Designed to help students progress from school to the professional workplace, the Life in Finance programme support them in learning new skills, the finance industry and in developing their existing talents.

With the initiative clearly having a positive effect on Jersey, working with local students clearly shows us we have a lot of local talented islanders who are ambitious for the future.

The 36 A-Level students from five different schools taking part in the scheme this year have learnt a valuable insight into what the Finance industry is all about, the variety of roles available within it and how it can benefit the wider community.

We know from our island's statistics that when the finance industry does well, the island does well too. It's the States' ambition to see more Islanders access rewarding jobs by 2037; encouraging home-grown talent to build successful careers in Jersey and attracting people with essential skills to help businesses develop.

At Jersey Finance, we believe we can contribute to this future target by empowering young people through our education initiatives, but we cannot achieve this alone.

We need to work with our Member firms to give students learning opportunities allowing them to get a 'taste' of what life can be like in finance and hopefully encourage them, through this experience, to consider a role in the finance industry in the future.

At the same time, the scheme also continues to give our Member firms, offering placements to those students, some real food for thought about the value Jersey's young people can add to the industry and, in turn, the island itself.

Those members who have taken part genuinely embrace the creativity and enthusiasm our young people can offer, and that's absolutely vital. It means that young people can look to the future with more certainty around their career options, and that firms can focus on the talent that is already available locally.

All of this bodes well for our future as an industry and as an Island community.

We want to give these students a great early experience of working life through the Life in Finance scheme, so I encourage our Member firms to sign up for 2018, if you have not already done so.

The students you will see at the Meet and Greet event for the scheme are bright, positive and keen and are there because they want to learn more about the opportunities we can give them.

As Charles M Schwab once said 'The real test of business greatness is in giving opportunity to others'.

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