Opportunities to Connect, Learn, Grow and Embrace Culture

Connect – Upon joining MUFG I have had numerous opportunities to set up meetings and sit with desks across the firm. One great thing about MUFG is that there are numerous divisions on one floor. In one trip to the first floor kitchen you can meet people from 10 or more divisions. It is quite unreal how easy it is to also set up a meeting with a division of interest. In most cases I organised to sit with 1 person but upon reaching their desk I was introduced to 4 if not more people in their team and by the time I knew it I had met and sat down with the whole division. I would definitely say there is a common theme of ‘Let me introduce you to …’ amongst employees at MUFG and it is this characteristic of going beyond what was asked of them that I really admire about the employees at MUFG.

Learn – The personalised training provided in MUFG’s summer internship programme definitely distinguishes them from other banks. MUFG offered a very practical and hands on training week. We were not only given e-learning modules but upon arriving we spent our first week learning about Financial Markets and Products in a classroom and then put that knowledge to work.

Grow – During my time with MUFG I have been able to truly develop and grow as an individual. During our 3rd week we were fortunate to have an external trainer come in and speak to us about personal effectiveness in regards to Time Management. This was followed up in our 5th week with a personal effectiveness session focused on Personal Brand. Some key take away points from these sessions for me were to always under promise but over deliver, to differentiate important tasks from urgent tasks, to constantly review my performance and to always seek to understand before being understood. Aside from this, during my time with MUFG I witnessed bring your child to work day, the launch of a peer mentoring programme and an A-Level students programme. In 10 weeks alone, I was able to witness these examples of how open and encouraging MUFG is in terms of helping individuals to grow and increase their exposure to the industry. This tells me a lot about the nurturing culture at MUFG.

Embrace Culture – I have found MUFG to be a very transparent and inclusive firm. Having come from a bank with over 200 interns, MUFG’s class of 19 interns has been a huge differentiator for me. I find that I am able to develop a more personal relationship with the fellow interns and embrace our differences. Interestingly, the intern group consists of individuals from Ireland, Nigeria (myself), Italy, France, Bulgaria and Scotland who studied various courses at different universities. We often meet up on Friday’s after work for a social so it has been really nice and interesting to get to know everyone and each of their different backgrounds.

Overall, this summer internship programme has shown me that MUFG is an exceptional firm that provides ‘Endless Opportunities to Connect, Learn, Grow and Embrace Culture!’