Thinking about combining CIMA qualifications with a graduate scheme?
Mark Millett, estate planner at Mitchells & Butlers, tells freelance journalist Laura Walkinshaw why he thinks the company offers one of the best schemes.
When Mark Millett went to university he admits he had no idea what to do. But when he left with a human geography degree, he had discovered one thing: he wanted to work in business.
Two graduate schemes and a CIMA qualification later, Mark now works within the estate planning team at Mitchells & Butlers, which operates some of the UK’s most famous food and drinks brands.
Yet the 29 year old admits finding his ideal job hasn’t been plain sailing. He left one graduate scheme to join another – a decision that has since opened many doors.
‘I didn’t see myself as a straight accountant,’ he says. ‘I wanted to work in finance but my [previous] Norwich Union role was very much standard accountancy practice in a traditional finance company.’
By contrast, Mitchells & Butlers’ finance graduate scheme gave Mark the chance to gain experience in operations, marketing and other roles. As graduates gain the CIMA qualification as part of the scheme, Mark says the level of support you get is second to none and this makes it so much more achievable.
Help always at hand
Mark sees the CIMA qualification as a cut above the rest and credits his success to it and the Mitchells & Butlers graduate scheme.
‘The way the course is developed you’ve got a lot of textbook learning, but at the same time it’s really applied to your job role. I think that you’re learning all the time and you’re applying that learning to your role,’ he says.
‘Because my graduate scheme was built around the two years of your career development, they’re very supportive towards your CIMA development. They see that as a big part of your graduate development in finance at the company.
‘A graduate scheme is sympathetic towards the fact that you’ve got exams, whereas if you’re currently working in a smaller company where they haven’t got the same amount of resources, your job is paramount. They haven’t got the time or resources to work around your exams.’
For Mark, one of the best things about the scheme was the help and encouragement he got from his colleagues – some of whom had also entered the company as graduates.
‘You’ve got people around who’ve been through the same process, they understand what you’re going through,’ he says. ‘You don’t feel that you’re left on your own and thrown in at the deep end or that it’s all on you.’
Hitting the heights
Mark attributes his T4 case study result – the fourth highest in the world in 2010 – to the scheme and the real life experience he got along the way.
‘It just clicked when I did T4,’ he says. ‘A lot of stuff which I found difficult because you’re dealing with it in theoretical ways, all of a sudden becomes a lot easier because you’re applying it to real life business and you’re working in a real life business.
‘When you’re actually out there doing it yourself you understand the reasons that you’ve always been taught that way to do it. I think that’s probably the way my mind works best and that’s why I did much better at T4.’
He also outlines how he uses the skills gained during CIMA for his current role.
‘What we’re responsible for in estate planning is effectively all the investment in our businesses,’ he says. ‘For example, should we be acquiring more of certain brands, are there businesses which it makes more finance sense to dispose of, what brands should go where, what sort of investment strategy we should have, what sales return that would be expected to deliver.
‘A lot of the skills – investment, cash flows, appraisals – are things that we learnt in CIMA so it’s actually applying it in a real life role now.’
Smooth progression
Since finishing the graduate scheme, Mark has worked as portfolio development manager, regional business manager (town pubs) and, most recently, estate planning manager. He says that moving around in the company during the two year scheme really helped him not only do well in his exams but also to figure out which career best suited him.
‘In terms of the exposure you get to different parts of the business, the type of culture you work in and the responsibility you get from day one, it’s really an outstanding scheme,’ he says. ‘The success it has in converting graduates into senior managers of the future is really impressive.'
Whichever path he takes, he knows his CIMA skills will be vital. ‘I may not pursue a career in finance going forward but a lot of the things I learnt will support a career in operations. If anyone wanted to pursue a career in marketing, it would support a career in marketing. It has business principles that would stand you in good stead in any industry you decide to work in.’
Links
CIMA Training and Development Accreditation
Mitchells & Butlers corporate graduate scheme