HSBC aims to be the world's leading international bank. With around
4,400 offices in 71 countries and territories, serving more than 46
million customers, their ambition is to be where the growth is,
connecting customers to opportunities and enabling businesses to thrive
and economies to prosper.
HSBC recognises that the talent and diversity of its people are the
foundation of its success. It hires, develops and promotes employees
based on merit and provides an open, supportive and inclusive working
environment. This is an organisation where everyone can be themselves
and achieve their potential. HSBC is committed to building its business
for the long-term by balancing social, environmental and economic
considerations in the decisions it makes.
HSBC have global graduate programmes and internships in; Commercial
Banking, Global Banking and Markets, Global Private Banking or Retail
Banking and Wealth Management, including Global Asset Management.
I first joined HSBC as an intern when I left school in 2012, working
both in branch and head office. It was my first ever job, and straight
away I was working with senior stakeholders and, much to my surprise, I
was doing real work – more than making the tea! I came back twice more
as an intern during uni, before joining full time straight after
graduation. I started as a Service and Sales Manager in Nottingham city
centre branch which was certainly a baptism by fire. It was intense,
customers were everywhere, and it felt like I’d never know what to do.
Then 2 months later, I found myself answering customers’ questions with
confidence – about things I didn’t even know existed before I joined the
Bank!
For my next placement, I went over to ‘green brand’, to be a Deputy Bank
Manager at M&S Bank, up in Newcastle. This was an experience for many
reasons, least of all because my London accent was a great source of
hilarity for everyone. It was a completely different world, working in a
brand new bank with a team a quarter of the size, and an entirely
different customer base. I was line manager to two individuals, both of
whom had significantly more banking (and life!) experience than I did,
which challenged and stretched me in a way I hadn’t experienced before.
I have recently started my third placement in Distribution Risk. This
means we look after any risk that faces our customer-facing functions.
This could be anything from physical security, to fraud to reputational
risk. It is a hugely varied role, and I have had exposure to so many new
things. Each day is different, and the job can also be quite reactive to
new and emerging risks as they arise.
Outside of this, I am also involved in the internship project, where we
have just successfully organised and run the 8-week internship for 120
uni students. The scheme has been such an opportunity to find out what
type of job I would like at the end. I never intended to work in a bank
(side-note: I do not enjoy maths), but after my first experience I knew
it was somewhere I wanted to work again.
Training & Profiles
HSBC recognises that the talent and diversity of its people are the
foundation of its success. It hires, develops and promotes employees
based on merit and provides an open, supportive and inclusive working
environment. This is an organisation where everyone can be themselves
and achieve their potential. HSBC is committed to building its business
for the long-term by balancing social, environmental and economic
considerations in the decisions it makes.
HSBC have global graduate programmes and internships in; Commercial
Banking, Global Banking and Markets, Global Private Banking or Retail
Banking and Wealth Management, including Global Asset Management.
Your graduate programme journey will begin with a global discovery
induction and will be followed by four 6-month rotations across the
business. The bank has a strong focus on your professional and personal
development; you will benefit from working with exceptional colleagues
and mentors in addition to a development programme which will support
you as your career progresses.
The internship programmes are an ideal way of finding out more about the
organisation and gaining some valuable experience over the summer. In
the UK, HSBC also offer a first year internship, which is an eight week
combination of Commercial Banking and Retail Banking & Wealth
Management, in addition to a Spring Week within Global Banking & Markets.
My initial telephone interview lasted around 20-30 minutes for my role of Commercial Banking Management Trainee. The interviewer was very polite, friendly and helpful. During the interview I had to provide an example for each of HSBC's 3 values;
I applied to HSBC through SEO London. I was first given a telephone interview, which focused mainly on commercial awareness. The questions included: What are the current issues facing HSBC? What will the world look like in 2050? How do these issues