The MATC Gap Year program interns crowded into North End to hear from Kristin, Heather, and Cristen (upper right).

Over 30 people squeezed into our North End branch to learn about working in banking, for a Milwaukee Area Technical College event on Thursday, September 22.

MATC’s Gap Year program is aimed at high school graduates who have not enrolled in college but want to. Over the course of eight-week internship, Gap Year participants get a chance to see what kind of career paths are available to students who earn an associate’s degree at MATC. For the program’s Business and Management Week, the 27 interns visited the branch, along with three faculty members, a videographer, and a representative from our marketing partner NEWaukee.

District manager Cristen Baumann, senior financial accountant/analyst Kristin Monday, and North End branch manager Heather Somers talked to the interns about jobs at our branches and at Corporate, and the flexibility offered by our video teller position. They also answered questions.

“The interns had so many questions, we ran over on time,” Cristen said. She said they asked about everything from credit building to “car loans, the cost of interest on loans, mortgages, credit cards, and what happens if a loan payment cannot be made.”

“I was surprised some of the students were asking about mortgage rates. I wasn’t thinking about buying a house until I was almost 30,” Heather said. “We were excited to have that conversation with them. We also used this as a prospective recruitment opportunity — I discussed branch positions, while Kristin discussed Corporate positions.”

North Shore Bank’s partnership with MATC means the college also highlights our job openings in weekly student updates.

At the event, the bankers tried to “not only promote careers at North Shore Bank and in banking, but also to explore all that banks can offer to the students as customers,” Kristin added.

The Gap Year interns will also take a culinary class, operate a semitruck simulator, change a vehicle’s oil, use computer-aided design machines, build spreadsheets, discuss fire safety, and be exposed to medical coursework and trade industries.