Stephen Barclay, Chartered MCSI, vice president at Morgan Stanley’s Global Wealth Management Group in Glasgow gives some sound advice on best to boost your career in investment operations in Scotland.

Breaking in

1) Get an internship, or at least some work experience

If you have aspirations to break into an operations role, it’s perhaps not an obvious step to undertake a summer internship. Traditionally, this hasn’t been seen as an imperative for an operations position, but the value of work experience really can’t be underestimated.

It is not always a pre-requisite to be sitting a particular degree. Here at Morgan Stanley in Glasgow it is more about your energy, enthusiasm and commitment. We’ve taken on 50 interns this summer in our Glasgow office and it’s the fourth year that Morgan Stanley has done this.

It gives you a flavour of an operations role, builds contacts within an organisation and it might even lead to a permanent position. It demonstrates that, when it comes to securing a full-time position, you’ve had enough nous and foresight to be able to take control of your own career at an early stage.

2) Have a plan, and be prepared to be questioned on it

In an interview, if someone asks ‘where do you see yourself in three years’ time’, you’ll most likely think of it as a cliché, and come up with a relatively formulaic response. I ask this question every time, and candidates should always view it as an opportunity.

Some people might view an investment operations position as a stepping stone to a front office position and, if a person isn’t committed to a career in operations, this question can weed this issue out.

However, an operations role can offer you a good grounding in all the technical elements of wealth management and if you can demonstrate your worth, build contacts with the advisors and prove that you have first class customer-facing skills, there are internal mobility opportunities available for a move into the front office. It’s a longer route, but definitely achievable.

Most interview questions you’ll face are competency-based, and the time spent through your internship will provide you with rich experiences to relate questions to.

3) Show your commitment: get a qualification

There are a number of investment operations qualifications available that are possible to complete while at university. These include the Chartered Institute for Securities and Investment Diploma and Scottish Investment Operations’ Investment Operations Certificate.

It’s not essential to have these, but they’ll certainly boost your CV and demonstrate that you’re committed to a career in investment operations.

Moving up

1) Learn the professional skills needed to succeed

It’s easy to stand out when things are going well, but one of the key competencies is how resilient you are in the face of adversity. You will undoubtedly face set-backs, but you need to focus your energy on solutions rather than on problems. Working on the solution gets us nearer to fixing the problem. The more you talk about the problem, the bigger the problem becomes! Showing strong leadership skills by taking ownership of, and resolving, issues is a key competency.

One of the key phrases you’ll hear in investment operations is ‘timely escalation’; dealing with something in a timely fashion demonstrates both communication and leadership skills.

You’re unlikely to lose your job because you made a mistake, but failure to escalate in a timely manner is unacceptable. For example, if there’s a problem with a transaction and you let somebody know an hour before the deadline, it can be solved. If you wait until ten minutes before, then we don’t have time to resolve it. Mistakes like this can be costly.

Lastly, getting regular feedback from your manager is important; you might even want to think about getting a mentor. Ask for feedback and be clear on where you need to improve. What are two or three thing you need to address in order to get you that promotion? Continually focus on improving your competencies rather than just being ‘good’ at them.

2) Understand the business, not just your role

Working in investment operations can be a very technical role and the function you manage is part of a wider process. It’s tempting, therefore, to become very proficient at your role, without understanding the context in which you operate.

Taking such a narrow view is not beneficial to career progression. The trade lifecycle extends across various geographies and divisions within the bank, utilising sophisticated systems and a broad range of skill-sets.

Become a technical expert, but learn the end-to-end process and ensure that when a problem needs to be resolved you are the ‘go-to’ person. As a standout performer in operations, you can leverage this as an entry point for internal mobility to other divisions, locations or even a front office role.

3) Develop your (internal) network

I’ve been at Morgan Stanley for around ten years, and the key piece of advice I’d give is to know who your stakeholders are and build your network in the firm. It’s key to being able to influence and gain credibility.

You should be known for your technical capabilities, but you also need to gain a deeper knowledge of where your role fits into the firm, and build relationships with people in other departments.

We’re in Glasgow, but if you make it to a senior level you’ll be dealing with people across Europe. You’re unlikely going to get promoted further unless you extend your network across the world. Be visible, make it clear to as many people as possible that you know your stuff and look to add value.

Stephen Barclay is also president of the Scotland branch at the Chartered Institute for Securities & Investment (CISI). It will be hosting its annual awards night and dinner on Thursday 8 September at the George Hotel in Edinburgh. For more information, visit the CISI website.