How I got a job in the Asian Financial Crisis. And how you can get one during Covid-19 – eFinancialCareers
Posted: May 14, 2020 at 6:47 pm
Back in 1997 I had just completed an MSc in Finance in the UK and was in London looking for a banking job. I couldnt find any work for six months, despite applying for more than 30 positions. A few banks granted me interviews but they all rejected me.
Then I ran out of money, having burned through all I had saved up before my Masters. With no chance of getting a job in London, I returned to Singapore. Soon after I got back, however, the Asian financial crisis hit! The job market suddenly changed for the worse, and my hopes of landing a role as a derivatives structurer disappeared.
So I changed tack and decided to apply for risk management vacancies instead. Before too long Standard Chartered offered me a risk control position, which wasnt my ideal job but came as a great relief after several months of searching. My boss then, Prasanna Thombre, always believed in me. He even seconded me to London and Hong Kong so that I could develop myself further. He was the reason I went on to build a successful front-office banking career and eventually became an MD.
The point of this story is that its possible, with the right approach, for junior banking professionals to adjust their career strategies and successfully navigate the tough times. Here are some lessons I learned during the Asian crisis (and throughout the ups and downs of my career) that are just as relevant to young people today during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Work for bosses who believe in you
When I got the job offer from Stan Chart back in 1997, I also received a similar offer from a much bigger European bank. I chose SCB because I believed my manager there would be great for my personal development. If you cannot get your ideal job in your desired bank, try to work for a boss who believes in you. During this current period of uncertainty, the last thing you need is a boss micromanaging you and asking you to submit your activities report on a daily basis.
Be adaptable in your choice of job
There are many loan and bond defaults in the current market, so credit structuring and credit risk management roles at banks will be in demand during the Covid-19 outbreak. But hiring in some parts of front-office investment banking has slowed down because capital market investors are now more selective when it comes to investing in IPOs and new bond issuance. If you cannot join an investment bank as a junior, perhaps consider joining a corporate in the TMT or real estate space to build up your knowledge in order to become an investment banker specialising in that sector later on.
Build your personal brand
With a personal brand, you can win trust, attract opportunities and charge a premium. When you go to the supermarket to buy a carton of milk, it is very unlikely that you will choose one that has no brand. When there is no brand, there is no trust. And trust is most important for our careers because nobody is going to hire us until they can trust us.
In psychology, there is a well-known cognitive bias called availability heuristic, a mental shortcut that relies on immediate examples that come to a persons mind when making a decision. If a fellow MD asks me to recommend a junior banker, for example, I will most likely recommend someone I know and have seen on LinkedIn recently. A strong personal brand attracts opportunities.
If you look at the big brands around us say, Apple, Audi, or Grand Hyatt they all have one thing in common: they charge a premium and yet customers still willingly pay for their products and services. When you have a personal brand, you can also command a premium. Build your brand on social media, especially on LinkedIn.
Make high quality connections
During this time when hiring is slow, banks may not advertise as much to get the candidates they want. So it is crucial to build relationships with people who can refer jobs to you. There are three types of relationships: friends, acquaintances and high-quality connections (HQC).
Friends can be high maintenance if you dont invite them to your parties, they get upset. Although acquaintances are low maintenance, they dont add much value to your career. But HQC are like-minded people who shared common values, so they are low maintenance and add a lot of value. They can initially be found on LinkedIn, but you then need to offer them something in return, so spend time engaging with them before you actually need a job.
Be ready for the most frequently asked question
Tell me about yourself will soon be taken over by What did you do during the lockdown/circuit breaker? as the most frequently asked interview question in banking. Interviewers want to see how you dealt with uncertainty and made use of the downtime. Spending time with family and taking the opportunity to slow down to reflect about life are good answers, but are unlikely to get you the job. You have a higher chance to ace the interview if you say you picked up a new skill for example, you did a video editing course or became a Zoom master.
With 2 million followers on Linkedin, Eric Sim, CFA, PRM, is one of the most followed finance professionals globally. A successful career coach, Eric is the founder of Institute of Life (IOL), whose mission is to help young professionals be more successful at work and in life. He currently guest lectures at the National University of Singapore and Queens University (Canada). Previously Eric was a managing director at UBS Investment Bank based out of Hong Kong.
