I Got Hired: My Placement Year with the Bank of England

Posted on: 25 November 2019 in Student experiences

Adam Day is a student on the BA Business Economics with a Year in Industry degree. He has just returned to the University to complete his final year after spending 13 months in a placement role, working as a Research Assistant at the Bank of England in London.

He talks about his course, working at the Bank of England, and the benefits of gaining work experience and making the most of what university has to offer.

What has been your best experience while studying your course at the University of Liverpool?
The ability to take a year out to study a placement, and the opportunities that have arisen from this. I feel more mature and more confident in myself, which has really helped me have a productive start to final year.

Which aspects of your course do you think have been the most beneficial to your career development?
Aside from the placement year, the integration of Excel and computer labs to modules has been hugely useful for transferable skills that I will benefit from in the workplace. 

Also having presentations and group work – they might not always seem fun at the time but have been vital to helping improve my confidence and communication skills.

Can you please share an insight into your current role and if this was supported by your time at the University of Liverpool?
I worked in the Bank’s Independent Evaluation Office for 13 months. The IEO is a small office that conducts in-depth evaluations of different policy areas at the Bank. 

Whilst I was there, I worked on the evaluation of the Bank’s approach to concurrent stress testing (published April 2019) and the evaluation of the Bank’s approach to research (published October 2019). 

I was involved in many aspects of the evaluations: I wrote a box in the stress testing evaluation and produced the graphics; I engaged with senior stakeholders both internally and externally; I created a Bank-wide staff survey and analysed the results using Excel skills I gained during my second year at university; and I conducted various pieces of standalone research and analysis for the team. I even got my name in the reports!

The application process for my placement was tough, and involved a mix of technical and competency based tests and interviews. 

Prior to my assessment centre I visited the Career Studio and the advice and insight they gave me was hugely useful. I’d recommend anyone applying for placements, internships or graduate roles to speak with a Career Coach before or during the application process, as you may get some valuable insight into what certain organisations want in your application.

Do you have any top tips to share with future and current students?
Try and have at least some insight into the new software organisations are looking for graduates to understand – R, Tableau, Python etc.

Always keep up to date with the news – literally just take 5-10 minutes of your morning to scroll through BBC news just to see what is happening in the world.

Cliché but make the most of what the university has to offer. There are so many societies and groups to make contacts, and many courses to help improve all sorts of skills which can help your employability.

Uni is busy but if you find even an hour a week to do some volunteering that will not only help the community, but it can also benefit your wellbeing, and looks good on your CV.

What Mark Carney told me – Focus on what you want to do, not what you think you should do.

What is the first thing that you think of when you think of the University of Liverpool?
The Victoria Building; exams in the Crypt; the relentless wind and rain!