Front Office Dealing Assistant Review

I have thoroughly enjoyed my year at World First and could not fault it at all. I felt extremely welcome from the start. It has offered an insight into foreign exchange markets and international economics whilst working in an energetic, supportive and professional working environment. All employees are hardworking and very friendly and approachable, making it very easy to make the most of the placement experience.

My team have made me feel welcomed from day one. They were always willing to answer my questions and include me on any projects they were working on. I always felt that I was being treated like a colleague on equal grounds. They would also trust me with important tasks I would not normally do to help them out with there workload.

There was a handover period where I was able to learn the role from another colleague which allowed me to quickly pick up the role. My manager arranged shadowing during my first week, within my team, allowing me to quickly understand the dynamics of my role and the business. During my placement year, I have been able to seek support from the other colleagues in my team.

Working in this industry is always going to be relatively busy, but at World First you won't find yourself inundated with work keeping you in the office long after the end of the working day. It very much fluctuates, one minute you can be really busy and the next it can be quite quiet. This is good as it has taught me how to manage my time efficiently.

For a student role, I was given a lot of responsibility. But I never felt out of my depth; my team provided good training and they always provided support when needed. If I ever needed to ask anything they allowed me too. I also never felt that I wasn’t being included in something because I was a student.

I learned a lot during my placement at World First, not just technical knowledge that will assist me in my final year of university and my future career, but skills which are not necessarily role-specific. As the workload is fairly consistent throughout the day, you quickly learn to manage your time efficiently, prioritising tasks and multi-tasking frequently. These are all skills which will assist you in the future regardless of the industry you go on to work in.

The atmosphere is very positive at World First. People are very friendly and welcoming. It is supportive, relaxed but professional at the same time. It can also be quite lively during busy periods, which is exciting and helps make the day fly by, which it frequently does! Overall, the atmosphere is very enjoyable to work in and is one of the key things that appealed to me when I first entered the office.

The placement was very well organised. I had monthly development meetings to ensure I was progressing, but also to allow me to highlight particular areas of the business I would like to learn more about. The placement was flexible as well as organised which really allowed me to make the most of it.

Relevant training for the role was provided within the first couple of days. WorldFirst then continued to provide additional training sessions throughout the placement. They also offered a lot of opportunities to develop my skills. I had numerous training sessions when I first started including phone training, how to deal with difficult customers, presenting skills and Excel skills.

I would definitely go back to work at World First. I have really enjoyed the whole year and feel like I really fitted in with the culture at World First. As a company, it is only growing bigger and that is something I would love to continue to be a part of.

As the average age of staff is quite low, there is a really good social scene. We had drinks after work every Friday and 2 team nights out that were fully paid for by the company. We also have a Christmas party, a summer BBQ and a summer party which are all great opportunities to interact with other people in the company

I did not live in London. I commuted in every day which was frustrating as the trains are not reliable and are expensive. However it is still a lot cheaper to commute everyday as appose to renting somewhere in London. Eating out and drinking in London is very expensive but the company put on a lot of social events which they pay for everything which is great

Expensive however you get a good wage compared to other student placements in London to cancel out the cost of living. I worked in the London office which is between Westminster and Pimlico so the nightlife was pretty good! You can get anywhere in London from here so the possibilities for a nightlife were endless!.

Absolutely. There are many activities that you can get involved with at World First. I joined the World First netball team and the mixed touch rugby team but there are so many more opportunities such as a football team and there was even a charity visit to Uganda that the company helped fund for staff that wanted to go and make a difference. Aside from the sport there are also many social opportunities including a huge Christmas party and summer party.