The first thing applicants for Standard Chartered's international graduate (IG) programme should understand is that everything revolves around the customer. Therefore, one of the key rotations for consumer banking recruits during their initial two years of training is to spend three to six months in a branch gaining frontline experience of day-to-day operations.
This can involve working as a teller, a service ambassador, processing transactions, or even handling the occasional complaint. But it all goes to providing practical knowledge of what really happens and a much better understanding of what a wide range of clients expects.
'All consumer banking graduates get front-end experience of branch operations,' said Belinda Chan, senior resourcing manager in the bank's human resources division. 'But they also get a taste of back-office and different business functions in other core rotations, as well as classroom training and regular talks about progress, so we can accommodate their career aspirations.'
She explained that of the total 300 or so students accepted each year for the IG programme, there were usually around 30 in Hong Kong. Nothing was set in stone, but the split between local and overseas graduates was fairly even in order to create the mix of backgrounds, cultures and individual strengths needed for a fast-growing international bank.
The same principles apply to the summer internship programme, though at present relatively few places are available. Chan said this was simply because the priority was to give each intern individual attention and first-class experience, which included the chance to meet customers and participate fully in corporate events and public relations activities. She said there was no point taking people on for a couple of months and then not giving them anything meaningful to do.
'We look at the business needs and want to make sure that interns have deliverables and responsibilities, so they can get a real feel for working in the bank,' she said. 'Their performance is evaluated throughout the internship, and if it has been satisfactory, we will go ahead with an interview and put them on the fast track for the IG programme.'