Research Coordinator
Fidelity International

print
info Issues viewing the video?

Charley H

00:00:03 My name is Charley H, and my role is a Research Co-ordinator. A Research Co-ordinator is kind of like a PA, but to more people, and less personal. It’s organising travel, expenses, diary management day to day, dealing with companies, brokers. Also some personal things for them, ‘cause they do like to get that in there as well. Which is good, ‘cause it means you get to know the people better. So it’s basically like the running of their day to day work life.

00:00:34 I probably in a couple of years would like to do maybe what they do – be an Analyst, or an Associate. Or maybe a PA to more of the Senior guys. It depends which route I take, ‘cause I’m doing a qualification at the moment to possibly be an Analyst. It doesn’t take you straight into it, but it kind of builds up towards it. It demands a lot of your time, if you do what they do. So I may do the PA route, I haven’t quite decided. But it will still be in the finance industry, definitely.

00:01:05 I think what it is about being an Analyst, because I never went to University, I feel I’ve kind of got to compensate, in a way. So I wanna do something. ‘Cause I know a lot of them have been to University to get where they’ve got – and now I’ve found a route that didn’t involve going to University, so it’s as if I’ve got my chance again. So I think it’s – it’s a chance to actually make something of myself, rather than just say Oh a PA or, you know, I work for other people. It’s quite nice to like be in a higher position and think Oh I’ve achieved something. You’ve gotta have a go, I think. It may be a far off goal and I may never achieve it, but I think you need something to aim for. And I’ve put it up there, where I’m aiming, so at least if I don’t quite make it, then I’ve done a bit better and got something to work towards so –

00:01:50 0:02:27 After A level I kind of realised that University wasn’t going to happen, because of the subjects I’d taken, I didn’t do as well in them as I could have done. And I know that now, and I know I should have studied more. And it was mainly because, like I said to you, I was more interested in socialising with my friends at like 17,18 than I was in studying, especially subjects like Accountancy, it’s so boring you just can’t get into it. So I just applied for loads of jobs on-line in the City, ‘cause I knew that getting a job in the City was probably quite a good route to go, because you could get in at the bottom and work your way up. My Mum worked in the City, and she did the same thing. So just kind of mirrored what she did. And it kind of paid off, because I got a job at Coutts and Co, which was my first job. So that was just the route, I just thought, I’m not going to go to Uni. The Uni I could have gone to was awful, it was like one of those ones that’s not a proper Uni, it’s kind of a college that calls itself a Uni. And I thought, that’s not going to look good on my CV. I know I’m going to waste – what is it? Four years of my parents’ money, doing nothing. So I thought, no, it’s not really fair. So I went – No, I’ll go to work and I’ll waste me own money!

00:02:57 It’s difficult to say about regrets, ‘cause I don’t regret what I’ve got now. Because if I had of done things differently, I wouldn’t have what I have now – but I may have had something better, you just don’t know. So I kind of regret that I didn’t do what I planned to do, but then I don’t regret it, because I’m quite happy with what I’ve got now. So – it’s a difficult question that one.

00:03:20 I could have a family in the future, and set up my own business with … because that’s probably on the cards in the future, more than I could be an Analyst. Although it’s a nice dream. I think I’m getting to an age now where I’ve gotta kind of think – I’ve gotta have little kids at some point! So I think yeah, definitely, I could have a family and set up my own business on the side, would about sum it up, yeah.

ENDS

Charley H is a Research Coordinator at Fidelity : “kind of like a PA, but to more people, and less personal”. She says: “I’m doing a qualification at the moment to possibly be an Analyst” and “it’s a chance to actually make something of myself”.

More information about Personal assistants and other secretaries

?
£33,800
average salary

The UK average salary is £29,813

?
41
average weekly hours

There are 37.5 hours in the average working week

?
6%  male 
94%  female 

The UK workforce is 47% female and 53% male

Future employment

Future employment?

Description
? Personal assistants and other secretaries provide administrative and secretarial support to individuals, departmental or management teams within organisations.
Qualifications
There are no minimum academic requirements, although entry to professional secretarial courses typically requires GCSEs/S grades. NVQs/SVQs are available in Administration at Levels 2, 3 and 4.
Tasks
  • Acts as a first point of contact for a manager or team with colleagues and people from outside organisations, fields telephone enquiries, takes and passes on messages;
  • Arranges appointments, keeps business diary, organises travel arrangements, makes reservations and organises a variety of functions;
  • Opens, sorts, distributes and files correspondence (in hard copy and electronic) and deals directly with routine correspondence;
  • Uses appropriate software to produce correspondence, memoranda, reports, presentations and other documents from drafts, handwritten copy or by transcribing dictation;
  • Arranges and attends meetings, takes minutes and prepares records of proceedings;
  • Translates documents and liaises with overseas clients and suppliers.
Employment by region
?
Top 10 industries for this job
?
Head offices, etc 12005
Food & beverage services 8400
Wholesale trade 7307
Architectural & related 7162
Specialised construction 7097
Services to buildings 7009
Real estate 6806
Advertising, etc 6102
Auxiliary  services 5664
Membership organisations 5571
Employment status
?

From personal careers advice to finding work, see our round-up of
useful websites to help you on your way

Explore more videos by: