What are the strengths we look for at Fidelity, and how can you demonstrate them?

At Fidelity International, our process is strengths-based. Unlike a competency-based interview, a strength-based interview focuses on what you enjoy doing, not just what you can do. This approach allows our team to gain an insight into your natural abilities, which we can match to the role. We don’t require work experience, particular grades, or vast technical knowledge. However, we do want to see you demonstrate strengths that we believe will help you succeed in your chosen role. Here’s some of the strengths we look for at Fidelity:

1. Customer Focus: We think constantly about the needs of our customers, and how we can go above and beyond. Everyone at work has a customer, even if it’s not who would normally come to your mind. Some of our employees do deal with our external customers, the people who invest into our funds and other products. However, you may work in HR or Legal, in which case your customer might be a different team within the business.

You can demonstrate this strength by talking about an example from school, your personal life, or work experience, when you’ve put the customer first. How do you do that in your hospitality job? Is it by writing up guides to make difficult cocktails for the newer members of staff, so the quality is consistent every time? Is it completing training with your employer so you can understand your product offering further? Is it ensuring the premises are always clean and tidy? Think about what a customer would expect to see in your scenario, and the actions you have taken to ensure their experience meets those expectations.

2. Integrity: We look to do the right things by our customers, and by our colleagues, every time. Particularly in investing, being ethical is hugely important. Our business is built on trust, and if we lose the trust of our customers, partners, suppliers, or colleagues, they will not want to do business with us. Many people will have examples of showing integrity, whether it’s at work, in their personal life, or at school. Dig deep into those examples - was it difficult to show integrity in that situation? How did you come to your decision on what action to take? How did that make you feel? Throughout an assessment centre or interview, we would also expect you to think about whether your behaviour towards other candidates demonstrates integrity, and that you would be a good colleague.
3. Curiosity: We are looking for candidates who are curious about the world around them, financial and otherwise. We want to see that you’ve done your research - and more than looking at the ‘about us’ page on our website! Read the news; what is said about Fidelity, what do our representatives say in the media; what key issues our affecting our wider industry? What are our values, and how do those relate to current affairs? Where relevant, bring these research items up in answers. For example, when asking about an approach you’d take to a key issue, you could say - ‘well, I saw in the news that a competitor tried this approach, and this was the outcome. So, while I have not done this before, learning from the analysis on that in the media, perhaps this would be a good first step…’

It also demonstrates real curiosity to say - ‘I researched this programme, and while I know a lot about the personal investing side of the business, I didn’t really understand what workplace investing involved. Could you explain to me how the marketing team supports this part of the business?’. Remember, we don’t require you to have worked in our industry before, so we don’t expect you to understand everything. We love it when you ask questions!

4. Self-Starter: You’re motivated to make an impact and actively seek self-improvement – both academic and non-academic! Everyone has development areas, including the people who will be interviewing you. It shows impressive maturity and self-reflection to be able to talk openly and honestly about your development areas. It’s even better if you can talk about your plan for addressing those, and where Fidelity could support you. However, remember you are still in an assessment environment. It would be difficult if you were to say you are the ‘worst ever’ at something, or that you really hate a particular task and would avoid it wherever you could. Identifying your strengths in advance can help you avoid this happening.
5. Adaptability: The world of investment management is fast changing, so you need to be ready to adapt. In fact, this is true of every job. Think about the world today versus 10 years ago! Change can be difficult and scary, but it is often necessary, including the workplace. You can show adaptability in many ways throughout an interview or assessment centre. We’re sure you’ll have many examples to talk about, where you needed to embrace change. Use the STARR model and take the interviewer on a journey through that time with you. 

Of course, this list is not exhaustive, but we hope it helps you take your first steps in preparing for an interview! Don’t forget to check out our article HERE about how to identify your strengths. There are many strengths beyond the ones mentioned in this article, and you should feel confident in highlighting them. Our article on using the STARR model will help with that!

We hope to see an application from you soon.