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4.6
  • 1,000 - 50,000 employees

Timon Dooley

Timon Dooley studied Bachelor of Business – Financial Risk Management at Victoria University in 2017 and is now a Business Banking Graduate at NAB.

6.15 AM

My alarm goes off and I roll out of bed. I quickly put on my running gear and get out the front door. I am training for an upcoming half-marathon so I need to get the kilometres of training in, even if I would rather be sleeping. I do an easy 45-minute run along the Yarra River. I find exercising in the morning really sets you up for a good day.

7.00 AM

I get back from my run and eat a quick breakfast whilst reading the news on my laptop. I then jump into the shower before getting dressed and out the front door. I am definitely someone who always feels like they are running late and today is no exception.

7.45 AM

Luckily, I live only a 15-minute walk from work, so before I know it I am entering the NAB building and riding the elevator up to level 30.

8.00 AM

I am currently on a 6-week secondment in the Markets Economics team within NAB’s Corporate and Institutional Banking division, so the role I am doing is not necessarily typical of a Business and Private Banking graduate. I log into my computer and check my emails, making sure to catch up with what has happened in global financial markets overnight. My manager, who is one of the bank’s senior economists, happens to sit next to me so I can ask him any questions I might have. 

NAB Banking Graduate working on his computer

8.15 AM

My first task each day is to write ‘Talking Points in the Australian Press’: an email the Markets Economics team sends out every morning to staff and many of the bank’s external corporate customers. Essentially it is a summary of any articles in the major business newspapers that may be of interest to an investor’s view of the economy and financial markets. Once it’s done, I send it to one of the economists in my team who will do a final edit before it is sent out. Getting this all done before 10.00 am each morning can be quite stressful, so I usually reward myself with a short coffee or snack break when I finish.

10.00 AM

Time to get back to it. I now start working on a project I was assigned when I first joined the team. The project involves researching upcoming major infrastructure projects in Australia and their contribution to economic growth. I am using Excel to create a list of the major infrastructure, mining and defence projects and trying to chart a pipeline of spending on the projects over the next decade. To get the data for the research I spend a lot of time reading through government budget papers, company financial reports and google searching the different projects.

NAB Graduate working at his desk

11.00 AM

Next up I head to a Graduate Major Fundraiser meeting with some of my fellow grads. Each year the graduates organise a major fundraising event which raises money for a local charity as voted on by the wider grad cohort. This year it is for CanTeen Australia, who support young people who have had their lives turned upside down by cancer. I have been involved in selling raffle tickets and am also volunteering on the night, so need to find out the logistics of how the event will run.

12.00 AM

Now for my favourite time of the day: lunchtime. I usually try to pack my own lunch to save money and eat healthily, but today I am going to a local cafe with a couple of my fellow grads. I always try to get out of the office and get some fresh air during my lunch break. 

1.00 AM

Returning from lunch, it is time to get back to the infrastructure project. The chief markets economist has requested a couple of charts he can use as part of a presentation to clients tomorrow, so I need to make sure the charts are exactly how he wants them and send them through as soon as possible. I also work through some other ad-hoc tasks at the request of the other economists in my team; for example, updating charts with the latest data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

2.00 AM

I now walk to my final meeting of the day at another NAB building in the city. I have been looking forward to this meeting all week as I have been selected to represent NAB on the Jawun Indigenous Secondment program in the Kimberley region of Western Australia. Jawun is a non-for-profit organisation that matches skilled secondees from the corporate world with Indigenous-led organisations that require capability building and help with projects. As a secondee in the program, NAB will provide me with paid volunteer leave and expenses while I spend six weeks working in remote Western Australia. The meeting involves meeting with other secondees and hearing about the experience from previous participants. I found out during the meeting that I am the first grad they have sent on secondment, so I am now a bit nervous about making a good impression!

3.30 AM

I head back to the office to catch up on my emails, complete some online compliance training and do some pre-reading about the organisation I will be working for whilst on secondment with Jawun.

5.00 PM

Before I know it, it is 5.00 pm and time to head home. What a day! I quickly check my Outlook calendar to see what is planned for tomorrow then head out the door. Life as a graduate can be exciting and quite fast-paced, so I am ready to head home and relax with my family.