Fast Track Into Financial Services

Fast Track Into Financial Services HNU

(SCQF level 7)

Full-time, Accounting and Finance

Course Options
No course offerings available at the moment.

Overview

Fast Track into Financial Services is an award-winning six-week work-readiness course developed for HNC, HND or Degree level graduates progressing a career in Scotland’s financial services sector.

You may be an unemployed HND/Degree graduate or currently working but need more experience and support to secure a role in financial services successfully.

Or you may be affected by redundancy in a sector where you have developed customer services and operational skills (such as tourism, travel, retail or hospitality) which can be complemented with an immersive course where you can retrain for roles in the financial services sector.

The aim of Fast Track is to help graduates secure customer services and operations jobs in this growing sector, which has identified this course as a key recruitment channel for entry-level roles. In addition to college learning, you will meet several employees currently working in Financial Services who will deliver lessons and workshops, giving you the opportunity to ask questions and enhance your industry network and contacts.

Watch the following video to hear from a previous participant who successfully secured a job.

The course is the result of a partnership project involving industry, City of Glasgow College and Skills Development Scotland (SDS). Employers have been involved at every stage of the curriculum development of the course and actively support the course through the engagement of subject matter experts who will deliver regular lessons and workshops. These employers include BNP Paribas, Lloyds Banking Group, Barclays, Royal Bank of Scotland, HSBC, Morgan Stanley, Tesco Bank, TSB and Sainsbury’s Bank. In Autumn 2019 Fast Track won the Scottish Financial Services Pioneer Award.

You will attend college (online) 4 days per week for 6 weeks. An additional day each week will be required for self-directed study in order to complete assignments and prepare for assessment.

On completion, learners will receive an SCQF Level 7 qualification, jointly awarded by the industry body, Scottish Financial Enterprise (SFE), The Scottish Qualification Authority (SQA) and Skills Development Scotland. The course is offered free of charge for all learners. If you are a benefits claimant, please speak to your Job Coach regarding your eligibility.

Minimum entry requirements
  • You should have achieved a qualification at SCQF level 7 or above such as HNC, HND or Degree.
    • The qualification should be correctly entered into the qualifications section of the application form and copies of the certificates uploaded to the applications portal in order for the application to be considered.
  • Work experience may be considered on the submission of a verifiable employer reference confirming the nature of the work undertaken.
    • The details of work experience should be correctly entered into the work experience section of the application form and the reference uploaded to the applications portal in order for the application to be considered.

Applicants whose first language is not English should have minimum SQA ESOL National 5 or equivalent for NC/NQ courses and ESOL Higher or equivalent for HNC/D courses.

Additional selection requirements
  • Take time to consider whether a career in financial services is the right one for you
  • Applicants complete a Self-Declaration Form (which reflects key pre-employment screening criteria necessary to secure employment in financial services). This form must be uploaded to the applications portal in order for your application to be considered.
  • Photo identification such as a passport or driving license. A copy must be uploaded to the applications portal in order for your application to be considered.

What you study

The curriculum reflects the skills and behaviours identified by employers as important skillsets for customer facing roles – meaning you will be building a solid foundation for your future career.

The curriculum focus is centred around four main modules:

  • Financial Services: Environment - This unit introduces participants to the financial services landscape including the key regulators and products.
  • Financial Services: Culture - The Financial Services sector has and continues to undergo significant change. This unit introduces aspects of culture in financial services such as values, stakeholders and change management.
  • Financial Services: Risk - Working in Financial Services requires all employees to understand sources of risk and methods to reduce risk. This unit introduces areas of risk such as money laundering and cybersecurity.
  • Financial Services: Professional Skills - The aim of this unit is to enable students to develop their interpersonal and meta skills to be able to communicate and collaborate effectively in a professional setting. The unit also encourages participants to consider their career goals, update their CV and develop key interview skills.

After the course

The aim of Fast Track is to help graduates secure priority customer services andoperations roles in this growing sector, which has identified this course as a key recruitment channel for customer first entry-level roles.

The course will help you to develop your skills in preparing your CV and undertaking interviews in Financial Services to improve the opportunities available to you.

Continuing Study

If you decide to engage in further study in Financial Services following this course, you can apply for HNC/HND Financial Services courses starting in August each session.

How the course is taught

Given the restrictions relating to COVID-19, Fast Track is moving to a blended online interactive course with staff, industry experts and participants accessing the course from home.

Along with notes, remote collaboration tools, suggestions for self-learning, and opportunities to have one to ones and group sessions with experienced tutors and industry experts, participants must be fully equipped for a virtual classroom experience.

To access the course, you’ll need access to a laptop/computer and the internet.

You will attend college (online) 4 days per week for 6 weeks. An additional day each week will be required for self-directed study in order to complete assignments and prepare for assessment.

Fast Track is intensive for learners and demands a high degree of self-study. It is important that you appropriately assess that you have the resource, time and commitment to successfully complete the programme.

Guide to Applying
Funding and fees information
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