About eight years ago, when Joanna Anafu was heading up the graduate programmes at Citi, she became aware of the lack of diversity that often existed among applicants – an issue that affects the wider finance industry.
So when she later became diversity, equity and inclusion manager within the talent acquisition team at the global bank, whose clients include corporations, financial institutions and governments, she decided to do something to help address it.
“When I moved into the role I was very conscious of the fact that even in 2020, we were still not attracting many minority ethnic applicants,” says Anafu. “And it was specifically black and black mixed heritage talent that I knew we needed to do something more on.”
So she set up the Black Heritage Insight programme, an initiative that gives university students of black heritage the opportunity to find out more about the various business areas at Citi via networking sessions, projects, interactive workshops, and presentations from senior management. It’s one of a number of schemes and early career opportunities introduced by the firm as part of its commitment to create a more diverse and inclusive workforce.
Chukwuka Madukwe, who studies economics at the University of Warwick and is in his final year, took part in the Black Heritage Insight programme last year. He was attracted to the scheme as he wanted to understand the world of finance and be able to make informed decisions about his career.
“I learned about all the different arms of finance and of the bank itself,” he says, which gave him “the best opportunity to understand what skills are needed in which department and what’s expected of you in certain teams. You collect so much information by the end that you can then make an informed decision about what is right for you because there are so many avenues to explore.” He was also able to network and build connections with interns and Citi employees.
“It helped overcome my impostor syndrome because it was my first time in a large and established corporate setting,” says Madukwe. “I went from watching videos and learning from other people’s experiences to getting first-hand experience.” He also gained confidence from engaging with professionals. “The positive feedback and practical skills gained during this internship contributed significantly to my growing professional identity.”
When selecting candidates for its Black Heritage Insight programme, Citi is looking for potential as well as individuals who are eager to learn and gain experience working in a global organisation. Anafu notes that she wants students to be curious, interested, and motivated when they arrive – she hopes they will leave with a solid idea of what happens in the industry and where they could potentially find their place.
“Financial services is very broad and it doesn’t just mean mergers and acquisitions,” she says. “It means everything from technology to risk to finance to treasury to financing – it means a lot of different things and there are some incredible careers that you can have within banking. But if you don’t know what those careers are, you can’t apply for them, you can’t work towards getting jobs within them.”
Following the programme, participants are able to apply to be considered for a place on one of the company’s summer analyst programmes. Madukwe, for example, will return to Citi later this year on the Corporate Banking Full-time Analyst programme and he is looking forward to being able to grow his career and expand his horizons as part of the wider Citi team.
“Students like the fact that they can be in an environment where people are from pretty similar backgrounds and have had similar experiences as themselves,” Anafu explains of the programme’s success.
“They feel that they can be their authentic selves in a banking environment, and hear from others who are doing what they want to do, who also come from a similar background. Representation matters and seeing other people in the position that you want to be in is so powerful.”
Anafu believes there are many routes into banking now that didn’t exist before. “Globally, there was and continues to be a huge focus on diversity and inclusion,” Anafu says.
For those students who are interested in getting their first exposure to the industry, Citi’s Black Heritage Insight programme is a great place to start, she says. To apply, students must be black or black-mixed heritage and should be in the first year of a three-year undergraduate course or second year of a four-year undergraduate course in any discipline or on a master’s course.
Madukwe recommends upskilling to make your CV stand out as much as possible and using your university for assistance in applying and for interview practice, which is what he did. “If you ever have questions, reach out to people that might be able to help.”
Also, create a LinkedIn profile, he advises, “because it’s not hard to make and it helps to make you more visible”.
Anafu adds: “The earlier you can start interacting with employers, the better your chances are of potentially securing an internship, which is where you secure full-time jobs. So start soon, start early, and do your research.”
Find out more about opportunities at Citi at jobs.citi.com
