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Tag: Finito bursary scheme

  • Finito Bursary Candidate Nick Hennigan: “I Want to Do My Family Proud”

    Christopher Jackson meets Finito bursary candidate, a young assistant to a private banker, and, explains why he’s destined for great things

     

    I have sometimes observed that precocity creates its own challenges: being brilliant young creates expectation and pressure. In fact, it turns out that ability without the right temperament places even greater pressure on ability itself. It’s rare for the two to go hand-in-hand because the one can sometimes clash with the other. To be very talented is usually to be told you’re talented: not everyone keeps a level head.

    Nick Hennigan, 23, who recently took part in the Finito bursary scheme, has had by any measure a difficult few years. His father took his own life at the start of the pandemic, leading to unthinkable grief and shock. But to talk to him you wouldn’t know it – and in fact he only mentions it towards the end of our conversation. “As much as it is a completely negative impact on anyone’s life – within my family it was a huge blow to us all – I now see myself as my dad’s legacy. I want to go out there and do him proud and do the rest of my family proud,” he will say.

    What was his early life like? “I was born in Aberdeen and I’m very proud of my Scottish heritage. I went to a state comprehensive and after finishing secondary school, I went to join EY on a business apprenticeship, which allows young school age children to join a Big Four firm, and train up as a chartered accountant.”

    The experience was formative but in ways Hennigan might not have been expecting: it showed him vividly what he didn’t want to do. “I was in the audit division, and I didn’t find it personally or professionally stimulating,” he says simply.

    But from there, Hennigan went on to complete his university degree in international business management at the Aberdeen Business School, before heading off to study in Canada’s Mount Royal University . “That was a fantastic experience,” he tells me. “All of this has helped shape me into looking towards a career within a company that has international presence. I suppose it gave me a deep appreciation for multi-national business. ”

    Hennigan has always had a broad range of interests, and was strong at school across the curriculum. “I always did quite well in maths subjects but then I also did biology and chemistry, as well as English and geography. I like to look at things intellectually and enjoy studying and working towards qualifications.  I would say I am numerate but I am also good with my language and the written word.”

    He says this without any air of boasting – he is stating the facts. Has this range of aptitudes made it harder for him to choose a career path? “That was the observation some of the Finito mentors would actually make once I joined the scheme,” he recalls. “They said because I excelled in different areas of business and subject areas, it was difficult to rule things out.”

    But Hennigan was already standing out from the crowd and an example of this is his excellent thesis ‘Leading into the post-Covid 19 era’. This astonishingly mature piece of work has a foreword by ITV’s Chief Executive Officer Carolyn McCall DBE, who writes in the paper: “Nick’s research is considered and thought-provoking and very much chimes with what I have long believed, that personal values and purpose play a pivotal role in the type of leader an individual will become.”

    This wasn’t the only figure that Hennigan interviewed for the paper: “I would love to one day – hopefully – become a CEO – so that’s why I chose that topic,” Hennigan recalls. “I also interviewed EasyJet’s Johan Lundgren; as well as Simon Roberts of Sainsbury’s, and Paul MacDonald, the CEO of Avon Protection, and Mark Darkworth of Schroders Personal Wealth.”

    I cannot imagine the result was ever in doubt, but Hennigan secured a first for his efforts. It is worth noting that Hennigan achieved all this despite scepticism about the ambition of his approach: “My supervisor said to me it wouldn’t be possible when I proposed it and that the CEOs wouldn’t give me the time of day. This spurred me on to go and prove her wrong: that’s part of my DNA – to overcome challenges.”

    So how did Hennigan come into contact with Finito? “It happened early in 2023,” he recalls. “I have recently joined the shadow board of UMBRA International Group. Through my work there, I got to know the CEO Kate Bright well and she very kindly introduced me to Ronel Lehmann, the CEO of Finito Education.”

    Hennigan’s main point of contact under the Bursary scheme was Claire Messer. “We got on really well, and she was great at preparing me for interviews – as was Merrill Powell who coached me in presentation, and made sure I put each point across succinctly and impactfully. Amanda Brown did my LinkedIn training and Sam Pearce did my headshots. But through all this, I had Ronel who was really my main mentor.”

    So what was Lehmann’s advice? “I had breakfast with him at a time when I had just had a few rejections and close calls, where I had got down to the final stages. Ronel told me I needed to think of three areas. So we narrowed it down to PR and recruitment – but we also spoke about private banking.”

    Hennigan was initially sceptical about this third possibility: “Given my experience with EY, I was wary about going back into finance, but private banking is very different to audit, even though it’s also underpinned by numbers. It also chimed as I have always said I want to be external-facing and deal with clients.”

    Once this strategy was deemed a major possibility, the stars began to align. Hennigan recalls: “Luckily enough, Kate Bright knows the Head of Marketing at a private bank in London and Ronel knew one of the MDs. I was able to meet with both of them on the same day back-to-back.

    The meetings weren’t for a particular role but I was able to explain my situation and set out my stall. They followed up afterwards by saying there was a potential role with us in a different team as an assistant banker. Again, I had no experience in banking and I made them very aware of that but they didn’t seem to think that was a problem: I got the job.”

