New career paths for young talents in WB

The program is aimed at entry-level professionals. The ECG’s objective is to provide young CMA bankers with a broad, interdisciplinary training. This is intended to enable early-career bankers to assess opportunities holistically at an early stage, allowing them to deliver the best possible advice to clients. I focus on two key priorities. First, I want to encourage participants to engage with their career planning early on. The ECG offers an ideal environment in which young bankers can explore different CMA products through rotations. Second, it is important to me that our junior bankers actively consider what skills they want to develop and where the added value lies. Origination capabilities are a clear focal point here.

CMA is a dynamic and demanding environment, with strong competition from other banks. Members of the ECG should be ambitious, open-minded, and willing to step outside their comfort zone from time to time. At the same time, teamwork is a core value of the ECG. We work in constantly changing deal teams, where collegiality is essential. Given the nature of transaction-driven business, a certain degree of flexibility is also required. And, of course, the client is always at the center of what we do – meaning quality and attention to detail are of great importance.

Ilaria: The Early Career Group (ECG) is a program within the Capital Markets & Advisory division in ING Germany's corporate and investment banking business. All the juniors in the division are brought together in a group, like a sports team or graduate class. We rotate individually through the Advisory, Financing and Capital Markets & Loan Distribution streams for three years and then start to specialize in a home base. The advantage is that we can take a holistic view through the various stations and advise our clients along their value chain, i.e. on issues relating to strategy, structuring, transformation and, of course, financing.    

Carlos: Especially at the beginning of your career, you may not yet be focused on one area. ECG gives you the opportunity to get to know different areas and activities through the various rotations and to find out where our strengths and interests lie. For me personally, this is a valuable aspect of my professional development.

Ilaria: Diverse, challenging, dynamic

Carlos: Structuring, pitching, negotiating

Ilaria: Above all, the person should be curious and open-minded, and be willing to step out of their comfort zone. The Early Career Group can help to define your own career path, but only if the candidates are prepared to think outside the box. 

Carlos: Juniors should also have an interest in personal and professional development, be ambitious and a team player. The ECG group is an important support on your own career path. We help each other and try to really live the team spirit of a team, as Ilaria has already mentioned. 

Carlos:  At the beginning of the year, I was able to support a client's major refinancing process and was responsible for the execution phase, which led to a successful closing. That was an exciting experience and my highlight so far.    

Ilaria: My personal highlight so far has been the people I've been able to get to know through ECG. There is a very collegial atmosphere within our group, but also within ING as an organization, and you get a lot of support.

Carlos: I always found ING very exciting because it has growth ambitions, especially in the corporate customer business, and you can see this spirit in the day-to-day work. For me, it's a good mix of ambition and fun at work.

Ilaria: Personally, I liked the culture at ING right from the start. The working atmosphere is very supportive, but at the same time dynamic and modern.