Credit Suisse: Steps to Success Open Day- An Opportunity to See and Learn About the Bank

Today (4th December 2012) I attended an open day at Credit Suisse that I was invited to through my college. It was more or less a networking event but I got to learn more about Credit Suisse and their Steps to Success programme. The event took place at Credit Suisse in Canary Wharf and ran through from the afternoon into the evening. There were other students there from other colleges and I even happened to meet a friend from my secondary school which was nice.

There were talks from people who worked at the bank which were very informative. It was nice to hear about the different divisions in the investment bank and what type of jobs they do. The main aim of the event was to inform us about the Steps to Success programme. The programme basically gives the opportunity for students who are in their final year of college to participate in work experience/an internship in the summer before we go off to university for 4 weeks and the summer after our first year for 6 weeks. I actually happened to have already applied for this programme before I found out I was invited to this open day so there was not much I could change about my application with the information I was told. However, it was good to find out what the application process was like and what the students who took part this summer did.

The final part of the event was networking where we all got to talk a few employees who work at the bank and ask them questions. It was interesting to hear how they ended up at Credit Suisse and what types of degrees they did because it was actually varied. It seems as if the only way to get into banking or finance is by doing a degree related to that field such as Economics or Accounting and Finance but that definitely isn't the case. I got a lot of good advice from it and they did serve some good food :).

The Steps to Success programme does seem quite competitive but I don't regret applying for it. If I don't happen to get through I still think I've learnt a couple of things from the open day and there are many other opportunities out there in different banks. I do recommend people to apply for it because it will look great on your CV and you can gain a lot of experience from it which will be beneficial in the future. Overall, it was a well organised and informative event :).