My experience in retail risk at IDFC First Bank -By Apoorva Bansal from IIM Shillong

As a management student, the corporate arena always intrigued me. The way businesses run, departments function and their integration with the external world not only drives us crazy, but our dream roles further add up the hope and excitement. I have often heard that the job after MBA hits you differently. I didn’t understand the real meaning of the sentence considering I already had a flavour of the corporate world at a global firm for two years before enrolling myself for an MBA. But today, I can say the same line with full faith: Yes! It hits you differently, whether you are a fresher or an experienced student. I will try to cover "Why" through my journey expressed in this article.

The stepping stone

I took the role of Policy Manager in Retail Risk at IDFC First Bank, one of the growing retail banks in India, with a motto of ‘Always you First’. My first interaction with the company happened during their campus recruitment drive. The brief introduction at the Pre-placement Talk was like a pitch for me to apply and get through the role. Two things that contributed to my decision were the two senior folks who came to interview us, and the other thing was my latent interest in the Risk segment.

The selection process was divided into three rounds: Group Discussion followed by the team's two Personal Interviews. My interview experience was one of the memorable ones in comparison to all the other companies I sat for. The interviewer, who is also my current mentor at the firm, was very adept and crisp with the questions about my internship, my previous work experience, and my knowledge about financial risk. I vividly remember the rapid-fire round where he was throwing random situations at me, and I had to be quick with the responses. The process ended up with a brief discussion about the role and our career progression at the firm.

I was hopeful for my selection, but when my selection was confirmed, the only doubt I had in my mind was if I would sail through retail banking given my interest in corporate banking. My mentor today, ensures that this would be a great learning opportunity for me to grow in my field and trusts his gut instinct. Perhaps, this was the best decision I had taken last December for my career.

Due to this ongoing pandemic, the onboarding shifted from May’20 to Oct’20, but it was as smooth in an online setup as it would have been in the offline environment. I met the team stakeholders in the first week of my joining in Retail Risk at IDFC First Bank wherein each one gave us a wholesome introduction about the products handled by them as a part of the orientation process. Post this, a week-long induction process followed where we were taken through the firm's complete structure and functioning.

The work culture at IDFC First Bank

My business team is cheerful, candid, and very understanding by nature. What differentiates MBA grads at work from others is the responsibility and freedom to make decisions as the team trusts you with the ideas and capabilities you capture at work. Your performance is more driven by dedication, proactive behaviour, and learning intent as a newcomer and a team. In the Risk Function, things are dynamic, and one of the integration partners for other departments like IT, Credit Team, Sales Team, and the Product Team. The good part is that you have to step into the respective teams' shoes, foresee and analyze what can go wrong, or how you can optimize your set portfolio with each passing day.

One thing and possibly the most important is the business culture, which changes the outlook for an employee. Recently, I was reading the writings of Ben Horowitz on Corporate Culture, and I can say that at IDFC, we have a great culture. There is no hierarchy; you can take up projects on your own and have the freedom to suggest and implement the changes you think should be made in our portfolio. The team size is small, which adds up the opportunity to learn and grow within the organization.

My growth at the organization

I can anticipate that currently, I have an exponential learning curve at the firm that keeps me engaged in understanding cross-functional teams and their work. My day's highlight is the surprise review, discussions, and meetups we have with the senior leadership teams, who not only are agile but come with a rich experience of over 20 years in this business sector. My mentor and the manager are providing me an upper hand to present in the business meetings and conducting interactions with external stakeholders, which personally aids courage and boosts my confidence to a great deal in this sector.

The banking sector is one of the most crucial and sensitive sectors, and when you know your actions show a real-time impact on the business, you have to be more cautious. My learning from experience in Retail Risk at IDFC First Bank so far shows that despite the knowledge I previously had, these actions can have much more severe impacts, making me more accountable at work. I look forward to a great working experience at IDFC First Bank.

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Apoorva Bansal - IIM Shillong

(Batch of 2018-2020)

A Management Graduate from IIM Shillong with an inclination towards Finance role. Featured as one of the Top 30 Competitive Leaders, she believes that learning helps you to grow. She claims that academic and extracurricular participation are both equally important for success.