Alumni talk - Inside big banking: A tech career in thu U.S

Returning to Olympia for this Alumni Talk, Nguyễn Thu Yến – Alumna Class of 2019 – shared her honest journey: from a high school student stepping out of a familiar academic environment, to studying Computer Science in the U.S., and then spending over three years working in the fintech sector at the second-largest banking hub in the country.


Beyond discussing her work in technology within large banks, Thu Yến spoke candidly about the early challenges of transitioning from university to a global workplace: the gap between academic knowledge and real-world practice, the pressure to adapt, how to build resilience, networking in an industry often considered “dry,” and seemingly small but crucial factors such as professionalism, personal presentation, and the ability to listen.

The talk also opened up very human perspectives: the experience of being a woman working in finance in the U.S., managing emotions in the face of failure, the uncertainties of one’s early twenties, and the reality of having to relearn many things once thought to be “already known.”


For Olympia students, this was not just a career talk, but an early invitation to reflect on the mindset needed for university life — and beyond, in a global working environment: the courage to try, to fail, to understand oneself, to clarify personal values — and to start preparing from today.