Global Consumer Group - General Management > Graduate

Business Description

We have designed these sections to aid you in your understanding of the Global Consumer Group, the services we provide to our clients and how we are structured. In the subsequent tabs we have asked for input from our Management Associates/Summer Associates to describe the type of person we are looking for as well as the recruitment process.

What is the Global Consumer Group?

The Global Consumer Group addresses the full spectrum of customers' financial needs through credit cards, retail banking and consumer finance, offering more to the world's consumers than any other financial institution.

The Global Consumer Group offers customers one of the broadest distribution networks of any financial services company with more than 4,200 consumer finance branches, more than 3,900 retail bank branches, and more than 17,000 Citi-branded ATMs around the world. As a stand alone entity the Global Consumer Group would be one of the largest businesses in the United States.

What service do we provide to our clients?

Late last year, Citi's consumer businesses, which serves more than 200 million clients in 53 countries, began implementing a growth strategy to fully leverage the unique advantages of our historic franchise - our world-class brand, our unmatched expertise, and our global reach. To get there, we've focused on several key goals: expanding our distribution, deepening client relationships, and providing industry-leading products and services.

In addition, we are intensely focused on broadening our strategy to leverage all of our businesses on behalf of clients. We see a huge opportunity in offering clients a more integrated product set, no matter what channel they may use, instead of approaching them as separate businesses.

Through these effort,s we will attract more clients, strengthen our relationships with existing clients, and substantially grow our business.

How we are structured

The GCGMA program touches our core Consumer businesses globally:

• Citi Cards
• Retail Banking
• Consumer Lending
• Commercial Business Group

Roles of an MA

To give you a better understanding of what you can expect if you join the Global Consumer Group, we asked for some input from our MA’s. Here they describe their experiences while on the program.

Koshal Parikh
Class of 2004

I joined Citi’s GCGMA program because of its focus on cultivating general managers, its small class size and its selectivity. The program consisted of four rotations:

First Rotation - Risk

I started the GCGMA program with a Risk rotation in our Credit Card Internet Acquisitions group in Long Island City. I learned how to read the “risk” of a portfolio and core concepts such as efficiency of scores.

Second Rotation - Sales

In my Sales rotation, I was working for our Retail Bank in New York City. I got a wonderful general management and leadership experience, serving as an “acting manager” for four very different bank branches (in terms of employee skills, team dynamics, neighboring community and asset size). I received fantastic exposure by participating in regional meetings, where I learned various aspects of running a business: recruiting, training, operations, audits, sales campaigns and contests, product development, fraud and theft management.

Third Rotation – Global Investments Group

For my next rotation, I jetted off to Mumbai, India to run marketing campaigns for our Global Investments group. The economy was hot, the weather was hot and our local competitive position was hot. What a great way to learn how to grow business in a growing economy!

Fourth Rotation - Finance

For my last rotation, in finance, I worked with CFO's from North and South America, Japan, Asia and Europe to determine the costs of building Citi’s new brand. It was a tremendous opportunity to understand what it takes to rebrand a company the size and scale of Citi.

Advice for future MA’s

Looking back, I’ve had great opportunities to develop my general management skills with the program and am extremely happy with my decision! My advice to future MAs; seek core skills during your rotations, even when they’re not in your comfort zone!

Our Programs

Global Consumer Group in North America has one program you can apply for: 

Full Time program

The Global Consumer Group Management Associate (GCGMA) program was founded in 2003 by Ajay Banga and Steve Freiberg, now co-heads of the Global Consumer Group. The aim of this general management program is to recruit high-potential talent, who have the potential to be future leaders of the organization. It is a personalized two-year leadership development program, which consist of four, six-month cross-business, cross-function, cross-geography rotations.

The full-time program commences the end of July with an 8-10 day orientation training. This starts with an introduction to Citi and specifically our Consumer businesses.

The training program expands throughout the two years. There is Team Challenge training between the first and second year on program. This is a team based project assigned to GCGMAs-designed to expand and challenge their leadership capacity. Participants are also supported by in classroom training between each of the 4 rotational assignments.

Highlights of the Program include:

• Customized Experience for Each Individual – The GCGMA experience is tailored to each participant - complementing an individual's existing strengths and exposing the individual to new and challenging experiences across multiple businesses and functions
• Senior Management Mentorship and Exposure - The program offers unique exposure to the GCG’s senior management through one-on-one mentoring by senior-level rotational managers, and frequent formal and informal meetings with business heads and senior managers
• Rotational Approach – The program is comprised of four, six-month rotations in at least three Global Consumer Group business units
• Functional Exposure – The program's rotations focus on four functional areas: Sales & Marketing, Finance, Credit/Risk, and Operations
• International Opportunity – The program provides the opportunity to rotate overseas after the first year in the Program
• Work Directly for Senior Management – In between the second and third rotations, GCGMAs participate in a Senior Management-sponsored team project

Who we are looking for

General themes:

What qualifications do they need?

• 2008 MBA graduates who have a passion to lead people, influence change and drive results.

Do they need a financial background?

• Potential candidates do not necessarily need to have a financial background. Our GCGMAs come from a variety of backgrounds from the Military to the Foreign Service.

What skills/qualities make an ideal candidate?

• High academic achievers with demonstrated leadership potential
• Customer focused
• Results driven, capable of inspiring and driving results through others
• Builds relationships and promotes collaboration
• Strategic, visionary thinker
• Flexible, adaptable, quick learner
• Integrity/high ethical standards
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills

What work experience is required?

• 4-6 years of progressive work experience

Recruitment Process

In order to be considered for this program, you must apply online. Please also apply through your university's Career Services Office. Only applications submitted through both systems will be considered.

Where

Where we are located… 

Previous domestic rotations include assignments in: 

New York, NY; Los Angeles, CA; San Francisco, CA; Miami, FL; Chicago, IL; Dallas, TX; Jacksonville, FL; Stamford, CT; Baltimore, MD; St. Louis, MO

Previous international rotations include assignments in:

London, England; Barcelona, Spain; Madrid, Spain; São Paulo, Brazil; Brussels, Belgium; Düsseldorf, Germany; Singapore; Hong Kong; Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; Taipei, Taiwan; Seoul, Korea; Makati City, Philippines; Mumbai, India