What degree did you study at university?
BCom Actuarial Science (UCT), BSc (Hons) Statistical Sciences (UCT), MSc Advanced Analytics and Decision Sciences (UCT)
What is your role at Nedbank?
Quantitative Analyst Trainee in the Risk, Data Models and Innovation team within Corporate Investment Banking (CIB). My role within the team is to help validate, test and maintain various models used throughout the CIB cluster.
Can you tell us why you chose this career?
My interests have been always been in mathematics and finance, working at a bank provides me with an opportunity to merge these passions.
What’s a typical day like in your job?
I generally start my work day at 7am, as like to get a reasonably early start. The morning entails working on current projects and update meetings, allowing the afternoons to be available to complete any ad hoc tasks should they arise.
What are the some of the highlights and challenges of your role?
Being given the responsibility to work on my own projects has been exciting. Whilst my manager is always available to questions, the project is mine to complete.
How do you keep up to date with all the changes in your profession?
As a first-year trainee, my team understands that I don’t know everything and allows time to adapt. However, the onus is on you to catch up as quickly as possible so you can be an asset to the team. Also, the people around you have years of experience and always make themselves available for a quick talk (Skype).
What do you enjoy doing for fun outside of the office?
I am a big sports fan, so you will generally find my on the field or in-front the TV watching whatever SuperSport has available.