What it takes to make it in banking, from a woman who has
‘A lot is driven through your personal aspirations’
Every year thousands of grads go into banking, each with the goal of working for a top company in one of the most challenging sectors in the world. Therefore getting into the industry can be daunting for the majority of us.
We spoke to Vandana Siney, the Global Chief Controls Officer at Barclays, about what it takes to make it as a woman in banking, whether a 2:1 and a social life is more important than a first and what a Barclays graduate could do to impress her on their first day.
Vandana graduated from Loughborough with a first in Management Sciences before starting on the grad scheme at PwC, she then took up senior roles at several other banks. Vandana is now based at Barclays’ global head office in Canary Wharf, London.
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How hard have you had to work to become the Global Chief Controls Officer for Barclays?
I’ve had to work hard – it helps I’ve come from a background with a strong work ethic. Hard work alone is not enough, it is also about who you are as a person and how you do things.
There is the power of the one, which is you the individual and what you bring. Then there is the power of the collective, which is the team, the organisation and the support of people who guided and coached me as I was coming through the ranks.
A lot is driven through your personal aspirations – what drives you and what motivates you.
As a woman, do you think you have had to work a lot harder?
No, I have had to work hard but not any harder just because I’m a female and I think this is where you come back to what the culture is within the organisation. What do they value and reward? If it is a meritocracy, which for Barclays it is, the case about gender doesn’t come into the equation.
You don’t get rewarded for standing on the sidelines, you roll up your sleeves and you get involved.
Most people think you need a degree in maths to work for a bank, what do you think?
I think from a Barclays standpoint, we recruit people from all degree disciplines. It can be Geography, Management Sciences, Maths and everything in the middle.
We need all manner of skills and backgrounds. I met someone as part of the internship programme who was doing Anthropology. You can come from any degree discipline due to the size, scale and breadth of opportunity at Barclays. We need a diversity of minds too, to help think and solve problems from different perspectives – helping us develop the right solutions for our clients and customers.
The wider aim is creating a blend in terms of diversity. There are certain areas, like risk modelling, where you need to be able to do quantitative analytics, which are very niche. Certain degrees are definitely relevant, it’s about having a level of education and the ability to demonstrate IQ, flexibility and willingness to learn and adapt.
When we launched Pingit and mobile banking, the lead developer was 17 years old. It’s a classic example of why different skills are so important and how we pull the right people together to make it work.
We are pushing the boundaries of innovation and with that we need all manner of skills, marketing and new thinking. The new generation coming on board is much more tech-savvy, they get all the app world and those skills are very sought after by us.
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Why do you think top graduates work for Barclays?
You look at the size and scale of Barclays as an organisation and the various businesses we are in. The breadth of opportunity is enviable. I don’t know which other organisation could offer what we do.
You get senior leaders within the bank who are truly committed in terms of talent and succession, who will give up their time to invest, guide and help the graduates.
Again, with an organisation like ours, the culture needs people to come in and contribute from day one, which I think for any kind of graduate is good because it means they get a lot of responsibility very early on in their career.
Our focus on citizenship fills me with great pride, because every person gives up time for a whole manner of different initiatives and causes, specifically around the citizenship agenda.
October was ‘make the difference’ month and I had the privilege of meeting army veterans looking to move into the corporate world, the afternoon was around CVs and mock interviews. It was a humbling experience to sit in front of people who had fought on the front line for you.
What could a graduate do to impress you?
If they want to impress me, don’t ask the obvious – show me something about you which will make me remember you, either through insightful commentary or something interesting you’ve done.
Be authentic, show a personal side of you, it’s what people remember. Push the boundaries a little.
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What do you think is your most important lesson for a graduate applying to Barclays?
Don’t underestimate yourself and don’t overestimate others. You need to believe in yourself, authenticity is key. People buy into people, but only if they are genuine.
Quite a lot of the uncertainty from grads comes from lack of experience not lack of ability – distinguish the two. Be respectful of others, they are simply core values that we’ve grown up with.
You’ve got a graduate with a 2:1 and a social life and a graduate with a first who never went out, who do you pick?
You could have the highest IQ, but if you can’t communicate or collaborate and work with people, you are missing the critical skills to be successful.
If we’re drawing the distinction of hiring someone with a 2:1 who is much more rounded and willing to collaborate more with a team and will go the extra mile, then absolutely yes. You need IQ as well as emotional intelligence, it comes down to how you work with people.
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Why should a graduate work in this sector instead of working for a management consultancy or in the public sector?
I think there are many reasons people should work for Barclays over anywhere, namely because it’s a values based organisation.
During the financial crisis, we lost our way as an industry and we as Barclays were a bank who publicly acknowledged it and made an apology. Acceptance of any mistakes you have made is the first step before you’re going to make it back to the top.
We need people who challenge the accepted practice, so if you’re in a mindset where you don’t want to follow the status quo and you want to challenge and make something better, then Barclays is the right choice.
What can students do now to prepare them for a grad job at Barclays?
There’s a huge variety of opportunities, from Spring insight weeks, Summer internships and full time graduate opportunities, so read our website and like our Facebook page for the latest information. Understand what matters to us and why it matters to us, the values, the customers, it’s literally the DNA of what we’re doing and how we’re doing it.
Meet the people, do internships, come to our events.
Barclays is a fantastic brand but meeting the people who make the brand is where you’ll get the connectivity. Needless to say, make your application about you – be open, be honest and be transparent.
You’re not the finished article and we know that – nor am I, I’m still growing. We’re not looking for fully finished articles, we’re looking for the raw talent who we can help develop.