The credit analyst trainee started work at Albury’s NAB agribusiness credit centre in January and the variety of his work has already surprised him.

Mr Taylor, 22, grew up on his family’s farm at Morven and studied business management and sports science in Canberra.

He said he wasn’t sure what he wanted to do with his life after high school but after spending time in the big smoke, “I found I wanted to return to the country”.

He applied for NAB’s graduate program in April 2010 and was offered a spot in August but was still unsure if banking was his thing when he started.

But now he’s really enjoying the work and is glad to be back in the region.

“We process files that field managers send in — the farmer might want an increase or renewal and we present a for-and-against argument then send it on to the approval guys,” Mr Taylor said.

“We look at tuna files from South Australia, oyster farmers from Port Phillip Bay, market gardeners, orchards at Griffith.

“Every two hours you pick up a new file.

“The same principles apply to each file but you’ve really got to get into the farmers’ heads and understand what their goals are and how to take their business forward.”

Mr Taylor was one of eight but the only “local” to be accepted in NAB’s first graduate intake for the year.

The bank usually welcomes another three graduates in April and may accept two more intakes later in the year.

The Border centre is the training base for the whole of southern Australia, which means it covers Western Australia, South Australia, Victoria, Tasmania and the southern half of NSW.

Credit centre manager Chris Isaac said the graduates are trained in systems, process, networks, products and services and understanding the fundamentals of finance, particularly related to agribusiness.

“Following (their work in) Albury they would move into associate or analyst roles to support an agribusiness manager for one or two years then progress to a management position,” he said.

“They also get involved with the community — joining sporting teams, organising our NAB charity events and contributing to the life of the town.”

Mr Isaac said the Albury office employed up to 620 people but the graduates came from right across southern Australia so getting local graduates, like Mr Taylor, helped in maintaining the numbers of longer-term staff.

Mr Taylor said he hoped to move into a field-based role down the track.

So what does his father think about a son becoming a banker?

“Dad was a little bit hesitant, me joining the other team,” he said.

“But he’s happy that I found my way back into the region and stoked that I headed back to agriculture.”