My career in financial services so far.
When I was little I wanted to be an actress. Well, if I’m being honest, first I wanted to be a dolphin, then I wanted to be an actress.
Cut to 2022, and I’m currently sitting in SFE’s Edinburgh office writing a blog about my career to-date in financial services. Oh, how things change! But I don’t in any way see this as a failure in my life – certainly not.
Growing up in South Queensferry, I attended the local high school and was part of the quite-alternative-but-not-quite-cool-enough crowd, and I emerged in 2009 relatively unscathed. I was impacted by the ‘Braces and Glasses’ combo of 2007, discovered high-waisted trousers just before they were cool (thank you Mum), and inflicted 6 years of, nails down a blackboard, violin-playing on my poor friends and family.
What do I do now?
Having realised that perhaps Hollywood was not my calling given I was painfully shy and – let’s face it – no Meryl Streep, I had applied to study English at Edinburgh University and had been accepted. My exam results had been good, probably better than I was expecting, but I was at a loss as to what to do with them. What sort of job can you do with German, Music, and Chemistry?? So I chose English because…I’m not sure, I spoke it? Yep. I enjoyed it at school? Yep (my teacher was a legend – shoutout to Mrs Nelken). Right then, that settled it.
Instead, I went in a different direction. Now, I would love to say that I made this decision because I am a fiercely independent woman who is always up for new adventures. In truth, I had an enormous crush on a boy and decided that of course it made sense to apply to the same university as him… in South Africa. Yep, that country at the very tip of Africa. A cool 6,335 miles away. Brilliant move Caitlin.
It was the BEST decision I ever made. No, sadly it never worked out with the boy, but I did find my way onto a course in Politics, Philosophy and Economics (also known as PPE) and absolutely fell in love with learning. Learning about philosophers, academics, and economists far smarter than me. Really just learning about learning.
I think university was where I really blossomed, I even got a fringe. It was the first time I began to enjoy what I was studying, and it truly broadened my horizons when it came to thinking about what I could do with my life. I did not however, benefit from the warm climate (Scottish, duh).
A ‘Grown Up’ Job
After university I was fortunate enough to travel for a few months, and when I got back home I had the classic ‘OHMYGOODNESSWHATAMISUPPOSEDTODOWITHMYLIFE’ moment. This led to 2 years of picking up jobs here and there – piano tutoring, photography, childminding, girl Friday jobs – but I knew that eventually I’d have to think about my ‘grown up’ job. I did flirt with the idea of burying my head in the sand for the next 40 years until retirement, but I don’t do well in confined spaces.
Then one day, my aunt suggested a chartered accountancy qualification (also known as a ‘CA’). It absolutely was not on my list of job ideas and to be completely honest, when I pictured any job in finance it was either Gordon Gecko talking on his giant cellphone closing some sort of dubious ‘deal’, or Dolly Parton in 9 to 5.
But – you guessed it – I threw caution to then wind and gave it a shot. I didn’t even have a crush on a boy this time.
I then spent the next 3 years down in London with my head either buried in my books or glued to a computer screen as I completed a graduate programme in auditing with Ernst & Young (EY). I’m not going to lie; it was really tough at times. Busy season is no joke – I can think of many other things I’d rather do than spend 15 hours a day working through bank reconciliations and surviving on coffee and late-night Nando’s. But honestly, 3 years went by so fast and before I knew it, I’d been with EY London for 5 years working away as a Manager in the Insurance department. Me? Managing actual people?!
The job completely surprised me – not just because it was genuinely interesting, engaging, and I got to work with some of the best people around, but that I could actually do it. My confidence has always been a little shaky, but after 5 years in London and 2 years in Edinburgh working at one of the top professional services firms in the world, I can confidently say that I am good at my job. Even though writing this down makes me cringe…
New Opportunities
Since April 2021, I’ve been fortunate enough to have been seconded to Scottish Finance Enterprise as their Head of Skills and Talent and it’s been a fantastic experience (I wasn’t even bribed to write this…!). I’ve never been the ‘Head’ of anything, I don’t even sit at the head of the table for Sunday lunch, but it has been one of the best experiences of my career to-date. I’ve worked on projects I’d never been exposed to in audit, worked with people who inspire me, and discovered a passion for financial education and literacy I didn’t know I had.
Maybe next year I’ll get to Hollywood, but right now I’m content being a short walk from Holyrood.
