Research Coordinator
Fidelity International

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