Shannon Henderson
University of Cincinnati
Computer Science 2018
Fifth Third Bank
My Position
For my first two co-op rotations (Spring and Fall semesters 2015), I worked as a data analyst for the audit division at Fifth Third Bank in downtown Cincinnati. During my first semester there, I mainly provided support to the Audit Data Analytics (ADA) team. This consisted of a variety of tasks, including helping out with Computer Assisted Audit Techniques (CAATs). Each CAAT incorporated several different tools, such as Business Objects in order to extract a SQL query, which would then be ran in SAS, and the results would be exported to Microsoft Excel and sent back to one of my team members for verification. Some smaller requests I would be assigned included file conversions, such as converting PDF to usable data in Excel.
I had a lot of the same responsibilites my second semester at Fifth Third, but they required more initiative on my part. I communicated directly with other teams in the Audit division for clarification on a request. I also helped with other Audit work outside of data analytics, such as auditing Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery Plans, as well as Cash Counts audits that involved going to individaul bank branches to perform an audit.
Skills Attained
The first few weeks of my time with Fifth Third was spent learning all of the different programs (SAS, Business Objects, Excel, etc.) that I would use to perform my assigned duties, which I did through a combination of online tutorials, asking my coworkers how things work, and eventually hands-on implementation of the programs. I also did a few projects that involved UNIX commands and bash scripts to extract a large file from Fifth Third's mainframe.
In addition to the technical skills I acquired, this co-op was my first glimpse of corporate culture and the “real world,” and gave me an example of one kind of career I could pursue after graduation. This position also allowed me to improve upon my professional skills, namely communication in a corporate environment, and taking initiative and responsibility for the work I completed.