Meet Alex | SMBC Group | Industrial Placement

SMBC was a bank that I hadn’t previously heard of prior to applying to the Industrial Placement Programme.. After conducting some research, the great successes of the bank and the multiple awards they had won were what initially intrigued me. However, the descriptions of the unique culture and the overall values that they hold here are what eventually encouraged me to apply.

They also have such a wide variety of departments listed for the Year in Industry, which gave me the impression that the programme was very well established and ultimately would help immensely with my learning, which was my main focus when it came to applying for a Placement Year.

In summary, GTFD collaborates with multiple different departments to provide trade finance facilities to clients helping them to mitigate risk and manage their liquidity needs. As an Industrial Placement student in GTFD, my day to day is varied but some examples of what I get involved in are:

• Conducting research projects on specific sectors or prospective new clients that we can see a potential opportunity to offer our facilities to
• Gaining exposure to current and upcoming deals by listening into a lot of meetings and supporting where possible i.e. calculating pricing
• Gathering all important information surrounding a deal and presenting it to management for approval
• Preparing presentations to be presented internally or to our clients
• Reviewing and updating the deal pipeline, making sure to raise any questions or concerns if anything is falling behind etc
• Creating pitchbooks / videos on all of our products and how the department works, for any future new joiners or clients

I would definitely say the people; everyone in and around my team have really taken the time to sit down and explain things to me if I don’t understand something, even if they seem busy themselves. The friendly and collaborative culture has never made me feel embarrassed or scared to ask questions and this has improved my learning massively.

The Intern cohort has also been a huge factor into why I am enjoying my placement so much – this creates more of a social aspect to working life and it is always positive to have other people in the same position as you in other areas of the bank because it allows you to relate to them and also expand your network across SMBC.

Apply as soon as possible! This has been such a valuable experience for me and it has presented me with lots of opportunities.

When it comes to choosing which department to apply to, ensure you choose one that genuinely interests you as you will enjoy the year a lot more and gain a lot more from it.

Finally, when it comes to applying and interviews, be yourself and relax! The people interviewing you are looking for someone who shows enthusiasm and a willingness to learn; do not put too much pressure on yourself to know everything about the work that they do as this knowledge will come throughout the time you spend here!