FinTrU offering another 20 high quality graduate training places in the North West

Twenty graduates are set to benefit from high quality training places as successful local financial services company FinTrU launches another North West Assured Skills Academy.

Funded by the Department for the Economy, the latest FinTrU Assured Skills Academy will provide successful applicants with five weeks of industry-relevant pre-employment training at North West Regional College and Ulster University. Participants who complete the training successfully are guaranteed a job interview with FinTrU.

Applications are open from now until 1 November 2019.

Speaking about the Academy, Graeme Wilkinson, Director of Skills at the Department for the Economy, commented: “This latest Assured Skills Academy in collaboration with FinTrU in the North West provides graduates with a valuable pathway into the growing local financial services sector.

“Participants will develop their core business skills and, having completed the training, will provide a valuable contribution to the thriving financial services here in Northern Ireland. They will also receive a weekly training allowance and travel expenses and may be eligible for child care allowance.”

Mr Wilkinson continued: “The Assured Skills model of providing pre-employment training in partnership with employers and Further and Higher Education providers has proven to be a successful model for creating a pipeline of skilled people for expanding local businesses. We are currently working with a range of companies and training providers across Northern Ireland to develop more Assured Skills Academies in the coming months.”

Leah McStravick, FinTrU Academy Manager, said: “This is our fourth Assured Skills Academy in the North West as we look to build on the success of our Academies to date in Belfast and Derry~Londonderry. The five-week course at North West Regional College and Ulster University will provide participants with real world skills in fields including compliance, risk, legal, operations, KYC and consultancy.

“To date we have employed over 300 people who have graduated through Assured Skills Academies. With no experience required, this is a fantastic opportunity for graduates in the North West to start a career in financial services and we look forward to welcoming the next cohort of successful applicants.”

Sinead Hawkins, Business Skills Manager at NWRC, said: “NWRC has a strong track record of collaborating with local business to deliver real benefits. With support from the Department for the Economy, the college can provide cutting edge research and innovation expertise and also, such as with Assured Skills, high quality training to ensure employers have the people they need to keep growing.”

Michael Pogue, Senior Lecturer in Financial Services at Ulster University Business School at UU Business School at Magee said: “We are pleased once again to be collaborating with FinTrU and NWRC to deliver an Assured Skills Academy. UU Business School is committed to connecting education and skills to industry and to that end we are always keen to be involved in delivering accelerated training and development for graduates that will help them succeed in the financial services sector and that will support the wider economy generally.”

Applications for the fourth FinTrU Assured Skills NW Academy are open until 1 November 2019. No experience is required but applicants must hold a 2:2 degree or better in any discipline.

More information and how to apply is available on the NIdirect website. 

Notes to editors: 

1. Photo caption: Pictured at the Peace Bridge in Derry~Londonderry are Greg McCann, FinTrU Executive Director and North West Office Site Head (2^nd left) with previous FinTrU NW Assured Skills Academy graduates, now FinTrU Analysts (l-r) Jenny Thompson, Damian Faulkner, CJ Martin and Megan Quigley.
2. Assured Skills is a pre-employment training programme run by the Department for the Economy. More information is available on the Department's Assured Skills programme page.
3. The Department may take photographs and videos at announcements and events to publicise its work. Photographs, interviews, videos or other recordings may be issued to media organisations for publicity purposes or used in promotional material, including in publications, newspapers, magazines, other print media, on television, radio and electronic media (including social media and the internet). Photographs and videos will also be stored on the Department’s internal records management system. The Department will keep the photographs and recordings for no longer than is necessary for the purposes for which they have been obtained. The Department’s Privacy Policy is available on our website.
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5. For media enquiries contact the Department for the Economy Press Office on 028 9052 9604 or email pressoffice@economy-ni.gov.uk . Out of office hours please contact the Duty Press Officer on 028 9037 8110.

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