This is the second edition of our Junior Treasurers Interview series, where we explore the experiences and insights of young Treasury professionals. In this series, we continue to learn how new treasurers are building their careers and adapting to the changes in the Treasury field, including the impact of new technologies.
In this interview, we talk with Sean Howlin, who discovered his passion for treasury during his first internship. Starting with a choice between Treasury and Accounting, Sean found himself drawn to the variety and challenges of Treasury work. He shares important moments from his internships that confirmed his decision to pursue a career in Treasury, his excitement about taking on more responsibility, and his interest in the systems that support Treasury operations.
Sean also talks about the skills he has developed, the challenges he has faced and his goals for the future. We discuss how he balances work with his personal life and why he believes curiosity and flexibility are key to success in treasury.
Join us as we dive into Sean’s experiences and find out what makes a career in treasury both rewarding and challenging.
Path to Treasury
Q: What sparked your interest in corporate treasury and led you to pursue an internship in this field?
When entering my first internship in a retail bank in Ireland, I was given two options as to which area I wanted to enter within the finance department: accounting or Treasury. I had never heard of treasury before, and when I looked into treasury, I saw that the job typically involves areas of cash management, fund raising, liquidity, investments, and more. These areas interest me a lot more than just typical accounting.
Q: Can you share a defining moment during your internship that reinforced your decision to build a career in treasury?
In my second internship at a reinsurance company, it was an 8-month internship and after about 3 months, I could feel myself getting more confident in the role and this also came with more trust. I felt like I was given a lot more responsibility within the team, including being one of the main team members working on an upgrade for the electronic bank account management. This was one of the biggest motivations for working in Treasury—not only the work but also the ability to be given responsibility and work well in a team.
Q: What aspects of Treasury work do you find most exciting and why?
As I have said earlier, the ability to be given more and more responsibility quickly, as well as the fact that the two teams I have worked on were smaller groups, means that most people tend to be multifaceted as they can cover different areas of Treasury. I have spent most of my time in Treasury Governance, which is mostly looking at systems, including TMS and data systems, while also looking at controls. The front office has also been very exciting, as you can see the work in Treasury governance and in the building of systems and how that can inform decisions and actions taken in the front office. Seeing the two come together can be the most informative and exciting.
Internship Experience
Q: What were your main responsibilities during your eight-month internship in Treasury?
Initially, my main responsibilities were all around learning and getting to know the team and the different systems that are involved. Then, while I was there, a project began around upgrading their current EBAM system. This started with a complete data cleanup of the existing static data, which moved to an analysis of the static data to ensure that the layout was optimal. This was followed by a data transfer to the new system. This was my main responsibility of my internship, under the supervision of other team members and my manager.
Q: Can you describe a challenging project you worked on and how you approached it?
Another project I worked on was determining target balances for each bank account we held. This was in an effort to track and identify particular accounts that had little to no movement. This could mean that those accounts could be closed, and that would reduce the number of bank accounts we held, which would make it easier to maintain the remaining accounts. I used a variety of analysis methods to identify these accounts which was helped by my degree in mathematics and statistics.
Q: What did a typical day look like for you as a Treasury intern?
My main work related to the two projects above but as any intern would agree, I also had numerous smaller jobs that were mainly just helping the senior people on the team, examining user permissions, helping user get setup on systems, etc.
Skills and Learning
Q: What are some key skills you developed during your internship that you believe are crucial for a career in treasury?
I think one of the most important skills that I realised I needed was communication! I was only starting out but I quickly realised how important it is. Not only do you have to be able to relay your thoughts and problems but you also have to be able to pick up on what other people are highlighting for you. This would tie into what I call the internal network—knowing who to go to with certain problems. Treasury tends to touch on different areas of the business You would have your own team but it’s also good to have people in other areas so you know who to reach out to when issues or problems came up. These would have been the main skills I developed during my internship.
Q: How did your internship help you understand the complexities of corporate treasury operations?
Those two projects really highlighted the complexities; there was over 2000 bank accounts with a wide variety of banking connections. It was also on a global scale so with 100’s of locations, this would make what seems like a simple task a challenging one.
Q: Can you provide an example of how you applied classroom knowledge to real-world Treasury tasks?