    Those are the four words we most enjoy hearing at Finito. When I speak to Hennigan, he has only been in position for two and a half weeks, but his early impressions prove to be overwhelmingly positive: “I am enjoying the set-up that I’ve got,” he tells me. “It’s very fast-paced and I have got a lot to learn. It’s going to be a steep but positive learning curve.

    The good thing is I am fully supported by not only the banker that I am assisting but also the team and the other assistants that we have in the bank within the team. I am in the front office and I think it’s an amazing first job. I am not going to take it for granted. I am going to work hard.”

    Of course, it is a tragedy that Hennigan’s father isn’t around to see what a remarkable young man his son is – and is still becoming. His will always be one of those stories which, despite his remarkable nature, will contain the wish that events had been otherwise. Never once in our conversation do I see any trace of the self-pity others might feel and which would be perfectly understandable.

    Hennigan says: “I suppose it’s formed my outlook on life. It’s through adversity that you end up going on and doing great things. Finito opens doors and it encourages you – but it is down to the candidates themselves to do well.  If the candidate doesn’t want to engage in the process then they are not going to get out much. I think there is maybe a misconception with Finito: people say they will just place you into a job. No, they will support you to get yourself into that job.”

    That’s something that mentors observe on a daily basis – it’s not often, however, that a mentee speaks so eloquently about the experience of the mentor. What I think Hennigan has therefore – and I expect it to catapult him in time to the front ranks of British and maybe global business – is imaginative empathy. It is an ability to place himself in the shoes of others, and yet to retain his own remarkable steel and determination at the same time. It is the mark of someone already functioning at an extremely high level. It will do no harm that he is charming, and equally skilled at numerical and linguistic tasks.

    Usually, in an article like this, we like to thank the Bursary supporters who have helped the candidate in question. In this case, the donor has asked to remain anonymous, but has been happy to offer us these thoughts: “All it took was one brief telephone call from Ronel and I felt compelled to help. He was so emphatic in his enthusiasm for a newly presented applicant in whom he saw enormous potential but who had no possibility of funding.

    Ronel gave me the basic details and story, but was careful not to reveal too much. I did not wish for anything in return, simply the expectation of hearing some good news in due course. And indeed there has been. Nick will no doubt have a bright future and successful career, made possible by Finito’s mentoring and guidance. Maybe one serendipitous telephone call really has changed a young life.”

    This generosity is an example to us all, and Hennigan expresses to me the extent of his gratitude: “This person changed my life and I hope one day I get to meet and thank this person.” The donor should also know that to have supported Hennigan is to have backed an obvious winner. I would say: “Watch this space” – but my suspicion is you won’t have to look too hard to see the impact Hennigan will go on to make.

  • From Ukraine to London: how the Finito bursary scheme helped Ukrainian refugee Valeria Mitureva

    Christopher Jackson reports on the moving success story of Valeria Mitureva from Ukraine and her experience of the Finito bursary scheme

    Very often mentoring can deal with minutiae – the creation of a LinkedIn profile, the process of CV-writing, and all the small steps which, taken together, move a job hunter into the category of employee. These things are very important, of course, but they can seem to be a long way from the daily drama of news headlines. But everything we do in this life has a historical context; we can’t escape history even if we’d sometimes like to.

    This truth was brought home to us at Finito by the arrival on our bursary scheme of refugee Valeria Mitureva from Ukraine. Valeria grew up in eastern Ukraine and says of her upbringing: “I grew up as a curious child. From early childhood I was interested in books, other countries and cultures. At school everything was interesting, so in my youth I was faced with the fact that it is very difficult to choose one thing and move in that direction.”

    Valeria’s instinct was towards broad enquiry and international travel, and in ways which she couldn’t then predict, these wishes would indeed be granted. But initially, she decided that it would be better to specialise. “I decided to enrol in a technical specialty at the university – technical information security systems,” she recalls. Characteristically, she didn’t leave it there. “I additionally studied French and English in my free time,” she recalls. This latter decision would prove useful, again in ways she couldn’t have imagined at the time.

    So what happened after university? “I accidentally got into IT in the sales field while finishing my bachelor’s degree,” she recalls. “But I was still ready to explore the world and decided to change my career to the design sphere, and I am glad to have been doing it for four years now and I see incredible opportunities for my development,” she says cheerfully.

    All this might have proceeded upon the expected track, and Mitureva would have continued her progress towards a design career within Ukraine. But, as the world knows, Vladimir Putin was gearing up for his 2022 illegal invasion of Ukraine – that appalling violation which would upend so many lives, including Valeria’s.

    Valeria recalls the terrible ructions which took place a year ago. “I did not plan to move: everything happened very tragically and quickly. A full-scale invasion of the Russian Federation into the territory of Ukraine began in February 2022. We call it full-scale, because in 2014 the Russian Federation already occupied part of the Eastern region of Ukraine, where I grew up, and where my home is.
    Therefore, for my family, this is already the second war.”

    Valeria was proactive during that terrible spring. “I read about the Homes for Ukraine program and decided to apply. I contacted my future sponsors (my British family!), packed my suitcase and all that was left of my courage and landed in Heathrow on April 30th.”

    It is impossible to imagine her emotions on being forced to leave her homeland and making the leap into the unknown. So what were Valeria’s initial impressions of the UK? “It felt as if it was my second home. The culture is familiar through books, films, music. It’s also a very friendly and open people, with incredible stories – and, of course, I was shocked in a good way by the incredible support of the British people. You have a beautiful country and incredible people.”