Photo by Drew Graham on Unsplash
See the article here:
How I got a job in the Asian Financial Crisis. And how you can get one during Covid-19 - eFinancialCareers
- Meet Kanji Low, the Self-Development Mentor Transforming Entrepreneurs into Leaders of Industry. - Influencive - April 6th, 2021
- Tap into 16000 Free Courses on LinkedIn Learning - Duke Today - April 6th, 2021
- Global Personal Car Leasing Market 2021 Consumption Analysis and Business Development Strategy by Key Players & Region The Bisouv Network - The... - April 6th, 2021
- Fable Launches the Future of Book Clubs, with New Hosts The Mom Project, Pulitzer Prize finalist Elif Batuman, Twilio CEO Jeff Lawson, and More -... - April 6th, 2021
- Personal Care Packaging Market Comprehensive Analysis of the Development Factors in the Industry 2025| WestRock Company, Albea Group, Mondi plc, Crown... - April 6th, 2021
- Top 5 Female Life Coaches In The USA That Can Transform Your Life In 2021 - GlobeNewswire - April 6th, 2021
- Personal Amplification Devices Market 2021 Size, Share Industry Trends, Growth, Development Status, Future Plans Analysis by 2027| Key Companies... - April 6th, 2021
- Breaking Ice on Sacred Heart University's New Hockey Arena - Campus Rec Magazine - April 6th, 2021
- Anurag Gupta on Day 2 Operations, DevOps, and Automated Remediation - InfoQ.com - April 6th, 2021
- Not so 'Great Expectations': Pirates balancing development process and final result as Opening Day nears - TribLIVE - April 6th, 2021
- Schools need help to spot the 'lost Einsteins' - The Times - April 6th, 2021
- Tips to help you spend less, save more and feel better - The Money Pages - January 14th, 2021
- For Ved Mehta, the personal was a way to illuminate the universal - The Indian Express - January 14th, 2021
- Arcos Dorados' Gran Da Donated More Than USD 5 Million in 2020 to Support Several Social Organizations in Latin America and the Caribbean -... - January 14th, 2021
- WhatsApp faces legal challenge over privacy in its biggest market - TechCrunch - January 14th, 2021
- Growing debt burden set to severely impact... - The Caterer.com - January 14th, 2021
- Meridian International Holding and Thalias Hospitality Group form partnership - The Phnom Penh Post - January 14th, 2021
- X1, the smartest credit card ever made, raises $12 million - PRNewswire - January 14th, 2021
- Free RESET Live Virtual Event to Teach Viewers How to Gain Control of Their Money In 2021 - Business Wire - January 14th, 2021
- eXp Realty Expands in Canada, Opens in New Brunswick and Manitoba - GlobeNewswire - January 14th, 2021
- Looking forward to giving continued support to Caithness community groups - JohnOGroat Journal - January 14th, 2021
- Upcoming fundraisers planned to support The Place of Forsyth include shopping and magic - Forsyth County News Online - December 7th, 2020
- Personal View: Helping Ohioans find sustainable new careers - Crain's Cleveland Business - December 7th, 2020
- 7 Self-Improvement Books That Actually Work - Lifehacker Australia - December 7th, 2020
- How Kelvin Teos The Neuroscience of Daily Success can help you make change in your life for the better - Best in Australia - December 7th, 2020
- Mastering your new year's resolutions The Famuan - Famuan - December 7th, 2020
- The Queen's Gambit: Why The Orphanage Lied About Beth's Age - Screen Rant - December 7th, 2020
- Trump announces that Rudy Giuliani has tested positive for COVID-19 - Business Insider - Business Insider - December 7th, 2020
- Falah Sheds Light on the Role of Mindset in Business - THISDAY Newspapers - December 7th, 2020
- Members Travel: Providing the Best Travel Experience Without Breaking the Bank - Press Release - Digital Journal - December 7th, 2020
- Learning to be brave a key lesson - Otago Daily Times - December 7th, 2020
- 7 strategies that helped me publish over 400 articles in 2 years - Business Insider - Business Insider - December 7th, 2020
- Curtis Jones: The Liverpool lad with swagger who is a cross between Sadio Mane and Adam Lallana and could - talkSPORT.com - December 7th, 2020
- For the first time, the Flexible Workforce Development Fund is available to all Scottish employers, including small and medium-sized enterprises. - FE... - December 7th, 2020
- The Top Ten Instagram Monetisation Coaches to Follow in 2021 - GlobeNewswire - December 7th, 2020
- The Annual Report of Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Education, Children's Services and Skills 2019/20 - GOV.UK - December 7th, 2020
- The Big Bang Theory: The Main Characters, Ranked WorstBest Character Arc - Screen Rant - December 7th, 2020
- European Antibacterial Personal Care Wipes Industry Forecast to 2027 - COVID-19 Impact and Regional Analysis - GlobeNewswire - December 7th, 2020
