What’s it like to intern at a Nigerian Bank.
Early into my technology internship days, I stumbled on Benjamin Dada's internship series blog-post on medium and after reading, I decided that I was going to write mine also. So here it is, kindly read and enjoy it.
Introduction
My name is Ibukunoluwa, a final year student at the Federal University of Agriculture Abeokuta, Nigeria. I’m a student in the Department of Computer Science.
In October 2019, I had the privilege of interning at one of the largest financial institutions in Nigeria called First City Monument Bank Limited. FCMB is a full-service banking group in Nigeria, offering retail banking, corporate banking, and investment banking services to large corporations, small and medium enterprises, as well as individuals. FCMB is a member of the First City Group PLC and you can learn more about her history here.
How did I hear about FCMB?
Through a very wonderful family friend.
My SIWES (Student Industrial Work Experience Scheme), was scheduled to begin in the first week of October 2019. Between May and August, I applied to about 25 tech companies in Lagos, got 5 interviews (participated in 3, turned down the remainder).
FCMB or any other bank wasn’t part of those >25 applications. I think that was because most of the people that i knew that interned at the bank were either at the teller or marketing section. Never heard of an intern in the IT section, so i just didn’t bother.
In September, I got an offer from a tech company in Lagos, but I was unable to arrange my accommodation early enough (my big mistake) so I had to drop the offer and start job hunting again. My Dad made mention of the Bank, though skeptical of the idea, my Dad put a call through to his friend.
The application process:
Submission of CV and academic documents >> Assessment and In-person interview >> The Phone Call >> Offer.
My Job Description
I was assigned to work with the IT Banking Application Support Team as an assistant under the supervision of the team lead, Osinakachi Njimogu. I was working at the Head Office — Primrose Tower. My job description is short and includes:
- Writing SQL queries to spool data from the bank’s database based on requests from clients nationwide.
- Responsible for answering the phone calls and directing them to the appropriate teammate.
What was the best part about working with FCMB?
Spending 19 weeks working there was worth it right from day one. I didn’t have much expectation when I started there, but I was pleasantly surprised.
19 weeks working at FCMB > University classroom work.
- Working in an environment full of young and old, smart people filled with good energy who are ready to help you learn: prior to working here, I had no idea of so many things most especially SQL which I used, but today because of these amazing people, I sabi small and you can’t push me over. There were enough resources and great colleagues to ready to help out.
- No discrimination and independence: as an intern, there was no discrimination — I got everything just like most of the other people. There was really nothing like, he’s an intern, he can't do it or he can’t come. I was given task bigger than my level and left to figure it out, it was more of “meet Ibukunoluwa to help you”, “Ibukunoluwa, kindly help and revert”, “Ibukunoluwa on the line, how may I help you”, “Ibukunoluwa, you are in charge today, I am busy with something else” and when it is for department meetings or time to turn up (beach party, boat cruise), it was “Ibukunoluwa, are you coming?”. At some point, I was going to other departments to help them out. Some people didn’t even know that I was an intern.
- The opportunity to see how things work in real-time -no theory, all practical.
- Location: I was working in a location that housed the Nigerian Stock Exchange, the headquarters of some of the biggest banks in Nigeria. Seeing young guys and ladies every morning dressed in suits, driving, or being dropped off by their drivers in nice cars. If anyone is looking to be inspired to work hard to attain great heights, this was the place to be.
- Building my professional and social network: the person that is greeting you good morning at the reception is probably the Head of this, Team Lead of that, the person in the same elevator as you, is the Director of XYZ or the person you are speaking to on the phone is the Branch Manager of ABC Branch. There was some sense of accomplishment meeting those people.
PS: All of the above was based on my personal experience.
