ING

Name	Olivia van Roijen
Based in	Amsterdam
Job title and business area	Wholesale Banking Trainee
Year joined ING	2016
Year attended the International Banking Cycle	2015

 

The International Banking Cycle (IBC) was my first banking recruitment event and a definite success, as this is where my career at ING started. My interest in business and numbers led me to choose a bachelor in Economics and Business at the UvA and the master Finance & Investments at the RSM. I was always curious to find out how certain industries and businesses work and what drives these businesses to succeed. Although I knew this, I did not know what exactly I would do with this in my career.

During the IBC, I got to see a few banks, one of which was ING. The afternoon started with a presentation, followed by a mergers and acquisition case and ended with a drink. The presentation gave me an insight into what ING does, whereas the case allowed us to put theory into practice. We were guided by a lot of enthusiastic ING juniors as well as seniors, who seemingly enjoyed helping us with the things we couldn’t know, but at the same challenging us to think about the case from a logical perspective. Seeing different banks allowed me to compare and find out which bank and people suited me best, which was, of course, ING in my case.

The day after the IBC, I was invited for a coffee at the ING headquarters with two senior managers. It was a two-way conversation about my studies and ambitions, as well as about their careers, ING and the banking environment in general. They were very helpful and put me in contact with a few trainees, so I could find out more about the traineeship. In December I joined the ING Bootcamp traineeship experience (ING’s two-days business course); it confirmed my enthusiasm and interest in the banking world and ING as a company. I applied for the traineeship in February and signed my contract a few weeks later.

In October 2016 I started the Wholesale Banking traineeship at ING, this track allows me to see several departments within the bank, dive deep into different industries and businesses, whilst simultaneously challenging my analytical and quantitative skills. I started at Corporate Investments, followed by a 3 month rotation at Structured Acquisition Finance in London, which I continued at the Amsterdam office. Corporate investment provides companies with risk-bearing capital such as subordinated debt and equity, whereas Structured Acquisition Finance is active in the leveraged finance market. Besides the day-to-day work, the traineeship provides you with a network of enthusiastic and like-minded people who you do training courses and group assignments with.

If I could give one piece of advice, it would be to talk to as many people as you can and visit several recruitment events. The end of your studies is a crucial time to figure out what type of career and company suits you and simply talking to people is the best way to find out. Next to that, you will be a step ahead in your application process, if you can back up your motivation with experiences and stories you heard from people working at the company. For now, have fun exploring!