National Australia Bank (NAB)

Partnership at a glance

• This year NAB welcomed 68 students into its summer internship program, across seven business areas.
• Eligible students are fast-tracked to NAB’s graduate program.
• Summer students complete an eight-week paid program in two hands-on, four-week stints.
• Students experience both a business placement and a development program to further their professional skills, knowledge, and networks.

Case study

La Trobe University third-year commerce student, Jackson Holmes completed an internship at NAB last summer and has been offered one of the coveted positions in the bank’s 2024 graduate program.

Some 4,000 students applied for one of the 125-odd positions available in the graduate program.

Jackson has secured a job and doesn’t have to worry about where he will work once he finishes his degree, but the excitement doesn’t stop there.

He is also continuing the family tradition of working at NAB.

“My father, Randall, has worked at NAB for 31 years and his dad, Trevor, worked there for 39 years – so, we’re trying to get 100 years at NAB over three generations,” says Jackson.

Head of Early Careers at NAB, Sarah McGlade, explains it wasn’t Jackson’s family history that secured him the internship or the job; he earned both on his own merits.

“Each candidate is assessed on their potential and capability for success at NAB,” she says.

The organisation looks at an applicant’s motivation to grow their career with NAB, combined with a strong focus on customer service, sound decision making capabilities, communication skills, and ability to work in a team. Learning agility is also key, given the pace of change and NAB’s need to adapt to new technologies.

Ms. McGlade explained that the summer internship program showcases to students what a career in banking and finance can look like, as well as giving NAB a great pool from which to recruit future graduates.

“We invest in our students because we see them as future employees for NAB,” she says.

“Some companies see an internship program just as a business placement, but we see it as more than that – it’s an investment in early talent. We want to prepare them for future employment, whether that’s with us or another organisation.”

The NAB internship program includes group training and face-to-face sessions on subjects such as goal setting, networking and graduate recruitment.

Students are offered a choice of which area of NAB they would like to experience. Jackson chose private wealth, and was placed in a private banking team serving high-end customers.

“It’s exactly what I want to do,” he says.

“My absolute favourite thing was the client communication because I found it gave me a lot of confidence.”

Developing a partnership with La Trobe can give your organisation access to the University ecosystem of research, training and education, co-location, entrepreneurship and innovation too. We can work together to create tailored talent solutions.

Contact our Business Development Education team at busdev.edu@latrobe.edu.au

For general industry partnership enquiries, connect with the Industry Engagement team at industry.engagement@latrobe.edu.au