    When Valeria refers to her British family, she is referring to the family of Amy le Coz, the founder of Digital Media Services, who immediately took to Valeria’s infectious and optimistic spirit. “In those first few weeks when she lived with us, my husband and I were immediately very impressed and delighted with her work ethic and proactive attitude both for her job for her Ukrainian employer, as well as around the house,” Le Coz recalls. “We were both also profoundly moved by all that she had had to endure and at such a young age.”

    By good fortune, Le Coz met Finito Education Chief Executive Ronel Lehmann at The Spring Lunch which raises money for Conservative Marginal Seats and Women2Win soon after Valeria’s arrival in the country. Valeria recalls: “My sponsor met Ronel at the event, who explained to him that they were hosting a Ukrainian woman and he immediately offered his help. I was impressed with the approach, professionalism and, most importantly, the structure of the organisation. Finito has a huge team of mentors with a wide variety of expertise. It was indeed like a guiding light for me at that time.”

    Le Coz recalls that Valeria was “buzzing with excitement” upon hearing of the opportunity – and it was certainly one which she took with both hands.
    Valeria worked mainly with three mentors: “I worked with Robin Rose, Claire Messer, and Kate King. I’m grateful for their support, ideas and that they let me work it out myself, rather than tell me exactly what to do. Sometimes we would discuss my hobbies – so, for example, Robin gave me links to music events, which was helpful for a person who had just moved to a new country.”
    Mentorship is sometimes really a kind of friendship. But the pair also got down to work.

    Initially, Rose held two Zoom meetings in order to get himself up-to-speed on Valeria’s situation, and began to carve out a plan. “We needed a workable strategy to find her a role in web or graphic design at a level which matched her experience and which would provide sufficient income for her to fund an independent lifestyle,” he recalls.

    But there were initial headwinds, partly due to the uniqueness of Valeria’s situation. “Valeria had had a good education and relevant training throughout her career in Ukraine. She is personable and speaks good English,” Rose continues. “However, recruiters and HR people were unlikely properly to appreciate her potential from just seeing her CV when evaluating her documentation against other candidates particularly at junior or entry level. She had sent off over 50 applications and had had just one video interview.”

    Rose looked hard at the situation, and made the following assessment: “This shotgun approach was unlikely to return any result for the time invested and continuous rejection was likely to sap her confidence even further.” Rose saw that the starter salary jobs in the sector – typically around £20,000 per annum weren’t a fair reflection of Valeria’s experience in Ukraine: “I felt that Valeria was, in reality, better experienced and should have been competing for jobs in the £30-40K bracket. She had, however, an understandable confidence issue with this approach.”

    This meant that Valeria needed confidence training: “She needed to re-establish her belief in her own abilities. We needed to set up exploratory meetings with people working in the industry so that she could see how she would be of value. I thought that this activity in itself might lead to opportunities.” Rose also suggested that the pair conduct web research to identify at least four organisations she’d like to work with.

    In time, Rose worked closely with Valeria to make more targeted approaches, and provided her with a list of London-based creative agencies. Meanwhile, Valeria was also paired with another Finito mentor Claire Messer, who worked with her in August 2022, casting an experienced eye over her CV.

    Messer says: “I explained to Valeria that recruiters look at CVs for an average of six seconds, and so it was important to make sure we had complete clarification over what kind of visa Valeria had obtained, right down to the number of hours a week which she was able to work. I also worked on clarifying the CV, and making sure that her work experience was tailored to the companies she was applying to.”

    Valeria was beginning to realise that she didn’t want to work for a large company but for a smaller graphic design or creative agency. Claire explained to Valeria the valued of LinkedIn Premium, and showed her mentee how direct messaging of creative agency owners might be to her advantage: “I suggested that messaging owners and CEOs might have traction,” Messer recalls. “This is because some smaller agencies tend not to use recruitment companies as the fees are too high for them. I told Valeria they tend to work by word-of-mouth referrals.”

    In time, Valeria was put in contact with another Finito mentor Kate King, and this led to her first interview. “She felt that the interview went well but that the actual role was outside her technical skill,” King recalls: “It was a great practice interview and helped her to increase her confidence.”

    Her confidence had in fact been transformed and Valeria was then well-prepared when she had the interview with the design studio where she now works, as she had hoped she would: “I’m currently working as a graphic designer at a company called Spark,” she tells us. “I mostly do packaging design but also I do some motion graphics and am learning to use new software as well.”

    Most of all, she feels part of a team. “I am participating in design studio brainstorms and I learn from my experienced colleagues how to deal with nontypical issues. I am happy to have the opportunity to be involved in most of the projects the studio creates. I simply love what I’m doing now as there are a lot of training and a lot of challenges.”

    So how does Valeria see her future now? “The main task is to keep enjoying my job and do everything possible for it. I want to be a worthy professional and to be proud of my projects. For now I’m concentrating on feeling more confident in my role in the UK, studying the culture, the people and concentrating on developing as a designer.”

