“I didn’t study Science or Tech when I was at school. There was a Girls Can Code session back in year 8, one of the hosts approached me and said ‘you’re good at this naturally, maybe you should consider a future in STEMM.’ I kept that at the back of my mind and as years went on, I chose a Computer Science degree at University. I had my first Cyber Security lecture and I instantly fell in love with my degree all over again. I was inspired. I started attending conferences, watching online presentations, and doing CTF (Capture the Flags) challenges on the weekend. There’s a whole community to build around Cyber, and I was just at the tip of the iceberg.
CommBank always had a heavy involvement in a lot of the courses I took at University, so I had a good impression of the quality of work they do within this space. Everyone I met from the Bank during University empowered me to be the best version of myself, and for me, that’s how I knew I wanted to work here.
I’m from Regional NSW, and every summer I’d go home to spend time with my family which was my priority, so I thought instead of the Summer Internship Program, let me try to get into CommBank another way. I was referred into a casual role as a Cyber Security Associate while I was at University. I was amazed by the culture at CommBank as they were quite flexible and would cater to my university and exam schedule. I worked two days a week while I finished off my degree – it was an awesome experience. I wasn’t ready to leave, so I applied for the Graduate Program.
In doing my research, I found that what sets us apart from other Graduate Programs is CommBank’s emphasis on development and how we educate people in the community. Throughout the Program, we had multiple conferences and workshops where external guest speakers would come in and teach us about productivity, soft skills, agile, and design thinking – just to name a few!
As a Graduate, I liked the ability to rotate into different teams. I’m building a knowledge base from every role and taking it with me to my next role. People in the team put an emphasis on how you’re a fresh set of eyes and encourage you to bring new ideas in. I’ve always received feedback from every idea I’ve brought in, nothing was ever shut down from the business.
I’m currently part of the Cyber Community and Education team. Our purpose is to educate our colleagues, customers, and the community about security. One of our goals for the community is to inspire the next generation to pursue a career in Cyber Security because there’s such a skill shortage in the area.
Where I’m from in the Region, there aren’t enough resources on a STEMM career for young girls, and it was my school event that inspired me to pursue a career in Cyber. I want to inspire others and be that voice for someone else, so I took the opportunity to reach out to my old high school teacher and hope to integrate CommBank’s support for this initiative into the school.
My advice to students and graduates who are interested in joining any of our Grad Programs are:
- Have passion in what you do - for me, this is the most important part of work and knowing that I’m making a difference and a direct impact on our customers and communities.
- Learning never stops - University is just the beginning, especially in Cyber.
- Be open-minded - there are so many roles here at CommBank and the industry is still emerging so be open to trying new things, especially by stepping outside of your comfort zone.”
