Students get a taste for CEO life

Reporter, Accountancy Daily [2016-2019]

9 Sep 2016

Thirteen leading CEOs have joined Odgers Berndtson’s ‘CEO for a day’ scheme to give students an insight into what life is like for the UK’s top executives

‘CEO for a day’ allows second and third year university students to apply to spend a day shadowing a CEO one on one to see what an average day entails.

A number of banking and finance CEOs have taken part including Standard Chartered Bank’s Bill Winters, Deloitte’s David Sproul, SVG Capital’s Lynn Fordham and Legal & General’s Dr Nigel Wilson.

The interest in finance is the highest with a third of CEOs and students involved in the scheme coming from the finance sector.

In previous research, Odgers Berndtson, a global executive search firm, has also found that there is a crossover between aspects of talented millennials and rising finance executives.

‘CEO for a day’ first launched in Germany and is now in Scandinavia, Spain, Finland, Brazil, Belgium, Canada and most recently the UK and has over 700 chief executives and students participating in the scheme.

Kester Scrope, CEO, Odgers Berndtson said: 'We’re delighted now to bring this to the UK as we continue to work with international companies on all aspects of leadership.”

Students go through a rigorous recruitment process, including online assessments and face-to-face interviews with partners and consultants from Odgers Berndtson. Around November each will spend a day.

Leon Ayo, CEO, Odgers Berndtson South Africa said: 'A key learning for the students is what it really takes to be a CEO - less technical skill and mostly about resilience, tenacity and how to get the most from people. A lot are surprised at how many of the CEOs are often from quite ordinary backgrounds, and this can be very inspirational.'

More information on ‘CEO for a day’ is available here.