How managers support early career development in finance

A graduate may understand a financial concept but need help recognizing its relevance within a team. Preparing a credit analysis, for example, involves understanding what the reviewer needs to know and which assumptions require investigation.

The need extends beyond technical knowledge. CFA Institute’s July 2026 research, surveying 500 finance professionals in management roles, identified human skills, including communication and teamwork, as the biggest skills gap among new career professionals.

Intuition’s graduate-program delivery experts describe another practical tension: managers may hesitate to invest in training during short rotations, while graduates want meaningful work. They also observe that some clients hiring graduates directly into teams need to create opportunities for networking and broader business understanding.

These observations highlight the manager’s role in connecting a structured graduate program with work that develops the individual. The support needed will depend on the placement and the graduate’s experience.

Start by explaining the question an assignment needs to answer and how the output will be used. This gives the graduate a basis for deciding which information matters.

Consider a junior analyst summarizing a company’s financial statements. If the summary will support a discussion about the company’s ability to meet its obligations, explain that purpose. The analyst then has a reason to examine cash generation and debt repayments alongside reported earnings.

During review, ask why they selected particular information and what they would investigate further. Explain how those choices affect the usefulness of the analysis.

The same approach applies in operations. When a graduate investigates a transaction discrepancy, their supervisor can discuss the checks completed and explain how the next step fits into the wider process.

On a short rotation, choose work achievable within the placement and allow time for feedback. For graduates joining a team directly, arrange relevant conversations with colleagues in other functions. Those discussions can help them understand how their work connects to the wider business.

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Feedback should give the graduate something to apply on a subsequent task. If an analyst presents a forecast without identifying its assumptions, explain why those assumptions matter. On the next assignment, ask them to identify the assumptions before submitting their work.

Useful review questions include:

• What evidence supports your conclusion?

• What would make you revise your assessment?

Discussing the answers can reveal where further guidance is needed. Be clear about what the graduate can complete independently, what requires review, and how to raise concerns under the firm’s procedures.

The way managers respond to questions matters, too. The UK Financial Conduct Authority’s discussion of psychological safety emphasizes that an organization’s response when someone speaks up influences whether they feel safe doing so again. Acknowledge uncertainty and work through it with the graduate.

Over time, these conversations can help managers judge where support is still needed and where greater responsibility is appropriate. The next assignment provides a practical starting point: agree what the graduate should learn from it, then revisit that understanding when the work is reviewed.

See how this approach works in practice. Explore our Early Careers Capabilities page to access a case study of the 14-week Analyst Academy Intuition designed for Capstone Investment Advisors.

Intuition combines foundational financial learning through Know-How with expert-led delivery and applied development.

Talk to our team about connecting your graduate program with learning in the workplace.