Claire Heffernan

7:00 am

The first thing on my mind when my alarm goes off in the morning is coffee, so I roll out of bed and head over to the coffee machine. Morning coffee time allows me to ease myself into the day, as I am not a morning person! I then dot point a to-do list for the day, shower and get ready for work.

8:30 am

Given that hybrid working has become the new normal, today’s workplace could either be my home setup or the office at 700 Bourke. Whichever it is, by this time I’m checking my emails and Teams messages while also having a scroll through the Data & Analytics Guilds page on Workplace (NAB’s internal networking site).

9:00 am

Most meetings take place online due to hybrid working, so I “zoom” over to my desk in time for morning catchup with my People Leader. We discuss what I plan to work on for the day as well as any technical or general issues I may be experiencing, and he offers advice, support and guidance. We both then “zoom” over to our team’s daily standup meeting. In Customer Analytics we adopt an agile management approach, and these standups are our opportunity to provide transparency around how tasks are tracking and identify any issues or defects.

10:00 am

I get to work on my main project, which involves developing a Python script that can automate the testing of an internal product review form. The code simulates the way a user interacts with a web page, and automatically completing the form rather than a user completing it manually will make testing of the form itself much more efficient. Working on this project has vastly improved my Python capabilities, and I also know that the code will bring value to my team’s operations – it’s a win-win!

11:30 am

Time to catch up with my fellow Data grads! The Data & Analytics grads touch base once a week, and if we’re not all in the office we meet and chat virtually. Because we’re all placed in different teams it’s great to see what exciting projects everyone is taking part in, and we also gain a better understanding of the different roles other Data & Analytics teams play within NAB.

12:00 pm

Lunchtime is here and I grab a bite to eat along with Coffee #2. Whether working from home or in the office, I always go out for a walk during lunch to stretch my legs and get some fresh air.

1:00 pm

A stakeholder has requested assistance with an ad-hoc data task, and so I get to work analysing customer complaints data in R. I identify complaints that contain certain words or phrases and attempt to group them accordingly, which then allows me to display the frequency of different complaint categories over time.

2:30 pm

The Graduate Committee is presenting an internal showcase for the entire graduate cohort, featuring a senior leader at NAB. These regular showcases give all us grads the opportunity to hear about the career paths of NAB veterans and learn more about different aspects of the organisation.

3:00 pm

After the showcase I organise a meeting tomorrow with the stakeholder who requested the ad-hoc task so we can discuss the project’s next steps. I then return to my Python project – after some time away from it I can now approach it with fresh eyes and more easily identify issues within the code.

4:30 pm

A couple of the other Data grads and I study AWS cloud computing services towards the end of the day. We set aside time every week to study together with the common goal of achieving our Cloud Practitioner certifications. Having time allocated for personal learning and development like this is one of the perks of being a grad!

5:00 pm

At 5:00 I check my emails and Teams messages for any last-minute updates, finish up any final tasks and quickly scan my calendar for tomorrow’s schedule. Often the larger grad cohort will get together for drinks, food or board games, but tonight I’m looking forward to relaxing, watching TV and calling my friends and family back home in Perth.