Thriving Team Culture at CBA

At 15 years old, proud First Nations School-Based Trainee Sienna Abdullah is thriving at the Commonwealth Bank’s Ingle Farm branch. While most school-based trainees are in Year 11 or 12, Sienna is currently in Year 10, making her the youngest trainee the branch has ever hosted. But age hasn’t held her back. If anything, it’s been a motivator.

I was 14 when I came in for my interview by myself. It was definitely nerve-wracking, but I’ve had so much support here in the branch. Everyone has really been in my corner.

Sienna is studying a Certificate III in Business, which she’ll graduate with alongside her Year 12 qualification. Family inspired her journey into traineeships.

My sister did a traineeship at a bank, and my mum saw this opportunity advertised and encouraged me to apply.

After seeing what my sister gained from the traineeship, I knew it was something I wanted to do too.

One of Sienna’s favourite tasks at the bank is managing cash bags, where businesses drop off bags of cash and deposit slips through a secure chute.

Some days we get over 80! It’s a big job, but I love it. Over the Easter holidays, I even came in to help out for a couple of days.

It felt good to be an extra set of hands when things were busy.

Her Branch Manager Lorraine Howling, says Sienna’s presence has made a real difference.

She was quite shy when she started, but her confidence has grown so much. Sienna works one day a week and we make sure she’s supported by having a team member with her at all times to shadow, explain things and answer her questions. She’s learning from familiar faces and becoming part of our team culture.

That team culture is thriving.

We’ve been running a football (footy) challenge in the branch. During Gather Round, we all came to work in our team jerseys, and Sienna joined right in with the banter, naming players and talking teams. It’s great having someone younger in the team. She brings a new energy.

For Sienna, the experience of working in a professional environment has been eye-opening.

At school, I spend most of my time with people my own age. Coming here, I get to be around older people who are really knowledgeable.

I’ve learned so much just from being here and watching how they work.

She’s especially proud of how much her communication skills have grown.

I’m now better at talking to people. That was something I was really nervous about in the beginning.

Outside of work, Sienna enjoys having her weekends free, something her manager sees as a major benefit of the school-based model.

Lots of young people work casual jobs on weekends. Sienna gets to work during the week, gain valuable skills and still have time for sport and other social activities on the weekend.

Sienna has also started saving her earnings, which she views as another significant benefit of the traineeship.

You make money, you gain real-life experience and you finish school with a qualification.

I’d definitely tell my friends to give it a go.

For Lorraine and the team at CBA, hosting Sienna has been equally rewarding.

Traineeships are such an incredible opportunity, not just for the trainee, but for us too. It gives young people solid grounding, and for us,

it’s a chance to help someone grow while bringing fresh perspective into our workplace.

As Sienna looks to the future, she has already built a strong foundation and a support network that believes in her.