When your first job is actually exciting: A day in the life of a CIMB management trainee

Starting a first job is a major milestone in life. It marks the transition from student life to becoming a professional, bringing a sense of independence and responsibility to the individual. However, very few get the opportunity to land really exciting first jobs, as the reality is that newbies often get assigned rote or routine tasks at their first stint at work. These are great for learning the basics, but did you know that there are some first jobs that can get really exciting really fast?

Such is the case for the first batch of management trainees who joined CIMB Bank PH’s Maverick Management Program. This elite training program recently welcomed top graduating students to an intensive 12-month holistic strategic leadership and management development program that will allow them to experience the new way of banking.

Take a peek into the exciting day-to-day life of a CIMB Maverick Management Program trainee:

Carlos, a Management fresh grad, walks into the office bright and early on a Monday, eager to start the day. He excitedly boots up his laptop because today is an exciting one as he will be meeting with representatives from different departments to discuss the operationalization of a new product he helped create during his stint with the Products team. This is a crucial milestone for the new, next generation product that CIMB will launch, and he can confidently say that he made a tangible contribution to its development. Not bad for his first assignment.

At the opposite wing of the office, Trisha meticulously analyzes various data from different sources and consolidates them into a singular report that she emails to the CEO and the rest of the country management team daily. As a Management Engineering graduate, she has always loved numbers and enjoys crunching data to generate insights. However, she never really thought about the extent of how numbers are used when it comes to decisions related to Marketing, which is her assigned department. This gave her a newfound appreciation for the science behind the marketing practice as well as a deeper appreciation for the power of numbers in general, giving her inner numbers fanatic a new source of kilig.

Another management trainee, Coby, looks up from the special dashboard he created as part of the Decision Management department and says hi to his teammate from the CIMB basketball team. They talk animatedly about a new league they joined versus other banks before he goes back to the program he coded himself, his legacy that is now part of the day-to-day operations of the bank. The Management graduate is truly able to bring to life the “work hard, play hard” mindset he subscribes to. He is likewise thankful he doesn’t experience the “overworked and underpaid” work life at CIMB, as he feels the management trainees’ compensation is commensurate with their efforts.

Their assigned tasks are far from rote and routine, and the trainees agree that they learn every day, aware of the fact that in some companies, workers have to wait five or more years before they can get their hands on work assignments that truly make a difference. Unique to their experience at CIMB as well, these trainees are able to truly immerse themselves in the everyday operations of the Bank. This allows them to have an advanced and more human understanding of its customers, helping them naturally develop a passion and appreciation for the work – and the good – that they do to truly live out the customer centricity value that CIMB stands for.

“I’ve been working hard on a new strategy to boost customer acquisition, which we are excited to present to all CIMB executives next week. I can’t wait to see our brainchild come to life,” said Trisha. The future indeed looks bright for these young mavericks!