I work at Bankwest in Western Australia and am responsible for developing and testing software code. I work in an agile environment and attend daily stand-ups (that’s what we call meetings around here) and occasionally plan meetings and retrospectives. I am currently working on a new project for Business Banking to help my colleagues monitor and track specific deals.
On a day to day basis I work on assessing the requirements and functional specification of the tasks I’m working on to get a better understanding of what needs to be implemented or fixed.
Everything I work on is all about helping our customers achieve what matters – that’s what Bankwest is all about.
Programming is so cool and interesting. You get to be quite creative with your code to bring your ideas to reality. Every technology runs through code which could be something simple such as creating an online form on a desktop and needing it to work on mobile or tablet, to much more complex ideas and solutions. An interesting program I initiated was automating around a dozen software installations onto a computer within just five clicks.
I get a real kick out working on these kind of problem solving tasks – anything that makes the lives of the customers just that bit easier is a job well done.
I was born and raised in Dubai, U.A.E. but I’m originally from Sri Lanka. I went to high school in Dubai and moved to Australia when I was only 18 meaning I learnt to be independent quite early on. I earned an ACS scholarship and an internship at Bankwest and before the internship ended I applied for a place on the Enterprise Services Graduate Program. I’d spoken to the graduate manager and thought it was something I’d enjoy and I was so right. I’m always up for challenges and opportunities and Bankwest is brilliant for that. Bankwest knows the banking sector needs to continually evolve and adapt to meet changing customer needs and we’re doing just that – evolving.
To work at Bankwest in general, yes! Bankwest’s culture promotes diversity there are so many people with such a wide variety of backgrounds working here. If you love learning, are passionate about meeting customers’ needs, want to work with a fun and inclusive team and understand the value of community involvement, then this is the place for you.
I love the sense of achievement I get with my job. I might be spending hours researching and testing my solution for hours and then I finally see it working. I love that moment. And I love to know what I am doing is making the lives of many customers a lot more simple and straightforward.
The one bit of advice I would give is to make sure you’re well organised. Bankwest is a busy place with a lot happening at all times. As a new graduate you can face time management problems if you’ve got a lot on your plate. If you keep on top of it all, just enjoy the ride.