As mentioned above, for the project involving the target balances, I used my background in statistics to determine the target balances for each bank account we held.
Personal Insights and Reflections
Q: What has been the most rewarding part of your journey in Treasury so far?
I think that the knowledge of the businesses I have worked for is the most rewarding. As I have said, treasury interacts with a load of different areas of the business, so you gain just snippets of how the business operates as a whole.
Q: What advice would you give to someone considering a career in corporate treasury?
I would say go for it; you get to meet a wide variety of people. Generally, in finance (particularly here in Ireland), almost everyone you meet is an accountant but in treasury, I feel like you get a lot of different backgrounds. I studied financial mathematics. You will also get a wide variety of skills, from soft skills like communication to skills like data analytics and valuing and all of these combined can be a great asset to have not only in treasury but in any finance role.
Future Aspirations
Q: What are your long-term career goals within the Treasury field?
At the moment, I am still very open-minded to roles within Treasury. I am currently working as an analyst for treasury governance, and I plan on staying within treasury and hopefully getting to be a group treasurer some day.
Q: How do you plan to continue developing your skills and knowledge in treasury?
There are multiple professional exams to go after that would continue to help me develop knowledge that would aid my career. I am mainly looking at the CFA, which is a more general finance charter but I believe this, combined with the AMCT, would be a huge advantage in the Treasury world. Alongside that, while I am working, I plan on getting involved in as many projects as possible within the team in all areas of finance to really gain that grounding in treasury.
Industry Perspective
Q: What are the biggest challenges facing treasury professionals today, in your opinion?
From what I have heard, I would say getting the right people into the team. I have only been on two teams but I have heard people in both companies talking about getting people in. It isn’t a well-known area of finance so some people who don’t know don’t want to get involved.
Personal and Professional Balance
Q: How do you balance the demands of a career in treasury with your personal life and interests?
When I first started, I was working remotely due to COVID and travel and what this meant was that I was at home on the laptop. I felt I should always be online from 9 am to 5 pm, even during lunch breaks, as I felt that as I was at home, there was no reason not to be contactable and while that general idea for me remains the same, I know that I can take an hour off if need be. I live quite close to the sea so if it was a good day and I was on my break, I would close the laptop down, go in for a quick swim and come back. Alongside this, filling my evenings was very important, as you could almost have this sense of responsibility to stay online late as some of my managers did, but it was one of them who pointed me in the direction of working hard in the allocated time and then enjoying yourself. Even if its just going for a swim, a cycle, or just getting some food with my friends, I should do that and not feel guilty, as I have worked hard all day.
Q: Can you share a personal hobby or interest that helps you maintain a healthy work-life balance?
Sea swimming has to be up there for me. Its lovely to do during the summer as a cool down but when the weather starts to get cold and its windy, it can be much harder to make yourself do it but usually a few of us would go out and just make ourselves get in the water and would always feel better after it.
Reflections on Growth and Development
Q: How do you handle setbacks or mistakes in your role?
I think it’s very important to be able to handle setbacks well, I would always try to take it in stride at first and do whatever I can to fix it with the team. A mistake I made early on was when I made an error to just try and fix it quickly myself, which often lead to more problems so its important to realise that if I make a mistake, its more than likely because I don’t have the skills to perform the task and will need to tag in someone to help me, which has never been a problem when I’ve worked on a team.
Q: What qualities do you believe are essential for success in corporate treasury?
I think the biggest is just being curious; there is a whole lot of information out there, especially when you first join a company. It can be very easy to just take on one area (cash management, forecasting, data, etc.) and specialise in that but as I believe I am young and just starting this career I want to be able to do a little bit of everything and get a good grounding in all things treasury.
Final Thoughts
Q: What message would you like to share with readers who are curious about a career in treasury?
I would say really go for it. I believe I have learnt so much in my short time being involved in treasury, not just about treasury but banking and insurance. Some people will go down the route of being specialised in one area of finance but in treasury, I feel like you will naturally come across a multitude of different areas and you can gain knowledge and experience in these areas. I have found that just by being open to work and being curious, I have been given opportunities and knowledge that I wouldn’t have gotten anywhere else, I have my managers to thank for that, as they have always guided me and helped me out the best they can.
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