I grew up in Tokyo, Japan and I always wanted a role with global reach, which is why I joined Deutsche Bank. I visit other countries for projects and training. And even from the Tokyo office, I interact with colleagues around the world through phone calls and e-mails. I love the variety of my job, the many challenges I face every day, and the fact that I’m making a real difference.

Deutsche Bank offers a huge range of opportunities to new graduates. For example, I’ve had the opportunity to travel to Singapore for training on change management, communication skills and career development. These courses provided a great opportunity for me to meet colleagues in other regions. Now, when I need information regarding trades in Singapore, for example, I can easily contact the relevant people.

Besides these fantastic courses, Deutsche Bank offers its people access to an ongoing learning and development program, and managers support anyone who wants to take extra correspondence classes and qualifications. I took a Japanese book-keeping exam during my first year here, which has been very useful in my role.

I never imagined that I’d work for a global investment bank – I studied international relations at the International Christian University in Tokyo. It was only when I went to the University of Pennsylvania as an exchange student that I became interested in finance. I got to know Deutsche Bank at a Japanese recruiting event in the States. When I returned to Japan, I applied for DB and through interviews with people from DB, I quickly realized that it was the company for me!

The Analyst Training Program provided an excellent introduction to the Bank’s operations, and included a month in London where we had lectures, team building events and even worked on a community project for a local kindergarten school.

My first full time role with the Bank was in Operations Risk Control, where my daily tasks included performing cash and position reconciliations and writing daily reports for the Tokyo and London offices. I gained accounting knowledge and acquired the skills to control and mitigate risks in the Bank's operations. After a year, I realized I wanted to experience working on a specific product and was transferred to Debt Securities Operations.

I work in Debt Securities Operations. This team is part of Global Business Services, which supports the complete range of products sold and traded by the Bank’s Global Markets business. My role is divided into a number of different areas, as I’m a member of two distinct teams.

With the Non Yen Bond Settlement team, I interact with middle office and other teams to monitor and help solve settlement instruction problems. With the Corporate Action team I read offering circulars, price supplements for structured bonds, calculate the coupon amount and make payments to customers. I also follow up on issues with colleagues in India and London, and have been involved in major enhancement projects for the Bank’s Asia Pacific regional back office system. Working closely with IT and Operations colleagues in Singapore, I’ve created test trade scenarios for Tokyo specific functions and implemented user acceptance testing

Where can I start? I love all kinds of music, from pop and R&B to the classical greats. I’ve been playing the violin since I was little, and while I was at college I was in an orchestra. This experience gave me a real appreciation of the power of working as a member of a team – something that’s helped me in my role at Deutsche Bank.  I also love movies – most weekends I catch one of the latest releases. And as many of the colleagues I trained with have remained good friends, we often meet up for dinner and celebrate birthdays or anniversaries together.

Travel is another great passion of mine. I especially love Singapore – the people are very kind and the food is great – but I have to say one of the most amazing travel experiences I had was in Mongolia. It’s an incredible country, and I rode horses and camped on the Steppe, and met the most hospitable and friendly people. I’ve also spent some time in Europe – I once travelled to eight countries in two weeks on a bus – and I loved the beautiful scenery and historic buildings. London is a particular favorite of mine, with its parks, museums, musicals and concerts.