- Rising Stars of the Sport Industry Revealed - Sport Industry Group - December 7th, 2020
- Adviser salaries: When will we reach the top? - Money Marketing - December 7th, 2020
- 3 Elements to Transcend in Life and Leave a Mark - Entrepreneur - November 7th, 2020
- Upward Bound at SFU gets creative with recruitment, activities - TribDem.com - November 7th, 2020
- How the Auburn family develops heroes through chemical engineering - Study International News - November 7th, 2020
- Author Cathy Caswell Guides Readers on How to Thrive Using Logosynthesis - PRNewswire - November 7th, 2020
- Mintz: A time to refresh, renew and regenerate - Vail Daily News - November 7th, 2020
- Ashley Addiction Treatment Appoints Joint CEOs | The Bargaineer - Cecil Daily - November 7th, 2020
- Creating proactive communities: What is a proactive community? (Part II) - Indianapolis Recorder - November 7th, 2020
- 6 must-read books for startup leaders navigating the pandemic - Fast Company - November 7th, 2020
- Apply to Attend the 33rd Annual Southwest Black Student Leadership Conference - University of Arkansas Newswire - November 7th, 2020
- VIEWPOINT: Dismantle Internalized Capitalism - Georgetown University The Hoya - November 7th, 2020
- Meet the MBA Class of 2022: Bo Chan, MIT (Sloan) - Poets&Quants - November 7th, 2020
- French 'olim' help fill needed health-care gaps in northern Israel - JNS.org - November 7th, 2020
- CPD: The links between organisational and individual resilience within the workplace - Personnel Today - November 7th, 2020
- A systemic analysis of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on refugees, migrants and asylum seekers in Cyprus: Part I - An Overview - Cyprus -... - November 7th, 2020
- The Top 10 Performance Coaches To Be Following - GlobeNewswire - November 7th, 2020
- Q & A: Carrie-Ann Matheson on Salzburg Festival, Europe & Her New Position at the Merola Opera Program - OperaWire - November 7th, 2020
- How Philadelphia Business Owners Pivoted During The Pandemic - Patch.com - November 7th, 2020
- Louise O'Neill: 'Should I challenge myself, push myself further when I dont know where that road will take me?' - Irish Examiner - November 7th, 2020
- Personnel Today Awards 2020: Learning and Development Award shortlist - Personnel Today - November 7th, 2020
- A Mixture Of Experience, Baxckground In Rhinos 10s Team - goffrugbyreport.com - October 22nd, 2020
- COVID cant stop Chile Challenge, its just different this year - The Journal - October 22nd, 2020
- The One Tool That Can Change Behavior, Empower Employees, And Build Authentic Relationships - Forbes - October 22nd, 2020
- Dreams About Having a Baby or Being Pregnant: Interpretations - Healthline - October 22nd, 2020
- Collective Impact: U of T Engineering's world-class research inspires alumna Lauren Wu to stay involved - U of T Engineering News - October 22nd, 2020
- Global Soft Skills Management Market Growth, Demand And Threats Analysis 2020 By Regional Overview Of Leading Players, Types, Application and Forecast... - October 22nd, 2020
- LFC Foundation and Action for Children launch new mental health programme - Liverpool FC - October 22nd, 2020
- Exercise and Fitness: How They're Beneficial From a Dating Standpoint - Newswire - October 22nd, 2020
- Oi Place advertised as a store to offer connected products and services re:Jerusalem - re:Jerusalem - October 22nd, 2020
- x2VOL by intelliVOL Reports an Increase in Indirect Service, Social-Emotional Learning, and More Amidst Coronavirus Pandemic - Business Wire - October 22nd, 2020
- Where is our evolving HR function headed next? - ITProPortal - October 22nd, 2020
- 2020 Election: Deb Hays (R), candidate for New Hanover Board of Commissioners [Free read] - Port City Daily - October 22nd, 2020
- A Cloud Guru Expands C-Suite to Drive Next Phase of Growth - GlobeNewswire - October 22nd, 2020
- Impostor Syndrome Prevalence In Professional Women And How To Overcome It - Forbes - October 22nd, 2020
- 15 of the Best Places to Find Free E-Books - Clark.com - Clark Howard - October 22nd, 2020
- Trending Now: Halal Cosmetics and Personal Care Products Market Segmentation, Analysis by Recent Trends, Development & Growth by Regions| Martha... - October 22nd, 2020
- Red Bull need a driver who will push Verstappen in 2021 - Marko - RaceFans - October 22nd, 2020
- Why Intentional Learning Is The Number One Leadership Skill You Need, Right Now - Forbes - October 8th, 2020
- Gear Up Iowa Guides Students to Success - The Simpsonian - October 8th, 2020
- Study Ranks Central Park Among Top Relaxing Destinations in World - I Love the Upper West Side - October 8th, 2020
- Skillsets are on hand for the next generation - HeraldScotland - October 8th, 2020