Nailess Banda

Bank Julius Bär und Co. Ltd

Master Student in Economics University of Zambia

February 01 - April 30, 2024

 
 

At work

I was working at Julius Baer as a human resources trainee. My team at the work consisted of 8 people and it was the Front Development Team. From the first day of work, I was warmly welcomed by my mentor and the entire team. I was further assisted with setting up my computer and all the necessary onboarding procedures.
My team members believed in me to execute the different tasks and taught me different skills. I learned how to create intranet pages, how to host training sessions, how to request for course uploads on the learning platforms. Also, I got an opportunity to partially act as a programme manager when one of the team members was on holiday. Being given these big responsibilities made me realise that my team and also the people from the other teams within the academy appreciated my work and inputs.
Apart from work, my team also created fun moments for me such as Swiss snack testing day when I tasted almost all Swiss snacks, we went out for team lunches among other things.

 
 

My Swiss host family

I had the privilege to stay with two host families. I first stayed with Marianne Schüpfer and after six week I stayed with the Schneiders (Marlise and Urs). My first home experience was interesting, Marianne ensured I was comfortable and also introduced me to a lot of Swiss foods such as Rösti. We did amazing trips together as well such as visiting Uetliberg (top of Zurich), lake Zurich, Chinese garden etc.
After the shift, it did not take me long to adjust with the Schneiders as they are very welcoming people. I had my 25th birthday a week into their home and they made the day memorable for me by having a birthday dinner party for me. I have also enjoyed different meals with them. They took me to different places such as the wonderful realist zoo in Zurich, the beautiful city of Zurich, the opera (I was in awe during the entire show), had dinner at the different restaurants such as the Kronenhalle and we also spent one weekend in Flims as a family and the snow experience was amazing.
There are many new experiences I had from both my host families, I will forever be grateful to them.

 
 

Highlights and challenges in Switzerland

My highlights are all the experiences I had for the first time such as seeing and playing in snow and being in the opera was also an amazing experience, I felt like I was in a movie.
I also loved the different trips to other cities such as Zug, Bern, Lugano and Geneva. Despite Paris, Konstanz and Milan not being in Switzerland, but having the ability to easily travel to other countries was also a major highlight for me.
My biggest challenge was language barrier especially in public. At work and home, all was okay because I could communicate in English but when alone in public, it was a bit difficult sometimes to communicate or read descriptions on products as this is mostly in German.

 
 

My future plans

Going back home, I want to focus on finishing my master’s in economics programme at the University and ensure to graduate. At the same time, I want to secure a job in the financial sector or the non-governmental organization.
In the near future, I also wish to have a direct impact in people’s lives like the way B360 education partnerships has directly impacted my life. I would love to do this by opening up an orphanage or an educational program that can sponsor some children through good schooling and mentorship. I believe education is an equaliser as it is the only reason a girl like me from a rural part of Zambia thrived to the extent of even having an opportunity to work at one of the highest ranked private banks in Switzerland.

 
 
 
 

Personal message  

My personal message mainly goes to Sabina and the B360 team as a word of thanks and appreciation. This experience has really shown me a side of me I never knew I had. I have grown into a different, confident and motivated person now. I appreciate this initiate so much and my wish is that more students from Southern Africa can have the chance to experience what I have experienced.