprisingly this was the only thing before the assessment centre.
The assessment centre consisted of a personal interview which was very friendly, a case study which was mathematically challenging and a group task that was like an escape room and was very fun.”
How did Bright Network help you secure your role?
“I saw the internship advertised on Bright Network, which I successfully completed and was offered a return offer for the graduate scheme.”
What are you most proud of about your journey?
“I’m most proud of how I managed to apply for hundreds of listings, completing lots of online assessments and HireVue interviews throughout all of second year to land an internship. It was very difficult to do whilst balancing university work and not hearing back from many places.
Baringa was my first in-person interview, so I was proud to get the job after that.”
What are your tips for people looking to follow in your footsteps?
“My advice would be to apply for as much as possible and to put lots of effort into answering application questions.
I’d also recommend researching the company and their recent deals.
And finally, apply as early as possible as most have rolling deadlines.”
Find insight schemes, graduate jobs, internships and more at Bright Network.
