Unique learning opportunities - I'm proud to say I work at Nordea

By Maria Pagano

Hi Maria, you are now on your last year of the Graduate Programme, could you tell us why you apply in the first place to the Nordea Graduate Programme?

I applied to Nordea Graduate programme primarily for the unique learning opportunities offered: being able to rotate across teams in the largest bank in the Nordics was, and still is, very appealing to me. Moreover, during my master´s, I had the chance to interact with Nordea multiple times through career fairs at Copenhagen Business School and also through the Nordea Women's Finance Insight Programme, an initiative aimed at giving an introduction on banking and finance to bachelor´s and master´s students. In all these instances, I have perceived Nordea positively, given the attention and effort put into spotting and attracting young talents. 

What do you like most in the programme? 

As expected, having the possibility to learn by doing in different teams is for sure the best aspect of the Programme. Furthermore, I feel valued by all the colleagues in the Group: there is no prejudice regarding for example lack of experience, in fact I am always met with trust and positivity. Another aspect to consider is network, as the Graduate Programme makes it easier to grow my personal network given the pool of Graduates and all the other colleagues I get to interact with during my rotations. On the same note, via rotations and fellow Graduates I have been able to experience and understand how Nordea works through different eyes in a very short time, hence I would say that the Programme is a fast-track to get to know Nordea and colleagues. 

In the programme, we work with rotations, could you tell us more how your journey has looked until now?

So far, I have been a Graduate for slightly over one year and I am on my fourth rotation. My first rotation consisted of a project management position to a large programme we have in Nordea. Then I moved to my home team: Strategy Execution, within Group Business Support Management Oversight, where I worked as a risk manager on a broad range of topics within non-financial risks: from working on a meeting with the ECB, to keeping oversight of interactions with regulators, to support with managing and keeping an overview on non-financial risks in Nordea. My third rotation was more IT-heavy, as I got to work with robot accounts and access rights. Now, in my fourth rotation, I am working as a business risk manager for Group Functions in Nordea, having supported Operations and Group Finance until now. 

How’s the working environment, the culture, the people/your colleagues?

I am very proud to say that I work at Nordea and two of the reasons for being proud are the working environment and company culture. I get to collaborate with skilled and smart professionals and, notwithstanding how busy they are, they can always find some time to share their knowledge with me. In addition, colleagues are positive, collaborative and open to feedbacks, so it feels like I have joined a company where it is possible to challenge the status-quo.  

Could you share some positive surprises and valuable challenges you have had since you started? 

I´ve had great leaders that have listened to my needs and wishes and made sure I was learning and developing. I was also surprised to see that already from the beginning I was given responsibility and instrumental projects to handle and deliver by myself. All in all, if you are proactive and vocal about your development wishes, leaders try to find a way to accommodate them. 

Although a rewarding experience, the Graduate Programme is also challenging, as Graduates are required to experience many “first days at work” over the two years, where you have to start everything all over again from almost square one. In my opinion, that is a nice challenge to have, as you are always pushed to new experiences and topics.   

Your best advice to others that want to join the programme and Nordea?

Apply and be open to opportunities and challenges that will follow. The future is impossible to foresee but the Graduate Programme is a great place to start from.  

If you are interested to join the Nordea Graduate Programme, the recruitment will open 15 January 2024.