A day as an analyst at J.P. Morgan by Hamish Ross

We want to send a big thank you to everyone who joined MyPlus Students’ Club in October and participated in our “Win a day at an organisation of your choice” draw.

A special congratulations goes to Hamish Ross, the winner of our lucky draw! Hamish attended, Getting Investment Banking*, a uniquely interactive careers event for students with disabilities last month which was hosted by J.P. Morgan and MyPlus Students’ Club. When he was selected as our October winner, Hamish jumped at the opportunity to experience a day at J.P. Morgan and gain exposure to working in the Markets team of a global financial institution.

We asked Hamish to tell us a bit about himself and how his day went below.

“My name is Hamish and I am a recent graduate from Newcastle University with a First-Class Honours degree and a specific learning disability called Slow Processing which is similar in effect to dyslexia. After attending a diversity recruitment event that was hosted by J.P. Morgan and co-organised by MyPlus Students’ Club, I was incredibly lucky to win a prize draw to spend a day at the global financial institution, J.P.Morgan.

The day was scheduled so that I would speak with representatives from the different teams within the Markets division. I met and had some great conversations with individuals from Cash Equities Sales, Infrastructure Research, Hedge Fund Sales and an Interest Rate Swap Trader.

The day began with a brief introduction to the graduate career process with Investment Banking campus recruitment team member, Jessica Munde. I learnt that after an initial phone interview, shortlisted candidates would be invited to an Assessment Centre. The representatives at the Getting Investment Banking event encouraged us to be open about disability so that interviewers could be aware when asking questions. While the type of adjustments I typically need relate to timings for tests, I was informed that other adjustments could be provided including technology to help me complete written tasks in the assessment centre.

After speaking through mine and Jessica’s background, we headed to a meeting room on the trading floor where the equities teams sit. In this room, I spoke separately with two Analysts and a Managing Director. We discussed our backgrounds, J.P. Morgan’s culture and then spoke about a huge range of topics impacting Financial Markets, from Mifid to current equities prices to bubbles, Bitcoin and J.P. Morgan’s ‘Best of British’ Conference.

Following these conversations, I spent some time learning about Interest Rate Swaps and Trading in Emerging Markets while sitting with an Analyst Trader who works within the Emerging Markets team. It was interesting to watch the motions and understand the thought processes that are gone through by Traders. The rationale explained by the Analyst for trades that he has made were incredibly logical and clear cut, which was interesting and relieving to hear after having read about the various complex quantitative strategies used by many traders.

Prior to this day, I was concerned that my disability would hold me back from starting a career in Financial Markets. This day was a perfect chance to learn more about Sales, Trading and Research and it was made incredibly clear to me that the door to these careers is always open for curious, intelligent and confident people, regardless of their disability.

The whole day was fantastic and everyone made me feel incredibly comfortable about asking any questions. Thank you MyPlus Students’ Club for the prize and to J.P. Morgan for hosting me! If you haven’t joined the Club, I highly encourage you to sign up on MyPlus Students’ Club for application advice and tips, AND for the chance to spend a day with a firm you aspire to work for – this is a wonderful opportunity for you to gain an insight into that institution and the type of people who succeed there.”

Thanks, Hamish!

*Getting Investment Banking relaunched in 2018 as Investing In Talent