Advance
Programme overview
The Advance programme is designed to help students from lower socio-economic backgrounds discover where a career in banking could take them. The programme will open your mind to the various opportunities across multiple divisions in our bank.
Over the four days you’ll be invited to participate in a variety of workshops to learn more about life at Deutsche Bank. These sessions will include: an introduction to our business, our clients, and our role in society as well as meeting many of our inspirational leaders and role models.
We will help you build your confidence and skills through employability workshops. You will take part in mock interviews and receive feedback from our Graduate Recruiters. Each programme participant will be allocated a dedicated Deutsche Bank mentor.
Whilst you have chosen to apply to Advance, you'll be exposed to numerous areas of the bank and have an opportunity to attend in-person workshops, interactive or networking sessions to see what goes on behind the scenes.
Who can apply?
This programme is for university undergraduate students in a first year of their a three-year course, or second year of a four-year course.
We are looking for enthusiastic, driven individuals with an entrepreneurial mindset, who can thrive in a diverse and inclusive culture where innovation and agile thinking abound.
We welcome applications from students of all degree disciplines. While you are not expected to have knowledge and experience of banking and finance, your willingness to learn and motivation for this opportunity is key.
How to apply
The Advance programme typically takes place in the Spring, around the Easter holidays. This is an 18-month programme with the mentoring relationship lasting for at least 12-months.
Students are required to apply online and complete an online situational judgement test. Successful applicants will be required to complete inductive reasoning tests, a recorded video interview and finally a telephone interview.
Personal stories
Show content of Corey
Why is it important to take part in a first-year programme?
A first-year programme provides invaluable insight into Deutsche Bank. It allows you to get an overview of all the divisions at the bank and helps you figure out which division you will best fit into. Also, it gives you a much better chance to get onto the summer internship the following year.
What brings you to Deutsche Bank?
I come from Devon, England and I am studying Physics at the University of Bristol. Throughout my degree I explored finance in my free time and discovered that I had a strong interest for markets. I found FX particularly interesting and saw that Deutsche Bank was an industry leader for FX, so I thought that it would be a great place to start my career journey.
What was the most useful aspect of Advance for you?
The most useful aspect of the Advance programme was the work shadowing experience. I had never previously experienced a professional working environment, so having the opportunity to sit on the trading floor was a unique experience. It really allows you to get a feeling for the atmosphere and culture and figure out if Deutsche Bank is a good fit for you.
What surprised you about Advance?
I was surprised by everyone’s willingness to help. Coming into the bank with limited financial knowledge, I was sceptical about how much I would be able to understand, but everyone was really helpful and always took time to explain concepts to me.
Show content of B Wei
Why is it important to take part in a first year programme?
I think its super important to explore different career options the moment you start university as many of your peers won’t be doing this until their final or penultimate years of university. This means you can get a head start and begin considering what you see yourself doing in the future. It’s also a good chance to gain insight into an industry that you may not have much knowledge on, and it is a really good opportunity to meet some likeminded people as well as industry experts.
What brought you to Deutsche Bank?
I was able to network with a few companies in my first year of university and by far the employees at Deutsche Bank were the most friendly, down to earth people I had met. It can be a bit daunting to initiate a conversation with someone many years senior to you, but the process was made very comfortable by the people at Deutsche Bank.
What’s been the most useful aspect of Advance for you?
I think the most important part of the Advance programme was the work experience week we had during the summer where I was able to meet and connect with a huge number of people on multiple desks within Corporate Finance. This experience shaped my understanding of the bank as well as the business and is a huge factor in me being successful in landing my internship.
The junior and senior mentors we were assigned were extremely supportive and often volunteered to connect me with people in the business that I was interested in getting to know more about. They provided valuable advice about my own professional development as well as life in general for which I am very grateful for.
What surprised you about Advance?
The amount of effort the Graduate Recruitment team put into this programme to ensure we all got the most out of our experience and the support we received, financially and operationally, really enabled me to focus on learning and connecting with the bank.