Equity Manager
Fidelity International

Vicky Feltham

00:00:03 My name’s Victoria F, and my job title is Manager for Equity Co-ordinators. It means that, as a group, we support all the investment professionals in this Fidelity building, and we look after all their administrative needs. So I have 17 direct reports, and I work with two other Managers who also have direct reports. Overall we logistically make sure that the team can cover and support all the investment professionals’ recruitment needs, we write appraisals, individually we’re a point person for each person that reports to us, so we look after their development and training, how they’re doing in their role, if they need help, how we can progress them, and any other ad hoc things that come up with managing people.

00:00:47 So when I was at school and taking sort of options at GCSE, and being asked about what you want to do at college, outside of my love of animals and thinking about being a vet, what I enjoyed most at school was the organisational side of things. So my Business Studies classes, learning computers etcetera. I was absolutely diabolical anything artistic, creative or sport – related. So that was what I enjoyed the most. So I decided that I felt I would be good at a support or a secretarial role. So I went to college to study GNVQ Business. And then I decided that I would really love to work in London, I’ve always loved the city, I still do now, I feel that it’s a great place to work, I get a real buzz from it. So I headed off to Agencies, and a few contacts that the college help you with. I wrote lots and lots of letters to some companies that I knew of, and some companies that I just picked out of a book. And waited for responses.

00:01:44 I think, looking back, the most difficult thing I coped with was moving from the Bank of England. Because that role – I really didn’t have my confidence then. It was my first job, I was very insecure, very naïve, and I didn’t – really didn’t have any mentors, I hadn’t built any relationships to be able to say to anyone – is this right, that I feel like this? I felt very alone in that job.

00:02:13 So the move from my first job to the second, was very much like coming out of college and going to the first job. I definitely think it teaches you a lot, it’s a very scary move, but once you’ve done it, you really can look back and think that you really understand what – where it is you want to go. So I think for me it’s a really nice way – that everybody has to come out into the big wide world at some time, but it’s not always that big, and that scary, and you can really learn a lot about yourself. And it’s actually really fun element to thinking – this is my life ahead of me now, I can decide where I want to go and what I want to do, and there’s actually a lot of opportunities out there.

00:03:25 I brought my globe. I know I’ve sort of already mentioned, but I do love to travel. Not a regret, but something I would like to think I will still do in my lifetime is to travel for an extended period of time, but I never did that in my – from college to now, because I always felt there was something else in my life going on – a career move that I should do, or want to buy a flat, etcetera. So for me one of the reasons for working is to achieve – to be able to do this goal, and to travel. I’m a great believer in work/life balance, I think that you really do – you need to be dedicated to something, and have some work to be challenged and be interested in, because then it makes the leisure time and the things that you can work towards so much more enjoyable. If you just had those all the time, I don’t think they’d be as much fun. So it’s really – I really enjoy thinking that’s what I want to set my goal, that’s the next place I want to go. I save up towards that, and I look forward to it, and then I really enjoy it when I get to see a different place and a different culture.

00:03:51 ENDS