My name is Banjo Adefuwa. I am currently a Computing student at the University of Portsmouth. I am part of the START Intern 2023 programme at BNY Mellon. My line of business is Markets Technology and my role as an intern is the Production Services Analyst for the global Foreign Exchange (FX) team in Markets Technology.
In the Production Services, we are responsible for maintaining, updating existing products and finding new ways of manufacturing products in order to increase productivity. I have played an important role in this as I was given the responsibilities maintain and update products such as software used for monitoring our production services environment to make sure they are running effectively and be able to detect any potential issues before an incident occurs. I am also responsible for making sure that access to our trading venues is strictly for specific people required to have them. This includes being able to add, delete and modify user’s access on our trading venues.
Since the programme commenced, I have been able to build on the skill and knowledge I have acquired over the years in technology by not just seeing first-hand how things work but also being part of a team that works with other technology teams to achieve a common goal. Although I have come in as a tech intern, I have also been able broaden my knowledge about financial part of the business such as money markets, bond markets and the foreign exchange markets – which I was completely oblivious to prior to me joining this internship. This is very exciting for me because I am gaining knowledge on a new subject.
This has also helped me to increase my soft skills such as communication and collaboration. I have had to work with other teams in different time zones and with my colleague to make sure we are on track in our work.
I have also recently signed up to the HEART E/BRG. I believe we share same values as HEART focuses promoting inclusive and equitable workplace where you can get that sense of belonging. They help by promoting the importance of mental health and have a caring and dependency hub which are for people that care for family members because of an illness or a health condition. I believe such E/BRG is vital because you can only give the best of yourself to you team and work if you are mentally at your best and looking after a loved one can take a toll on you and I believe would make a difference to be able to talk about it with other people going through the same experience at the workplace, knowing that you are not alone and be able to uplift each other.
Although, this is my first corporate experience, I couldn’t ask for a better place to start. At BNY Mellon, you are surrounded by talented individuals ready to help you reach your potential and as well as being able to progress in your career, you also have a good chance to grow as a person by improving your soft skills.