Siddharth Tatikonda

6.20 AM

I generally wake up around this time every day. I currently do a hybrid working split of 2 days in the office and 3 days from home. I find waking up at this time, allows me to get into the office on time on the days I’m going in, but on work-from-home days, I get into the gym for an early morning session. Going into the office is definitely worth it, as I get to interact with both my friends and team members in person and set myself up for a productive day.

8.50 AM

I usually begin my workday by checking my calendar and emails. I usually have meetings running throughout the day, so it is important to keep track of when I’m available to get my action items done. Depending on if I have an early morning meeting, I will try to get most of my action items done first thing in the morning. Today my team has an important presentation with our larger department, so I need to complete our presentation deck before the afternoon meeting. This deck requires a lot of performance metrics which are sourced from our internal software and then recreated in Excel to create an aesthetic format for our clients and internal team members. This requires a decent amount of work, but I am looking to design an Excel template to help automate this process in the future.

10.00 AM

My first two meetings of the day are my 1on1 with my manager and a general team catch-up. We try to conduct these meetings early in the week, as this helps outline what tasks need to be done for the week and keep us all up to date on what everyone is working on. This is also the time when I like to grab my coffee for the day. Mastercard has some very fancy coffee machines on every floor, but the Level 5 machine is undoubtedly my favourite. Perfect lattes every time! Another perk of coming into the office is the delicious free coffee, something I definitely miss when I work from home. 

11.30 AM

After my morning meetings, I like to take some time to review what we discussed before wrapping up any pending tasks I need to take care of before lunch. 

12.00 PM

It’s time for lunch! I almost always bring homemade lunch for work that way I can spend my hard-earned money on some pastries later in the day. We have an amazing café located on our bottom floor. I have lunch with the other graduates when I come into the office. Some of us like to go to a nearby restaurant to pick up some lunch, our St Leonard’s office has plenty of great options nearby for an easy takeout lunch.

1.00 PM

Headed to my team’s presentation to the department covering the status of our accounts and what the rest of the year is shaping up to be for our clients. We present every year across all our clients to keep the overall department aware of what we are working on as a team, and what opportunities are in progress for the year. We often get lots of feedback from senior leadership in terms of client needs, potential opportunities to work on and any potential risk factors we should consider. The meeting runs for 90 minutes, so I’ll be sure to get some cookies provided in our Level 6 meeting room. 

2.30 PM

Running off into my next meeting, with the Pricing & Interchange team. They are currently working on building a template that covers a wide range of high-level performance data that we can present to our clients. As part of the account management team, we must sign off on what works for our clients and what areas need to be improved on further to ensure our clients get the most out of this project. 

3.00 PM

My last couple of meetings is all client-facing, as part of the account management team it is important that we build positive relationships with key stakeholders. Today my manager and I have meetings with two different clients, discussing some of our opportunities and providing direction on our next steps. 

3.50 PM

Stopped by our Level 6 technology area to experience our virtual reality gear!

One of the perks of working at Mastercard is that you have access to some amazing technology.

4.00 PM

Meetings have wrapped up for the day so now is the time to use the last hour to finish off any outstanding tasks left over. Before I start any work, I’ll pop into our on-site café for a little afternoon snack. Currently working on completing some reporting tasks for some of our clients and sending off any final emails. If I don’t have any meetings during this time, I find the last hour of the day is a great time to tick off most of my pending work. 

5.00 PM

The Workday has ended but still have time for a quick table tennis session! I like to play table tennis and pool with the other graduates during our lunch breaks or after work.

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