    For Ronel Lehmann, Chief Executive of Finito Education, this has been an important mandate: “I myself finally got to meet Valeria in person at a Women2Win Business Club dinner in Fenwick of Bond Street. The guest speakers were Gillian Keegan MP, who was at the time Minister for Care and Mental Health and Virginia Crosbie MP. It was particularly apt to be able to listen to two Parliamentarians speak about overcoming adversity. I felt that it resonated with Valeria who is simply inspirational”.

    The support which our bursary scheme has given to Valeria would have been impossible without the generosity of one donor in particular.

    We would therefore like to thank Dr Selva Pankaj, the CEO of Regent Group, who says: “As CEO of a UK education group, I fully appreciate how difficult it can be to take those first steps onto the career ladder, especially in the volatile landscape during and after the pandemic. Hopefully, by supporting this initiative, we can help more individuals find the path that is right for them.”
    That’s certainly the case with Valeria, who now has a bright future ahead of her. We will continue to help her in her career journey and report back in these pages on any developments.

     

    Interested in our bursary? See these other stories:

     

    2022 Highlights: How the Finito Bursary scheme changed my life

    Finito Bursary Candidate Nick Hennigan: “I Want to Do My Family Proud”

  • Joseph McDonald on his Inspiring Experience with the Finito Bursary Scheme

    Christopher Jackson updates readers about progress on Finito’s work with a particular student from the Landau Forte Academy

     

    At Finito, we are sometimes asked why it is that one-to-one mentoring works: one possible answer is that people are complex.

    During our lives – and especially our early lives – experience can often feel bewildering. Things come at us fast, and contradictory impressions are arrived at. Soon the world can seem insoluble.

    There is no better way of tackling all this than the concerned help of a mentor. At Finito we take it a step further and make sure that our candidates have the benefit of numerous mentors: the reality is that it takes time and a degree of luck to establish the right kind of mentor-mentee relationship. This means that students often need to try several mentors before discovering the right one.

    At Finito, not all we do is aimed at those punch-the-air moments: the place secured at a top university, the new job, the promotion. These are rewarding, of course, but they’re very far from the whole story.

    More typically, mentoring is full of small wins – it can open up onto a world of quiet reward, and subtle attainments. Sometimes when you look back at the road travelled, you can be surprised by how far you came by small steps. But it usually happens that in these more mundane things might be contained the seeds of some important revelation.

    All these factors are present in the fascinating story of Joseph McDonald, a Bursary candidate of whom we at Finito World are proud.

    McDonald is one of our mentees on the outstandingly successful Bursary Scheme, which we continue to conduct in partnership with the Landau Forte Academy. Finito mentor Andy Inman, who was instrumental in setting up this arm of the bursary, remembers his first impressions of Joseph when he was introduced to us.

    “Joseph is, by his own admission, not particularly social. He doesn’t like groups and crowds, and has very little home support to speak of. The important thing to realise when you have a candidate like that, is that small tasks become big things.”

    When Joseph joined our programme, he was about to leave to take a computer science degree at Lancaster University; he was already in a state of anxiety about what life would be like for him. “I was nervous about making friends and finding the right friendship group when I first came to university,” he tells us. “This is something that I struggled with in the past at school. It was definitely my number one priority upon arrival.”

    Inman decided that Joseph required a caring, nurturing mentor and he couldn’t have made a better selection in this than Coco Stevenson. “I knew that Coco would look after him,” Inman recalls. “What was required might sound insignificant but they were not to Joseph: we’re talking about things like packing lists, and so forth – all the pre-university tasks which you have to do before the leap to university. Some of these things, of course, a parent should do – but for whatever reason Joseph doesn’t have that.”

    Inman’s remarks are a reminder that as we go on in life, we typically come to know the world and forget what it was like not to be sure about things we later come to regard as obvious. Inman recalls: “It was mentoring at its most granular, in a way – all about the detail. How would Joseph get to university? How would he make applications for student loans? Where would he shop for a duvet and for cutlery?”

    But what Joseph most feared was Fresher’s week. “Most people would love that, but for Joseph it’s really the antithesis of what he enjoys – so he had to be talked through that.”

    Stevenson stepped up and in time developed a profound relationship with Joseph. She tells us she was mindful of the magnitude of Joseph’s achievement in getting to university at all: “Joseph is the first in his family to go to university and we should remember that Lancaster University has one of the best Computer Science courses in the UK,” she tells us.

    But Stevenson also never lost sight of the difficulty for Joseph: “Going to university is a major transition in a young person’s life and is all the more difficult coming out of a pandemic – especially when you are a neuro-diverse person, as the world is not always set up for people who are not neurotypical,” she continues.

    Stevenson gives us her first impressions of Joseph: “My mentee was not especially confident in the months leading up to moving to university and there were a number of worries and concerns.”

    Difficulties of this kind must be tackled head-on, and together, Coco and Joseph began to explore the issues: “Working regularly together, we were able to ‘workshop’ issues, come up with strategies and plan for eventualities,” she recalls. “Planning and strategizing helped enormously in accomplishing tasks and not being derailed by unforeseen things.”

    Stevenson used her experience of university life to begin to create a plan for Joseph. Joseph now recalls this fondly: “We discussed the kind of activities I could get up to, including the structure of academic events and the social events I could engage with outside of my studies. Coco encouraged me to convert my ideas of involvement into a more solid plan that helped me find my grounding as I began living away from home for the first time.”

