With Offices Closed, Students Turn to Virtual Work Experience

Citi Asia Pacific’s work experience program, covering careers in Investment Banking and Markets and Securities Services, has proven popular among undergraduates.

Since its launch earlier in July, the bank said that close to 500 students from universities across Singapore have already enrolled in its Asia Pacific’s virtual work experience program, which is designed to provide students with insights into life as an analyst while helping them build the skills and confidence to pursue a career at Citi or in banking.

As part of the program, students will get a taste of on-the-job tasks to better understand what a banking career can offer them, while developing valuable skills for employability, Citi said.

In each module, students work on case studies designed by the bank, and submit their solutions to business problems. Students with submissions that stand out may be contacted for permanent roles at Citi or summer internship opportunities next summer.

The bank developed the program when it noticed the challenges that students were facing in securing internships in the current Covid-19 environment, according to Joel Fastenberg, head of human resources for Citi Singapore and ASEAN. An added benefit of an online program is that it does not have a cap on the number of students, and is open to any Singaporean student regardless of where they are located.

«Importantly, this program also supports Citi’s campus recruitment efforts enabling us to identify our future talent early on. Students who stand out may be contacted for summer internship opportunities or permanent roles in the bank,» Fastenberg said.

The bank previously allayed fears that virtual internships amid the Covid-19 pandemic would make it more difficult for candidates to secure a job after completing the program, by promising to offer all 76 students of its incoming batch of interns a full-time analyst role if they meet the minimum requirements of the program.