A solid foundation with modern agile approach

Zane Štrausa

Business Coordinator in Technology Management Support team at SEB Global services centre in Riga

Zane’s story: learning is the key to thriving

Zane’s story at SEB began just a little over a year ago, as looking for new challenges, she joined its tech department. She still jokes about being the ‘least techy person’ there. In her everyday work, Zane supports the department’s managers in things related to HR and teambuilding. Zane took of co-leadership in SEB’s volunteer organisation not long ago, and now organises exciting and meaningful employee engagement activities with her team of volunteers.

Zane, how did your career path at SEB begin?

I’d heard many positive things about SEB as an employer for quite some time. The company's culture was a significant factor for me looking for a new job, because of my past negative experiences in that regard. It’s very challenging to work in a place where you can’t be yourself, and your growth is limited because of that. It was because of the culture and career development that I applied for a job opening at SEB. The first job that I applied for is not the one I’m holding now. Sometimes pieces fall in the right places and opportunities start happening all at once. As soon as I applied for one job, there was another that was a much better fit for my preferences and experience. This is how I ended up here, and after a year of working at SEB, I can say that I am where I’m supposed to be.

What do you like the most about your work?

What I like the most is that there’s no routine. There’s something new every day: new projects, new challenges. I’ve still got a lot to learn in this process. Right now, I’m using my project management skills on a regular basis, and in our team, we’re trying to find ways to introduce the ‘agile’ approach to our processes. I have the time and opportunity to learn things, to research interesting topics. I can’t imagine my everyday work without ChatGPT. It helps a lot while generating ideas and creating communication. I like that there is a balance between daily tasks and creative ones. 

What motivates you to learn, to acquire new skills?

I am ambitious by nature, I like achieving new heights, and I strive for excellence in my work. Because of modern technologies and new approaches to work, performing well on your tasks means being in the process of learning all the time. This motivates you to keep learning and gaining new skills. Here, at SEB, there are a lot of ways to develop. We have online learning platform, we’ve got access to Pluralsight and Coursera, and people use those possibilities regularly. We also have internal targets, spending at least four hours a month learning. This culture of education really inspires you and makes you want to keep up with the tempo.

Have you had the chance to use this new knowledge?

Yes, I try to put to good use everything I learn, and I share it with colleagues, too. We have special groups where we routinely share the helpful tools we find out about and other new stuff. Project management skills also helped me with my new challenge: not long ago, I became the leader of Drive4U, which is our internal volunteering initiative. There are two leaders, and we work in tandem. I hadn’t had any experience managing the group like this before, but I’ve decided to apply for the position, to test my leadership skills, and to help improve our company’s internal culture through meaningful activities. We learn in the process, and we can already see changes, which feels incredibly gratifying.

How do you think SEB’s working environment and culture help people grow?

I believe that the individual, their needs, and their potential are in the centre of attention. In the environment like this, receiving support from colleagues can contribute to achieve your growth potential. A lot depends on the person, of course: you do have to want to learn, to be open, and to take effort. If you put in the effort, your work will not go unnoticed, and opportunities will appear!

Subscribe for SEB's open positions

Kornelijus Pacevičius

Software Developer

When and how did your career in IT start?

My career in IT started when I joined Gediminas Technical University in Vilnius. I was looking for a job from the very beginning. There was a publishing house at the university that hired me as an electronic publishing specialist. Since I had studied software development, I wanted to try my hand in this field, and here I also had the opportunity to work at my university for a while. In autumn 2021, together with friends, we took part in the Hack4Vilnius hackathon organised by Vilnius City Council, which was a great opportunity to share experiences, make new contacts, and exchange ideas. Given the relevance of sustainability, our idea and proposal for the hackathon were to develop an app that “rewards” users for making sustainable choices and decisions. For example, if you use your own cup in a café or buy food without using the packaging, points are collected in the app. You can then use these to choose one of the offers from the programme’s partners. The jury at the hackathon really liked our idea and we were awarded first place. Incidentally, I later used this idea as the basis for my bachelor’s thesis.

What made you decide to study technology specifically?

During my senior year in high school, I decided to pursue a career in technology. I was never really fascinated by other professions. I also realised that engineering was a broad field in which I could specialise or focus on a particular area of interest in the future. This is how it happened - I gradually became interested in software development when I realised that this was something that excited me and that I would like to work with. Today I can say that this was the right approach and the right decision.

And how did you end up at SEB?

At the end of my studies, I applied for an internship programme offered by SEB bank. I applied to several places, but I was particularly happy about the SEB offer because, firstly, it was a paid internship and, secondly, it offered exactly what I was most interested in professionally. To be honest, I knew nothing about banking, so there were a lot of interesting things I learned and experienced during my internship here. In March last year, I started working full-time for SEB as a bank employee.

What can you say about SEB after your first year here?

There is a very friendly and relaxed atmosphere at SEB and the work processes are flexible. Of course, everyone knows what needs to be done and when, but deadlines are never an end in themselves. I have heard this from friends who have done internships in other countries. Another important value is the colleagues and the level of mentorship. The people who do this work are really dedicated and approachable, so it’s easy for new employees to integrate at SEB.

What area are you responsible for as a software developer?

The bank has a large product development area where there are several teams or tribes as we call them. As far as the structure of the teams is concerned, there are business developers, who take care of the business side, and IT developers, who bring new technological solutions to life and ensure their functionality. It should be emphasised that the two sides work as a team and complement each other. Each team is responsible for a specific area. In my case, it is the area of financing and loans, but speaking of my team’s responsibility, it is the area of corporate customers. For example, we are currently working on a system to calculate the amount of capital to be allocated to a customer, considering the financial information submitted and other data about that customer. In fact, it is about assessing customers as quickly and efficiently as possible. 

What would you like to achieve in this job?

Since I have only been here for about a year, I am mainly interested in consolidating my knowledge and experience in software development. I want to understand how the bank’s products are designed so that I can contribute my ideas to improve them. Fortunately, SEB offers a variety of online courses as well as conferences that provide both additional knowledge and a comprehensive insight into the latest global developments in the field. Furthermore, the bank has a good library if you want to study a topic in more depth.

What do you like most about this job?

I like the fact that we are, in a sense, offering people the very latest –  you could even say the future – solutions and opportunities with our banking products. Apart from that, I appreciate the opportunity to make the work of colleagues in the bank easier and more efficient through automation and digitalisation. It is very satisfying to hear that our solutions work. 

What hobbies do you have?

Watching films, and TV series, and sometimes playing computer games. I used to play the guitar. Last but not least, I am passionate about basketball, like all Lithuanians.

Find your new job at SEB Bank