Paul White
Retail Trainer
Aberdeen Asset Management

What made you decide to move to Aberdeen in the middle of your studies?

When Aberdeen Asset Management took over the company I was working with in Cumbria, they offered us the chance to move up to Aberdeen. They brought us up to have a look at the Aberdeen office and around Aberdeen itself and it was just so different from Middlesbrough where I grew up.

Originally I thought I'd give it six months and go back to university to complete my business studies degree but after a month or two I knew that I was really happy here. When the chance came up to finish university up here I didn't think twice about going back.

You've had several jobs within Investment Operations. Tell me about them?

I'd previously been in dealing, but knew it would be a while before any promotion opportunities came up. So when the opportunity arose for a team leader in customer services I thought I'd give it a go.

At first I was in the telephone section, which was a lot more client facing than the dealing. In dealing we had daily deadlines to be met by 12 and then in the afternoon we quality checked the deals. In customer services it is a more constant flow through out the day.

I was able to speak to different people and help other staff out when they had difficult queries. I also had to report the statistics for different types of calls to management. So it was a lot more thinking on your feet. I found it more suited to my personality and my way of working really.

From there I moved to customer enquiries answering emails, faxes and letters. I really enjoyed that as I got a chance to get my teeth into it. As a result we managed to reduce our turn around time significantly. After that I became the assistant manager for the whole of customer services.

How have you developed in your job?

I've had a lot of management training from personnel. Also the managers that I have worked for have all contributed in some form to developing my soft skills. Aberdeen Asset Management is really good at encouraging people. I've learnt a lot about the industry having sat my Investment Administration Qualification. That was done with the full support of the company which sent me on courses.

Even in the past five months I've learnt so much about all the other departments in Investment Operations. The company is also sending me on a year's course to gain a certificate in training.

You attend recruitment evenings - what do you say about Investment Operations?

I say that it is a really fast moving industry and there are a lot of opportunities to learn and develop if you want them. I know a lot of people in this company who have moved to London, America, and Australia as well as Singapore.