Madelaine Ford

6.50 AM

My alarm goes off and I head out for a quick walk. If it’s a Friday and I’m working from home, I won’t get up until 8.30 am. 

7.45 AM

Once I’ve made some progress on my watch rings, I come home, to make a smoothie and get dressed for the day. 

8.15 AM

By 8.15 am, I am on my way to the train station. One plus of our office in St Leonards is that you avoid all the crowded trains headed into the city!

8.45 AM

I arrive at Mastercard and secure my desk for the day before treating myself to the kitchen’s hot chocolate facilities.

9.0 AM

With my hot chocolate in hand, I start my day, by catching up on emails, planning my day and creating a to-do list. Today was made better thanks to another grad sharing the results of her late-night baking!

9.15 AM

My first piece of work for the day is to write up an internal email about a volunteer day opportunity my team is organising. Employees get 5 paid days a year for volunteer leave which can be anything from charity walks, blood donations, and supporting MasterCard initiatives like Girls4Tech. 

10.00 AM

Meet with my team or just my director to align on workflows and share any important updates. 

11.00 AM

Meet with a product or solution team to learn about a new Mastercard that can further help our client. Today’s meeting was with the customer solution centre, the focus was on improving banks' digital capabilities.

12.00 PM

At lunchtime, I can usually be found either out on the balcony with the other grads eating one of my gross meal-prepped lunches or in between the isles of the Coles next door.

Today was a little bit different, I spent lunchtime in Mastercard’s first yoga class which kept me away from Coles.

12.45 PM

I usually like to break my afternoons into two parts where I focus on the two biggest presentations or tasks I am currently working on. I focused on creating a presentation to show how Mastercard’s product Digital ID will benefit our customers.

4.00 PM

About once a week I join a Zoom call with other Mastercard employees across the world to learn about certain products and update or develop my skill set. Today the call was about improving our consultative selling skills. My group was made up of MasterCard employees across all business units in countries such as Singapore and Saudi Arabia.

5.00 PM

Not long after 5.00 pm, I pack up for the day and either go to the gym at the end of our street, out with the other grads or catch up for dinner with friends.

If it’s a Friday, I usually clock off half an hour early to make it to a sneaky massage for $20 courtesy of master cards' free health insurance for Australian residents.

Thinking of experiencing life as a Mastercard Graduate? Sign up to GradAustralia to receive job alerts for Mastercard