    Soon the pair of them had alighted on a strategy: “Coco explained that societies are fundamental to finding people with similar interests and a great place to make friends. She advised me on how many societies to attend, and how to approach the problem of deciding which societies I would continue attending. This was how I became part of the Sober Society, and I am so grateful to Coco for this.”

    Gradually, Joseph began to feel confident, oriented in his new location, and in time able to feel at home. Stevenson looks back with satisfaction at the way in which Joseph’s sense of self developed in those early months at Lancaster University: “Each small step led to successes which in turn led to increased confidence and satisfaction. My mentee went from unsure and nervous to confident, assured and assuming various leadership roles, as well as achieving academic and social success.”

    One of the core principles of Finito’s mentoring is that we want to be there for the long haul for our candidates. Coco and Joseph remained in touch as Joseph settled in, and Joseph still talks today of how the checklists and preparation that they made together helped him focus on his lecture content.

    But then, a chance came up, and Joseph joined the Sober Society. Joseph remembers: “The Sober Society isn’t a recovery program and does not require you to never drink alcohol but provides a safe space for non-drinkers to have fun and an alternative for those taking a break from alcohol. I was enjoying participating in the events the Society had put on such as game and film nights.”

    By regular attendance, Joseph soon discovered another opportunity: “It was announced at one of the events that the Society would soon be holding its annual hustings for the executive positions in the society,” he recalls. “As a new society formed only in that October of 2021, there were only two full time members of the executive, so they were looking for more to fulfil other roles. It was suggested by a friend of mine that I should apply for treasurer. I was uncertain of this since I was concerned it would create more work than I would be able to handle at this early stage of my university life.”

    By this point the mentor-mentee relationship was far advanced. “Upon a call to Coco, I was reminded of the advantages of holding such a position. Such positions are seen positively by future employers as it shows leadership, commitment, and initiative. As one of the two candidates up for the position, I won the vote.”

    Joseph’s tenure as Treasurer of the Sober Society was a huge success. He presided over a period of expansion: “By the end of the first term, we had over 150 members. This meant we were already one of the larger societies on campus. Issues surrounding alcohol are close to our hearts within the executive, so we were ecstatic at our success.”

    And this success in turn began to be noticed: “After the end of the 2021-2022 academic year, our president was contacted via our Instagram account by student blog Student Beans. They were interested in the values of our society and studying Sober Societies across the country. This was representative of our success.”

    Joseph began to create plans for the future of the Sober Society and for his own future, even planning a collaboration with other sober societies at Manchester Metropolitan University with trips scheduled to destinations such as Edinburgh. In addition to this he also got a girlfriend.

    But this is where the story shifts: unfortunately towards the end of his first year Joseph got into an incident at the university, an altercation in which a door handle was accidentally snapped, when Joseph reacted to something a fellow student had said about his girlfriend. Joseph wasn’t at fault – indeed had shown admirable judgement – but the situation sadly rattled him and he decided not to intercalcate.

    It was at this point that Finito deepened its involvement still further, as Coco voiced concerns with the Finito management about Joseph’s mental health. Mental health has been a core aspect of Finito World and we sought immediately to have him assessed by Paul Flynn, the brilliant CEO of leading mental health organisation AddCounsel.

    Flynn explains: “When I spoke with Joseph he was on antidepressants, and my sense was that he had better support from Lancaster University than people usually get in these situations.”

    Flynn then relayed his advice to us: “One of the challenges Joseph has is around resiliency: whether that links back to the way he’s wired up or not, it’s something that needs to be looked at. If it isn’t taken care of, then it will resurface. A very good CBT-based therapist should be able to support but so could a coach with expert knowledge of resilience skills.”

    Before setting this up, we asked about Joseph’s desire. “When you get a coach you’ve got to be sure there’s that level of desire, and a wish to sort out a situation. I think that’s there or he wouldn’t have gone on the phone with me. But his plan is to go back home, and there’s no real work plan. He needs structure.”

    Enter Finito mentor Talan Skeels-Piggins, who is ideally-placed to help students in this kind of situation. Skeels-Piggins’ story is unique and makes him an ideal fit for Joseph. Having been a PE teacher Skeels-Piggins suffered a terrible setback when he lost the use of his legs in a car accident. This, however, was the prelude to an astonishing display of fortitude, and he has gone on to be a Paralympian Olympic gold medalist in both motorcycling and skiing. He recently published a book The Little Person Inside which describes his extraordinary life.

    Skeels-Piggins has been able to find meaning in a situation which would have defeated many others, and he seemed an ideal mentor for someone like Joseph struggling with mental health issues.

    This means that Joseph has now embarked on a second mentor-mentee relationship, following on from his continuing association with Coco. Talan has begun to deepen his understanding of what Joseph actually wants, and been able to uncover too that some of the origins of his difficulties came during the pandemic when he spent less time in school than he would have liked.

    In terms of the future Skeels-Piggins’ sense of Joseph’s future has crystallised during their sessions: “He needs to realise that he is enough by being Joseph, and not having to prove himself to be loved. This leads him onto the issue of not knowing what he needs to do for his future as he is only doing the current course because he felt pressure to go to Uni in order to please parents.”

