#GradStories Anthony Barrett, Enterprise Graduate Programme, AIB

What does a typical day look like for you?

I work in financial crime at the moment. I am in the management, information and reporting section of financial crime. We take statistics and data from the other teams of financial crime and we collate that data and put it into reports for the relevant stakeholders.

What skills do you need to be successful in your role?

Technical skills are important, you learn how to use Excel really well, how to use PowerPoint really well as well as other internal and external systems. I didn’t really have those technical skills when I joined but you learn them very quickly.

Your interpersonal skills are really important because you’re constantly working with and communicating with different people.

What brought you to your careerpath in AIB?

I always had an inclination I’d go into a business area but I didn’t know which area. I studied commerce in college and we went into every area of business from marketing to accounting to coding. At the end of my degree I was still uncertain where I wanted to go. What drew me to AIB’s graduate programme was its rotation. We got to work in three different areas in the bank for eight months.

What advice do you have for students?

Working in a team is one of the most important things you’ll get to do. The closest thing you’ll do in college is group projects. One of AIB’s core values is to be one team. It’s something that they appreciate and you can really hone that in college, you can find out how you work in a team and what role you tend to take.

How have you adjusted to a hybrid system of work?

I wasn’t in the office at all for the first seven months. It was difficult at the start. It’s difficult to embed yourself into a team well when you’re just speaking to people through teams. You get used to it. It’s important to learn how to take breaks even when you are working at home. You’ll be more productive that way.

What do you love about your job?

I love the variation. I’m not the type of person who would suit doing the same thing day in and day out.