Next-generation NAB turns its recruitment eye to the children of its employees

NAB has set its recruitment sights on the talented children of its current workforce by introducing a ‘paid’ work experience program.

Amy and mum Christine Glatzel, who brought her daughter to work the STEM work-experience program. Picture: Arsineh Houspian

NAB has set its sights on the children of its current workforce as it looks to bring on its next cohort of new workers, introducing a “paid” work experience program for staff to bring their high school-aged children with them into the office.

For Christine Glatzel, who began at NAB as a software engineer before her daughter, Amy Price, was born, it appears things have come full circle.

Last month the pair were sharing their lunch together and meeting up during coffee breaks as Amy, 17, joined a pilot of the STEM work-experience program in Melbourne.

The move from NAB arrives as a number of major technology companies are developing programs in Australian high schools. Many are seeking to engage with students and convince them to consider a path towards a tech job.

Nationally, the government and Tech Council of Australia have set a goal of achieving 1.2 million tech jobs by 2030.

For Ms Glatzel, who works in the divisional control team of NAB’s tech and enterprise operations, it was nice to have a few younger faces around the office and she said that she wouldn’t mind commuting to work with Amy in a couple of years’ time if she landed a NAB internship or graduate role.

“I think we’d both quite like that. We enjoy going into the city and having a coffee so it would be great from my point of view,” Ms Glatzel said.

NAB is offering a ‘paid’ work experience program.

For Amy, one of the best parts was getting some clarity around what roles in technology actually looked like. At her school, Korowa Anglican Girls’ School, there weren’t many technology subjects available, she said.

Asked if she ever bumped into her mum at NAB’s CBD Bourke St office, she said: “Maybe once or twice …”

“We got to meet a lot of the interns and learn about their pathways into technology so I guess it was really good hearing about that, because it’s definitely something that I would consider doing in my future,” Amy said.

Korowa Anglican Girls’ School principal Frances Booth said she was happy her students had the opportunity to participate.

“Industry work-experience programs like this provide students with exposure to the real world of work and the chance to explore a field first hand, which assists them to make informed decisions about future career pathways,” she said.

Other schools in the program include Mercy College, Canterbury Girls and John Monash Science School.

Amy and mum Christine Glatzel. Picture: Arsineh Houspian.

The first official cohort of will begin on June 26, with 41 students set to undertake a week of work experience, spending time with cyber security, data analytics, cloud engineering and design teams.

NAB’s head of technology capability and acceleration, Jade Warrener, said the program was targeting a lot of girls’ schools where IT education was not always the most accessible.

Each participant of the program would receive a small allowance to cover transport and lunch for the days worked as well as a NAB swag bag with branded merchandise and stationery. On the last day of the week students also have a pizza party – a practice which is common at progressive tech companies.

The big four banks are increasingly competing with big tech companies such as Atlassian, Canva and Salesforce for new talent. Many of them are expanding graduate and intern programs which often pay handsome salaries and come with a number of perks.

Earlier this year CBA spruiked discounted home loans as one of its selling points for graduates.

NAB had just closed applications for its 2024 tech graduate program and was currently recruiting for about 80 interns who would join a paid mid-year program.

A total of 1059 people had joined NAB’s internship program over the past five years, with 250 joining its competitively paid program in 2023. Of that 1059, more than 600 were hired permanently.

“Our early talent that are coming through these programs are really focusing heavily on cybersecurity and pen testing. We are really making sure that it’s at the forefront of where we’re building our skill sets,” Ms Warrener said.

Originally published as Next-generation NAB turns its recruitment eye to the children of its employees