    After a later session, this began to deepen: “Joseph is not interested in the corporate world but wants to do something; tangible, real, that you can see, be proud of, helps others and makes a difference in the world. He admits he is not interested in computers and would not want to get a job related to computers once out of Uni.  When we were talking about litter-picking, pond cleaning projects and other ecology-based activities he had done in the past he began to show interest and smiled whilst reflecting about the events.”

    Joseph therefore has a momentous decision ahead of him: whether to return to university or whether to choose another path altogether and look for a future related to the environment or sustainability.

    When such things are at stake, it’s our experience at Finito that people are will struggle to make a choice when they don’t have enough information at their fingertips. At such crucial moments, it can never be a bad thing – and will almost always be a good thing – to look for more information about what might work best.

    Joseph’s stated interest in the environment and climate change caused us to think about people in our network who might be of use to Joseph and we approached the former Green Party leader Natalie Bennett to ask if she would be prepared to take a call with Joseph to take him through the options. She very generously assented and though the call will take place after this magazine has gone to press it is a measure of how far Joseph has come that the boy who was worried about Fresher’s week is soon to talk to the former leader of a major political party. Joseph should be proud of that.

    Joseph’s story is evolving all the time, but the support so far provided him would have been impossible without the commitment of two Bursary donors in particular, whose generosity has been matched to Joseph’s needs.

    In the first place, we would like to thank, Simon Blagden, CBE, Chair of Building Digital UK and former Chair of Fujitsu UK. Blagden says: “I served the Government’s advisory panel reviewing the future of technical education. During the two year process we met with hundreds of young people all over the country. I am delighted to support the work of Finito. The valuable work which you do strongly resonates with both students and their parents.”

    Secondly we would like thank Dinesh Dhamija, who says: “I have been helping entrepreneurs through coaching and mentoring over the past 17 years. Finito’s focus on young people is admirable and I am proud to join their group in support. My own expertise is in the fast growing online Business to Consumer sector, and the green energy solar and Hydrogen fields.” We hope to use this expertise in future when it comes to Joseph’s story.

    Joseph has already come a long way. The way ahead isn’t clear, but is becoming clearer all the time. What’s certain is that we stand shoulder to shoulder with him as a business, and as a bursary, and are committed to his success.

  • Inspiring Journey: Finito Bursary Candidate Max Liebmann’s Path to Success

    Christopher Jackson

     

    In an age where almost everywhere we look we hear lament about declining standards, let’s consider some good news from the front lines of mentoring: it’s remarkable how intelligent the young are. It’s hard to say this without sounding patronising, so it needs to be bound up with a couple of relativistic statements. They are, seemingly without exception, more intelligent than I was at that age – and always know things I do not know. In short, there’s always two-way learning to be done, and I’d distrust any mentoring process that didn’t have this understanding as a sort of guiding principle.

    We have the word ‘precocity’ for this and I think generally we can say today: the young are precocious. Whether this is because the Internet, with its moreish flow of information, has democratised intelligence, I don’t know. But one thing it definitely hasn’t democratised is the work ethic. That is now the rare thing; to know what to do with intelligence.

    This last point is what sets Max Liebmann apart. When I heard that a mature young man was joining our Finito Bursary scheme, I initially underestimated the extent to which that would be true. This mandate would see Finito help take Max all the way to Cambridge University and in time, we hope to be part of his journey beyond that point. It’s definitely an example of a story where the candidate’s initial excellence was central to the mandate’s success.

    Liebmann came to the Finito bursary scheme fully formed in certain crucial respects. He knew for instance that he wanted to work hard and succeed. More than that, he had known from a very young age that he wanted to be a lawyer. “I have known that I wanted to become a lawyer since primary school,” he recalls. “I have always enjoyed logical problems, participating in Maths Olympiads during secondary school.

    I initially developed a passion for languages, taking both French and German at A level. This logical thinking I used to apply in maths evolved into a love of applying the law to problems. I like the ever-changing nature of the law which keeps it exciting and intellectually challenging.”

    Sometimes an appetite for the law is a hereditary bequest, but not in this instance. “My mum currently works as a teacher in primary school, helping SEN and less-able students. I am also very close to my grandparents, and they have had a significant influence in my life,” Liebmann explains.

    Liebmann attended at Parmiter’s School in Watford and, as he came to maturity, began to stand out. He was successfully elected Head Boy for the year 2021-2022: “I was incredibly fortunate to have been elected to that position. During my time as Head Boy, I represented the school at events, sought to improve the school, and I organised prom.”

    This appointment gave Liebmann huge confidence, and it reminds us how maturity can often lead to a higher grade of experience which deepens a maturity which was already far advanced. Liebmann recalls: “Being Head Boy strengthened my leadership, time-management, and public-speaking abilities, and it showed me the importance of giving a voice to students from underrepresented backgrounds. Working in a large and diverse community to bring about change, I learned how to synthesise multiple standpoints to determine a common objective.”

    It was at this point that the world beyond Parmiter began to loom, and Liebmann decided he would apply for Cambridge. At this hinge point, he was introduced to Finito, and assigned to our bursary scheme: “I try to make the most of every opportunity that I am offered,” Liebmann recalls. “I want a career where I can constantly learn new skills and face new challenges. I think it’s important that you do things that you enjoy in life. A career needs to be fulfilling, and I find law really exciting.”

