Hey {{first_name | default: there}} , it's a bit of a long one this week, but it's worth your time!

Weekly Shoutouts

Just the two this week,

  • Christina - Joining the FO Perspectives Team this week! A university student leading our partnerships & outreach with 70+ universities & schools(now that’s real experience)

  • Rayaz - For introducing

    himself to me in Lime Street. Reminded me that we met at the Uni of Birmingham CV Workshop 3 years ago - how time flies!

  • 1st year students - you've been on job with applications to the spring weeks - we’ve seen 180 applications in just over 24 hours!

Weekly Career Insight
How I pivoted industries and went from £32k → £73k

In a recent poll I ran on Instagram, a large proportion of you voted that you wanted to pivot industries in 2026. So I’m going to show you how in 90 seconds.

This is something I was able to do twice in my career

Asset Management → Insurance
Insurance → Strategy Consulting

Pivoting wasn’t easy, but there were 3 key things I did:

1) Strategic skill stacking
I focused on accumulating a wide range of skills which were transferable across different industries and made sure to clearly demonstrate them on my CV to position myself as a top candidate.

2) Networked with recruiters like it was Hinge
They hold the key to bypassing the application stage and start landing you interviews. I’m a big believer in talking to 2-3 recruiters every month just to build relationships

3) Leaned into my different background as a USP
While I may not have had direct experience in those industries, I made sure to highlight the unique viewpoint and skillsets and weaved them into a narrative I could bring to the team. I turned my difference into a strength

Spotlight Jobs
Barclays Spring weeks are now live!

If you’re graduating in 2028 and looking to kickstart your career, Barclays, our employer partner, has gone live with 19 Spring week opportunities!

The Best part about these spring weeks? You get fast-tracked to a 2027 summer internship!

They’re hiring in Technology, Finance, Retail Banking, Operations and Internal Audit across Manchester, London, Glasgow, Northampton, Liverpool

You can find the rest of the roles here - All Jobs

Events

🎟️ How to land an internship or Grad Job in 2026 Masterclass - 15th January, 7:30-8:30 pm

Haven’t landed an internship or Graduate Job and want to start the year right?

We’re hosting our 1st Masterclass of the year tomorrow and we’re going to deep dive into:

Diagnose your job search to know where you’re going wrong with applications How to find opportunities at this point in the cycle
Redevelop Job Search Strategy
Creating Quality CV & Applications

We’ll make sure you leave with the clarity and practical strategies that’ve helped 250+ people land roles with us

You can register here - Sign up

🎟️ Barclays Spring Week Pre-application Insight Event - 29th January

1st year student looking to take advantage of the spring weeks we provided above ?

We’re hosting an exclusive pre-application virtual insight event with Barclays to help you maximise your chances of success

In this behind-the-scenes event, we’ll:

  • Walkthrough the application process and what they’re looking for in ideal candidates by the early career team

  • ⁠A graduate panel of former spring week participants sharing their insights and journey through spring week

  • ⁠Q&A session to have all questions answered by the early careers team

This is for 1st year students (or 2nd of a 4-year degree) interested in:

  • Technology; Retail Banking; ⁠Risk; ⁠Finance; ⁠Cyber Security; ⁠Operations

♻️ We don’t gatekeep around here, so make sure to share with friends!

Sign up here - Register

🎟️ Accenture Apprenticeship Insight Event - 13th February 6-8pm

Are you a Year 12 or 13 student interested in a degree apprenticeship in Technology or Consulting?

We’re partnering with Accenture to host the Accent on Ethnicity: Empowering Future Talent - Apprenticeship Insight Evening 🎓

This immersive careers evening is for students from diverse ethnic backgrounds who want to learn more about degree apprenticeships as an alternative pathway into professional roles.

On the day, you’ll:

🧠 Gain practical CV + career guidance
🎤 Hear real stories from current apprentices & Accenture professionals
🤝 Build confidence through networking + meaningful conversations
🚀 Learn how to stand out in competitive apprenticeship applications

Limited Spaces, so register for the event here - Register

Corporate Gossip + Memes

Job Market News 💼

  • BlackRock Cuts Hundreds of Jobs, Trimming About 1% of Staff… Job Market isn’t letting up! (Investment News)

  • Citi announces job cuts days before bonuses… this is brutal man😭 (efinancial careers)

  • Hedge fund Rokos Capital Management pays its people $500k per head… sometimes I wish I was a maths nerd🤑 (efinancial careers)

  • Meta Plans to Cut 10% of Jobs at Company’s Reality Labs Division… they’ve finally let go of metaverse (Bloomberg)

  • The interview questions of Jane Street, Jump and Citadel Securities in order to earn £1.3m… (efinancial careers)

Commercial Awareness 🧠

  • Trump vows 25% tariff on countries doing business with Iran… Trump continuing to provide headlines (Bloomberg)

  • US approves sale of Nvidia's advanced AI chips to China… Govt taking 25% though?? (CNBC)

  • China announces record $1tn trade surplus despite Trump tariffs… ironic considering the bullet point above (BBC)

Memes

Glassdoor reviews is a must….

When I’m rich there will be signs…

How did you find the new newsletter format?

Login or Subscribe to participate

Housekeeping

Until next week,
Agbolade👋

Recommended for you