I’m part of the Enterprise Services Team at Bankwest and work as an IT specialist. As a one of the Bankwest Enterprise Services graduates I rotate into a different team within Enterprise Services every six months. Currently I’m working in the Internet Banking team as a Software Developer. My team’s responsible for delivering new projects for Bankwest’s Internet Banking system as well as system support and improvements.
My current work involves web development of new functions and optimising existing features using various programming languages such as Angular JS, Java script and .NET technologies. One of the recent projects that I worked on was eStatement where we worked on changes that allow customers to electronic account statements (instead of paper ones) using internet banking. That’s what’s so good about working at Bankwest. Every change that we make isn’t cutting costs or saving our time – it’s about helping our customers achieve what matters to them and making their lives easier.
I grew up in Tehran, the capital of Iran. I went to school, high school and university studying computer science in Iran. Then after 21 years I had to leave my country and we migrated to Australia. It was quite a change - I started my whole life again here including learning the language, culture and going back to university in Perth.
In my very first semester at Edith Cowan University I heard about the Australian Computer Society (ACS) scholarships which would allow students to find a work placements in IT companies while studying. From then on getting a scholarship was my number one aim and my biggest motivation to study hard. Finally at the beginning of 2015, while I still had two more semesters to complete my degree, I was able to join Bankwest as an ACS intern. I graduated university in January 2016 and joined the Bankwest Enterprise Services graduate program in February 2016.
At Bankwest it’s not about who you are – it’s about what you know and what you can bring to Bankwest and, importantly, to the customers. There’s so many different nationalities working here and people from such a wide range of life experiences. They’re not all bankers and computer experts. Having said that, of course it’s important you’re qualified for the job you’re doing and so if you want to work in Bankwest Enterprise Services you do need the appropriate IT qualifications.
The coolest thing about my current position is seeing people around you, outside of work, using what you’ve developed. I proudly think to myself ‘I did that’. Previously I worked in performance testing and document generation teams but working as a developer in my current position is where my real passion lies. Another amazing thing about working at Bankwest as a graduate is the amount of support and opportunities you receive to not only enhance your technical skills, but also to help you improve your professional development.
It’s not so much a limitation but just an observation. Working as an intern at Bankwest is pretty fast paced and there’s a lot of learning as you move through the rotations, especially if your rotations are very diverse. But if you can handle that there’s nothing like it.