Life as a BNZ Graduate: Margaret’s story

Meet Margaret, who joined the BNZ Business Banking Graduate programme in February 2017. In part two of our ‘Life as a BNZ Graduate’ series, Margaret reflects on what she’s learnt over the last few months and her favourite parts of the grad programme. 

“My name is Margaret and I’m currently a Corporate and Commercial Banking Graduate at BNZ. I started this programme in early February 2017, having graduated a couple of years ago with a BA/BCom conjoint majoring in Finance, Economics and Japanese.

Applying for the grad programme at BNZ has been one of the best decisions I ever made. From the start I was a little unsure of what I was in for, but as the weeks went on it became clear that the programme really prioritised working to all of our individual strengths and giving us real world on-the-job experience, which is something I really appreciate.

Instead of a standard grad programme rotation across different parts of the bank over a 12-18 month period, BNZ’s grad programme lasts only six to nine months and partners you up with a Senior Associate and Commercial/Corporate Partner. From day one you receive immediate exposure to credit writing, risk assessment, contacting customers, managing a portfolio, and so much more. Being partnered up with mentors allows you to learn very quickly, as well as to gain knowledge from some of the best in banking.

While we have a base in a commercial/corporate team, where we work day-to-day, we also have the chance to visit other parts of the bank for ‘a day in the life’. This allows us to learn more about different roles and where we might like to end up after the programme. I personally think this structure is fantastic because we build a very strong foundation of knowledge, but have the opportunity to translate those skills to wider bank roles – and vice versa, we also bring back knowledge to our daily roles.

One of my favourite parts about being part of this programme is how varied and different the position is. Every day is new and exciting, since every customer is different and has unique requirements. Also, the opportunity to understand and learn about so many different companies, industries, and business models is very interesting on a personal level.

But at the end of the day, it’s not just what you’re doing, but who you’re with that makes the difference. I remember feeling mildly surprised during the application process that literally everyone mentioned the great culture here at BNZ, but it turned out to be 100% true. Everybody is always happy to help and I’m really glad to be part of such a great team.”

Applications have now closed for our 2018 Graduate intake. Please visit our careers website for other opportunities or to register for job alerts for our 2019 Graduate programme.