What are the strengths we look for at Fidelity?

At Fidelity International, our process is strengths-based. Unlike a competency-based interview, a strength-based interview focuses on what you enjoy doing, rather than what you can already do. Questions may revolve around your passions and hobbies; things that you are proud of and that inspire you. This approach allows our team to gain an insight into your natural abilities, recognising whether you’d be a good fit for us - and, whether we’d be a good fit for you!

Our Early Careers recruitment process is not about catching you out - it’s about you getting the chance to demonstrate your skills; showing us the value you have gained from your experiences, and the value you could add to Fidelity.

We don’t require particular work experience, grades, or technical knowledge. However, we do want to see you demonstrate strengths that we believe will help you to succeed in our industry. Here’s some of the strengths we look for at Fidelity:

Customer Focus:

We think constantly about the needs of our customers, and how we can go above and beyond. Everyone at work has a customer, even if it’s not the type you’d normally think of. Some of our employees do deal with our external customers, the people who buy FIL products. However, you may work in HR or Legal, in which case your customer is the business itself.

You can demonstrate this by talking about an example from school, your personal life, or work experience, when you’ve put the customer first. How do you do that in your retail job? Is it by working on the bakery counter at a supermarket and learning there is a 17.30 rush every day, so ensuring fresh bread is baked in time? Is it having a younger sibling who you need to ensure is looked after and fed while your mum is at work? Is it a difficult project you completed during work experience where your current approach was not meeting business need, and you had to come up with something new?

Integrity:

We look to do the right things by our customers, and by our colleagues, every time. Particularly in investing, being ethical is hugely important. Our business is built on trust, and if we lose the trust of our customers, partners, suppliers, or colleagues, we will fail. Many people will have examples of showing integrity, whether it’s at work, in their personal life, or at school.

Dig deep into those examples - was it difficult to show integrity? How did you come to your decision on what action to take? How did that make you feel? If an interview composes a group exercise, also think about whether your behaviour towards other candidates demonstrates integrity, and that you would be a good colleague.

Curiosity:

We are looking for candidates who are curious about the world around them, financial and otherwise. We want to see that you’ve done your research - and more than looking at the ‘about us’ page on our website!

Read the news; what is said about Fidelity, what do our representatives say in the media; what key issues our affecting our wider industry? What are our values, and how do those relate to hot topics in the world, like Sustainability? Where relevant, bring these research items up in answers.

For example, when asking about an approach you’d take to a key issue, you could say - ‘well, I saw in the news that a competitor tried this approach, and this was the outcome. So, while I have not done this before, learning from the analysis on that in the media, perhaps this would be a good first step…’

It also demonstrates real curiosity to say - ‘I researched this programme, and while I know a lot about equities, when I looked into bonds, I came across convertible bonds and really didn’t understand them. Is that something I’d need to work with in my role? Could you explain to me what they are?’. Remember, we don’t require you to have worked in our industry before, so we don’t expect you to understand everything, and we want to see you asking questions!

Self-Starter:

You’re motivated to make an impact and actively seek self-improvement – both academic and non-academic! Everyone has development areas, including the people who will be interviewing you. It shows impressive maturity and self-reflection to be able to talk openly and honestly about your development areas. It’s even better if you can talk about your plan for addressing those, and where Fidelity could support you.

Adaptability:

The world of finance is fast changing, so you need to be ready to pivot and adapt. In fact, this is true of every job. Think about the world today versus 20 years ago! Change can be difficult, and scary sometimes, but it is a necessary part of life, and that includes the workplace.

You can show adaptability in many ways throughout an interview or assessment centre. In a group exercise, your task may change for example by introducing new information or a different objective. It’s okay to pivot away from what you’ve been arguing for and argue for something different.

We’re also sure you’ll have many examples to talk about - we’ve just lived through Covid! We know that you know that adaptability is important, so don’t just tell us that. Talk about a time where you needed to embrace change. Use the STARR model and take the interviewer on a journey through that change with you. The extra R is for ‘reflection’ - would you do anything differently? Why?

Of course, this list is not exhaustive, but we hope it helps you take your first steps in preparing for an interview! Don’t forget to check out our article HERE about how to identify your strengths. There are many strengths beyond the ones mentioned in this article, and you should feel confident in highlighting them. Our article on using the STARR model will help with that!