    So what were his impressions of the bursary scheme? “I first came across Finito during lockdown. Finito was excellent, helping me out in every way it possibly could. I was given mentors, each of whom helped me out with different things. I was advised how best to present myself to the business world, and Finito helped me set up a LinkedIn account. Finito helped me practise my interview skills and develop my legal thinking.”

    LinkedIn training is all to do with the way we present ourselves to the world and is absolutely vital at the outset of our careers; it might be the unglamorous side of mentoring but that doesn’t make it any less important. Clair Marr, one of Finito’s experts, recalls Max’s mandate: “I suggested that Max think about who he wants to be on LinkedIn as well as on other social platforms. We looked at three other barrister profiles and considered what we could learn from them, and also discussed keyword strategies.”

    Liebmann was already beginning to develop a strategy for posting content based around keywords: ‘team player’, positive’ and proactive’ – words which, this writer can attest, do indeed encapsulate Max’s strengths. More broadly, what this approach shows, is that Finito were already thinking beyond the entrance examination to Max’s eventual career.

    Meanwhile, it was necessary to prepare an all-star prep team consisting of Lumos Education and Bonas Macfarlane. This is an opportunity to thank Lumos Education and Johanna Mitchell for their own sponsorship of the Finito bursary scheme.

    Mitchell recalls: “We were delighted to be asked to support Max Liebmann to prepare for his Cambridge law interview. Monica, Lumos Education’s tutor, worked with Max for three sessions.  Prior to the tutoring, she read through Max’s UCAS personal statement.  This helped her to understand the type of questions he might be asked, based on the specific fields of law in which Max was particularly interested. Interviewers are almost certain to make reference to the applicant’s academic interests set out in their personal statement.”

    And what else did Monica cover? “Monica also discussed with Max the law specialisms of the dons who were interviewing him, so Max would be aware of their particular stance and bias.” A successful interviewing strategy was born.

    Meanwhile, Bonas Macfarlane tutor Sam Williams went deep into the detail of how to impress – even taking Liebmann deep into first principles. Williams explained to Liebmann: “The law often works like grammar: the parties are like the subjects and the objects in a sentence. The verb is the action that occurs between them. Other grammatical elements of the scenario will give you more information about the syntax and significance of that relationship.”

    Max was also advised by Williams to ‘focus squarely on the question asked; try not to introduce extraneous or abstruse counterfactuals. Ask your interviewer if you need clarification on the facts of the scenario to develop your answer.”

    The advice throughout the report is admirably specific and shows how thorough Liebmann’s interview prep had become. At one point, Williams wisely urges: “Don’t hedge: you do not generally need to give a yes no/answer, but your discussion of the principles needs to be confident. Try to avoid “possibly”/”might be argued that”/depending on the circumstances” type-answers. If you are using the word “depends”, do so sparingly and to refer to precise circumstances.”

    Another piece of advice should resonate for all students preparing for the highly demanding entrance interview: “Be open to the tutor guiding you to reconsider and reframe your position. They are looking for intellectual exibility and teachability.”

    Not wanting to leave anything to chance, Liebmann was also hooked up with a senior figure in politics, whose identity is to remain confidential, but whose initial sense of Liebmann is worth quoting in full: “Max is up for the intellectual journey which is needed to get into Oxbridge. He has set his ambitions at the highest level when it comes to any arts degree in this country. Without help he is looking at a one in eight chance of getting in – but with help can get to a one in two or three chance.

    He has no doubt got command of his school subjects and leadership – but lacks the extra yard needed in that his application has no evidence of entrepreneurial or world-leading academic courage. It’s not expected to be world-leading in standards, but his paperwork should be screaming that he’s fearless while being modest and that this man is not just going go nail his degree but will take St John’s around the world in reputation.”

    The senior figure began identifying weaknesses: he was intent on stress-testing Liebmann’s candidacy. He recalls: “When asked why he wanted to go to St. John’s he replied that the squash court is a major attraction for him. He won’t get close with this.” The mentor advised Liebmann to lead with academia, and also ‘to be alive to conferences where his supervisors have spoken out big.” He was also advised to be ‘current’ and, when it came to the question of immigration law, for instance, to be in contact with community groups.

    This first session with his senior mentor would clearly bring out the best in Max. As the sessions went by, our mentor became more and more impressed by his pupil culminating in this assessment: “Max aspires to serve society as a barrister, to ask questions of the law and appreciate human circumstances. Being from a single parent household on free school meals, Max is acutely aware of sensitivities and vulnerabilities.

    He knows what makes people human. As such he has become a leader through understanding people, commanding the respect of his entire school to become Head Boy. He doesn’t lead to gain followers, he leads to create leaders – of their own choices and of society. With his breadth he has the potential to be at the vanguard of the legal profession. He was exceptional today – had a huge range of societal awareness and his subject in great shape. He has all the information to write his statement.”

    It was time for the interview itself: the big day. So how did that go? The day after the interview, Max spoke with Lumos Education’s founder, Johanna Mitchell. “He said that he felt that the interview hadn’t gone well at all and that, the more he reflected on it, the more he felt his answers should have been better,” Mitchell recalls. “Knowing Max’s considerable capabilities, and how daunting Cambridge interviews can be, I wasn’t convinced that the interview had gone badly.  I reassured Max that he had probably done better than his own assessment of the situation led him to believe.

