Even though many of our graduates will have progressed in their careers since completing a case study, they are still of interest to students who wish to gain an understanding of the world of work.

Forecasting both current and future requirements for the number of staff in servicing, sales and management roles across our retail branches and admin centres.
This is delivered by;
-Creating and maintaining models for each role
-Impact assessing and scenario testing changes
-Stakeholder collaboration across many business areas to ensure informed on all projects of interest
-Commercial focus looking for efficiencies and opportunities to optimise performance
-Taking a wide view and telling the story of the potential impacts to executive level management within Nationwide

There genuinely is no typical day, which is one of the aspects I love so much, as I could be informing strategy, writing a presentation to take to executive level management, or investigating anomalous performance in order to root cause and provide recommendations for improvement, for example.
However, I would say that most days do involve the use of Excel or data mining software, and so whatever is being worked on, analytical skills are at the core.

Number one has to be the level of impact that our work has across the business. Working with the executive level management does bring the opportunity to really influence strategy and change for the benefit of the society and therefore our members.

I would say that it is balancing the needs of various stakeholders across the business, e.g. balancing cost and productivity. Although, I must say that I enjoy this challenge.

It was the analytical focus of the role which pulled me in, as being a Chemist and Mathematician I already had a very strong analytical mind set, and enjoy this approach.

In order to be considered for this role, I was required to have a minimum 2.1 in a mathematical science, and it's clear why. As, whilst I don't necessarily need to use explicit mathematical techniques learnt during my degree, I do need to apply logical thought on a daily basis, drawing on the skills honed during my time at uni.

Due to the bespoke nature of the role, the majority of the initial training was on the job, typically conducted by existing members of the team. Although, for the softer skills, Nationwide has an extensive training suite to support learning and development in almost any area, which I have taken advantage of for skills such as influencing and team management.

After graduating I took a job as an analyst for a magazine distribution company, where I stayed for 3 years.
I then took an analyst role with Nationwide, which I remained in for 1 year before applying for a management role within the same team, which is the role I am in today, although it has expanded and evolved over the last 4 years as the remit of the team has grown.

I actually really enjoy what I'm doing now. The role is interesting and challenging, and Nationwide is a fantastic company to work for. So my next role will probably be a higher level within a similar field.

Prior knowledge of the working world is hugely beneficial, and so I believe having some work experience before leaving uni is key.
Also, make sure that you are applying for a role that you believe you will enjoy - you'll be much more likely to be successful.