What it does: Offers financial and banking services, from consumer to investment banking, serving both individual and institutional clients worldwide.
Mission: We responsibly provide financial services that enable growth and economic progress.
Best known for: its banking subsidiary which is one of the U.S.’s major banks.
Size & presence: 210,000 employees working across six branches worldwide.
The good bits: Citibank, a subsidiary of Citigroup, is one of the four major banks in the United States—making it a good place for recent college graduates and interns who are interested in pursuing a career in banking.
The not-so-good bits: The company’s global presence is severely contracted since 2021, when it decided to exit the consumer banking markets in 13 countries, leaving only five branches worldwide aside from the U.S.
Citigroup’s origins start in 1812 with the founding of the City Bank of New York—now known as Citibank. Later, the company expanded to the point that Citibank became a subsidiary of Citicorp—which would later merge with Travelers Group in 1998 to become Citigroup.
Since then, it has grown to be one of the most influential financial institutions in the world, servicing both individual and institutional clients worldwide. In the U.S., Citibank offers the following services to its clients: Capital Markets, Corporate & Investment Banking, Markets & Securities, Citi Private Bank, Treasury and Trade Solutions, Consumer Banking, Commercial Banking, and Mortgages.
Despite being a financial service company, Citigroup seems to have a better work-life balance than similar companies in the U.S. And ever since the COVID-19 pandemic, Citigroup has implemented a 3-day on-site work schedule, allowing their employees to work from home for the remaining two.
Citigroup also offers a decent amount of opportunity to grow, although this may vary depending on which division you work in. Most of its previous employees also highlight a great sense of camaraderie between the employees.
Citigroup has a wide array of internship positions available for students seeking to gain work experience in the company. Aside from the typical Summer Analyst and Associate internship tracks, it also operates a unique internship program called the Sophomore Leadership Program. In this program, college students across the U.S. have the chance to be selected for a ten-week summer internship position in New York City.
For those of you who are in your final year of study, be it at a Bachelor’s, Master’s, or even PhD level, you’ll be happy to know that Citigroup also has several positions available such as the Full-time Analyst or Full-time Associate program.
Like many other banking companies in the U.S., Citigroup often does campus hiring for internship roles as well as full-time roles intended for recent graduates. In addition, Citigroup also has an online recruitment system where applicants can register and apply for jobs.
When applying through Citigroup’s website, you’ll need to submit your application to the platform. If you are selected, you’ll have to undergo at least three rounds of interviews: pre-screen interview, hiring manager and team interviews, as well as the final round of interviews.
Remuneration & Benefits
Since Citigroup has a wide variety of internship roles open year-round, the compensation can differ greatly depending on the division you’re working at. An intern at Citigroup, according to Glassdoor can get a base pay of around $40,000-$90,000. If you’re working as a Full-Time Analyst or Associate, you can expect a base pay in the range of $70,000-$100,000, depending on your role.
Aside from base pay, other benefits that a full-time employee of Citigroup include the following: dental insurance and free counselling by phone.
Citigroup engages in several environmental, social, and governance (ESG) initiatives every year, with a different focus depending on what the community needs at the time. For example, in 2020, Citigroup committed $100 million for COVID-19-related relief and economic recovery efforts. The majority of Citigroup’s philanthropic initiatives are dispensed through Citi Foundation, its charity foundation.
Most of Citigroup’s major scandals occur prior to The Great Recession, such as several lawsuits stemming from their endorsement of Enron. Most recently, in 2017, Citigroup was fined $25 million for order spoofing in U.S. Treasury futures markets by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.