Alastair McNeill

When I was looking for a career change into software development, a friend recommended Baillie Gifford’s graduate programme. I was also interested in finance and investing, and looking at what the programme involved, it seemed like a good combination.

I was pretty nervous during the initial telephone interview because I didn’t know what to expect or how technical it would be. But it turned out to be an easy, natural conversation.

I’ve found that the company is willing to train people if they have the right attitude and approach. That was my impression during the selection process, and it’s been the case ever since.

There is a steep learning curve at the start of each placement because you are put to work immediately, but it’s done in a way that ensures you know what you are doing, what the team’s goals are and how you contribute to that.

Moving around teams during rotations is very valuable for me, starting a new career,  because it lets you try different aspects. By getting the chance to experience them for yourself, you become a lot clearer about what you want to do in the long term.

Within Information Systems, we run regular team retrospectives. These allow each team to review the past few months and see what’s been going well and what can be improved. I’ve had some lovely feedback at them, and it’s been rewarding to see that even in the early stages of my career, I am contributing to team and department goals.

I like the fact that there’s very little hierarchy. For example, I recently had a question about investment management and didn’t know who to ask. When I joined, I had a session with two of the three managing partners, so I messaged one of them to ask whom I should speak to. They very quickly got back in touch and pointed me in the right direction. For someone so senior to take the time to do that says a lot about the people who work here.

Please note that any references to current teams in bios are as of the time of writing and may not reflect the current situation due to the rotational nature of the programmes.