Kate Lynch

As part of the Graduate Coffee Chats series in collaboration with Foresight Business Group, Foresight Vice President Kate Lynch spoke to Eamonn Potter, Management Associate at Bank of Ireland and former TBR Hub Editor to get insight into life as a graduate at Bank of Ireland.

The Bank of Ireland Graduate Programme 

Eamon joined Bank of Ireland’s (BOI) graduate programme in 2023 in the Corporate Markets Department which involves corporate lending, global markets and collateral. Along with Eamonn, approximately 90 other graduates joined the BOI graduate programme across a variety of departments. As part of the 24-month graduate programme, graduates complete three 8 month rotations, with Eamonn completing his final rotation at present.

Eamonn first started his rotation in property lending, more specifically in residential investments. His role was to lend money to property investors and funds who would pay the asset back overtime in exchange for ownership. Six months into his rotation, Bank of Ireland launched an ‘Affordable Housing Investment Team’, an initiative focused on investing more money in social housing. While this did not generate much revenue for Bank of Ireland, they were still committed to their social responsibility goal to provide more housing opportunities.

Eamonn’s second rotation was in the Foreign Exchange (FX) Pay Team, a digital platform for businesses to make international payments. While Eamonn described this desk rotation as being a fast-paced and exciting environment, where every day was different due to daily changes in market rates, it was “hard at the same time. You were in the office everyday from 8 to 5 while your colleagues may be home on Fridays.” 

Eamonn began his third and most recent rotation on the Bank and Country Risk Unit (BCRU) desk. This department is focused on setting limits on loans by evaluating risks arising from other banks locally and internationally, establishing lending limits. He said he’s enjoyed the exposure to the different desks and is looking forward to what the BCRU has to offer.

Upon completing the 2-year graduate programme, Eamonn has the option to join one of the previous teams he worked with or move into a new role through applying internally. Bank of Ireland also provides the resources and support for graduates to  become a QFA (Qualified Financial Advisor) and/or CFA (Chartered Financial Analyst) Level 1. 

The Interview Process

After graduating with a Business and Economics Joint Honours degree from Trinity in May 2022, Eamonn began applying to graduate roles around September/October. and after hearing back from Bank of Ireland, he began the first round which involved a number of assessments that took place before Christmas. He was left elated when he was contacted by the recruiting team a number of weeks later, informing him he made it to the next round.

The next round involved an assessment centre, where he had to take part in a group case study where they had to solve a problem. Eamonn said the key to the assessment centre is trying to “find a balance between speaking up but also not speaking for the sake of it”. After the group case study, he had to undergo an individual interview that involved behavioural questions as well as interview questions examining his knowledge of finance. Lastly, Eamonn completed an individual case study. 

Workplace Culture

In terms of work culture, Eamonn described BOI as a lovely and encouraging place to work. He emphasised that it’s a lovely place to start your career as it eases you into the financial industry and exposes you to a plethora of areas in the banking industry.

“From my experience it’s a really nice place to work. There are no silly questions and they are happy when someone is asking questions,” Eamonn said. “They want to get everyone up to speed and it is an encouraging place to work.” 

Advice to Students 

Although many people believe internships are a must-do, Eamonn emphasised that not doing an internship throughout your college career is not a big deal! As someone who never did one, he didn’t find it affected his ability to find a graduate role after college. He expressed that the experiences you get from travelling are just as important. He also mentioned how the skills he gained from being involved in college societies such as the Trinity Monetary Fund and the Trinity Business Review were just as appropriate to talk about in interviews as experiences from an internship would be. So don’t fret if you’re not loving the idea of an internship this summer! 

“The SMF was great for meeting like minded students and really opened your eyes to stuff before leaving college and gives you something to talk about in interviews.” 

In terms of interview advice for students interested in applying for a role in Bank of Ireland, Eamonn said to “know exactly what a Bank does”. It may seem like a simple business model but it’s more complicated than you think. He also said to research the Irish banking sector and be up to date on the external risks that Banks may be experiencing in the next 1-5 years, for example Trump and Russia Ukraine War etc. “Be up to date with geopolitical risk and what’s going on in the world” as it’s very important for the interview process but also just as important when you’re actually in the job.

Eamonn gave one final piece of advice to students beginning their job search in the coming months. “Don’t be afraid to reach out to people on Linkedin and ask some questions, it makes a big difference and apply for everything! Even if you think your chances are low or you don’t have the exact qualifications, apply anyways! You never know what might happen.”