    And Liebmann’s own recollections? “The entrance exam went quite well, and I was not particularly nervous about it. I took the Cambridge Law Test, which meant that I had to write a legal essay in an hour. I was more worried about the admissions interviews, and Finito really helped me with that. I had many mock interviews, but even that did not change my sense of doubt afterwards.”

    In the end, Liebmann’s fears were misplaced: he was offered a place to read law at Sidney Sussex College. “I couldn’t believe it,” recalls Liebmann. “The first thing I did was get someone else to verify that I had actually read the email correctly! I then called my family and celebrated with my friends. The offer day was full of mixed emotions; it was difficult in school, since many people were sad about the outcome of their application.”

    So to fast forward to the present time, what has the course been like? “I cannot lie – the course is really intense. The short terms in Cambridge mean that term time is hectic and the workload is heavy,” Liebmann says. “I haven’t had the option to properly explore the law yet, since I could not choose which modules I studied in my first year. Nevertheless, it is manageable and can be a lot of fun. I am lucky to have made so many friends at Sidney.”

    Meanwhile, Max has continued to benefit from the Finito bursary scheme. Liebmann has been connected with people at the highest levels of law – most notably with Sir Rupert Jackson. Max now also has work experience over the summer with Carter-Ruck – again through the bursary scheme.

    All this would have been impossible without the support of The Stewarts Foundation. This began as a result of the support of the outgoing managing partner John Cahill who has said: “In a perfect world comprehensive career guidance would be available to all regardless of their background. The Stewarts Foundation is delighted to support the important work of Finito via its bursary scheme.” We are thrilled that this support is now continuing under the leadership of Stuart Dench. We will continue to support Max as he continues his journey, and report back on developments.

  • Finito bursary candidate Joseph Macdonald on an unexpected interview with Lady Bennett

    Joseph Macdonald

    It wasn’t something I ever expected to do. Though it was an experience a little outside my comfort zone, when I was given the opportunity to talk to the former leader of the Green Party Natalie Bennett, I decided to go ahead. It had been a year of ups and downs; I had decided to intercalcate from my computer science course at Lancaster University but was by means sure whether I should return or not, or whether I should pivot.

    Fortunately, I have benefitted from the attentions of the Finito bursary scheme. This scheme aims to help young people like me in the journey toward a meaningful career, and I have worked with the company’s business mentors now for several years. When I suggested to my mentor Talan that I was considering moving courses into Ecology and Conservation, the opportunity to talk with Natalie came my way.

    Before the call, I wasn’t certain about the opportunities available to me if I did decide to make a change.

    At the start, Natalie provided me with technical examples which began to address my concerns about the breadth of careers I could go into. She also reassured me that the time I had used studying Computer Science had not been wasted, as there are numerous ways in which the subject areas are being combined. After the call, I was more sure than ever that my decision to study Ecology would be the right one.

    I also learned a lot from talking to Natalie herself. She  came across as a very well-informed and intelligent person, with a wide range of experiences from all over the world. She taught me to always be open to new experiences and that there are plenty of different roles even within certain disciplines.
    Crucially, Natalie also gave me technical examples that are currently relevant or which she expects to be emerging areas of study. For example, we discussed how the excess use of fertiliser on farms means that chemicals are being washed into nearby water courses. This causes the growth of vegetation on the water and stops light from reaching into the water, leaving fewer nutrients for fish and other aquatic animals.

    Another point we discussed was the issue concerning the discharge of raw sewage into rivers and the sea by water companies in the UK. In exceptional circumstances, such as after very heavy rain, this is permitted. However, there is an average of hundreds of discharge incidents per day. This heavily pollutes the waters within and surrounding the UK. There are ongoing campaigns for heavier punishments for the water companies involving larger fines. Under proposed legislation, the executives of the water companies would be personally liable for paying fines.

    Natalie also explained how government policies affect environmental issues and to what extend they are applied by the UK government. She believes their current efforts do not go far enough to make a positive difference. Bennett believes that the age of neo-liberalism that started with Thatcher and Reagan in the 1980s must come to an end soon and more progressive policies should be applied if change is to take place for the better.

    She also described how she got into politics through journalism with The Bangkok Post and subsequently finished her first degree in Agricultural Science. She then completed outreach volunteering work via Australian Volunteers International. Her second degree was in Asian relations which she completed at the University of New England. Her third degree is a MA in Mass Communication which was awarded by the University of Leicester in 2001.

    Bennett later went on to join the Green party on 1st January 2006. She represented various constituencies in London and later Sheffield Central in 2017. She described how there are only two Green peers in the House of Lords but they make a significant impact because they are the only party with new ideas. Natalie also remarked on how strange the House of Lords can be with the clothing and décor!

    When I explained to Natalie how I was taking a year out of university and planning on changing my course to Ecology and Conversation from Computer Science, she moved swiftly to put my mind at rest. She explained that there are more and more emerging ecology roles that involve algorithms and quantising data using computers. This was an important connection which I hadn’t made before, and gave me much food for thought.

    A call like this is always nerve-wracking, but Natalie’s manner was at all times open and kind. This was a lesson in itself, and one I intend to remember as I forge my career.