I (29 years old) am planning my career, any advice?

[wahlaoeh]

Originally Posted by Unregistered

and it is very costly. 62K i think..

Yup, an MBA at the local unis cost 60k thereabouts. That is why I didn't apply for an MBA anyway, I don't have the money.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

I don't deny that you are probably smart.

What you need now is to get it certified from a good school. The local unis are fine.

I think an MBA is better than a masters though, and it might be something you want to consider. Work your butt off and do it well, and doors will open.

Thanks for the encouragement my friend. Treat you to Kopi if you send me your FB or mobile :P

Originally Posted by Unregistered

I think chances are if you get a msters, you will still end up in some junior analyst or other back office role in a bank that pays around what you are getting now. Of course you can argue it better equips you to get promoted, but I’ve always felt that promotions are much dependent on other real factors than academics. Higher academics make a key difference in highly technical/engineering roles, but have limited value-add in general business analytic in a support department.

As for getting a masters in Monash Malaysia, I strongly advise against that. It isn’t going to put weight into your CV and that’s just throwing good money down the drain. You already have a private bachelor’s certificate, getting another private masters from Malaysia will still rank you behind a local university bachelor grad.

Your views are quite insightful.

I have been sending out over 100 resumes trying too get another job but to no avail. I didn't even get a reply from anyone. I did get a few replies but they were from overseas employers.

I have been stuck in the management accountant job for 3-4 years now, I don't see a way up in my company. I don't mind starting as an analyst job in a bank and working my way up, after 5 years, I can be an associate and earn about 6-8k that is pretty good for me. Will banks take on 30 year olds as a fresh analyst? I don't get the too old thing as I still have 32 years of working life inside me assuming the retirement age is 62 and people do quit jobs often anyway.

You mentioned you earn 300k/year, that is about 20k+ per month, which is what a surgeon/CEO earns. Even a lawyer would need to work for at least a decade or so and make partner to earn that amount.

You are easily within the top 5% in terms of income in Singapore. Do you mind sharing with us your job/career path and how you did it? Are you in sales?

[wahlaoeh]

Originally Posted by Unregistered

I happen to catch this part of the thread. You are an interesting person and I would like to know more.

A RMIT graduate at a C-level position earning 300k ... that's amazing! Those from prestigious schools only reach VP. And it even gets rarer to go from 200k to 300k. I hope you can share, what line, what company? Base on my known, I would guess:

- Maybe started at a fund, worked your way up to Portfolio Manager had a good call in the markets. 200k base with 100k bonus.
- I can't see MNC banks front office role. I doubt I spotted a RMIT grad there.
- Running your own business but you said you're C-level so you're probably working in a place bigger than a SME.

I'm interested how you got where you are now.

Exactly, we are all interested.

Even a doctor who gets all 'As' and does everything right and becomes a surgeon will need at least 10-20 years to earn 200-300k post grad. Ditto for a lawyer.

Maybe if you are a top salesman you can earn that much, otherwise, it is out of reach for us earthly beings.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

He didn't say he is holding a c-level position. he say he would go to MBA IF he intend to go c-level position. i guess is 300k annum (if real) is his own business.

That is correct, I will only do my MBA if I plan to go for a c-level position. I'm working in middle office (but not operations) in an international bank. $300k is based plus bonus (1month only). Honestly, I doubt I will earn this kind of money if I run my own business. I don't think I have talent in running a business.

I probably stay in this field and try to move to business management (non sales related), if such a chance comes along.

How many years have you been in mid office?

May I know which role as well? I can do some back checking on my end to verify the numbers.

Hello, I am also 29 years old. here to seek some advice.

I have a local degree from NUS, business. been working for 2 weeks. My past 2 years I have been doing IT support, mainly phone support.

I would like to move to doing business as I have interest there and I have a degree in that. My question is are there any courses that I can take with $5,000 to up my market value, seeing that I only have phone support experience.

thank you.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Hello, I am also 29 years old. here to seek some advice.

I have a local degree from NUS, business. been working for 2 weeks. My past 2 years I have been doing IT support, mainly phone support.

I would like to move to doing business as I have interest there and I have a degree in that. My question is are there any courses that I can take with $5,000 to up my market value, seeing that I only have phone support experience.

thank you.

Wow local grad doing phone support?! You should really move out of the job ASAP.

I suggest that you agree to take a serious pay cut and start off in a graduate entry-level role.

[wahlaoeh]

Originally Posted by Unregistered

That is correct, I will only do my MBA if I plan to go for a c-level position. I'm working in middle office (but not operations) in an international bank. $300k is based plus bonus (1month only). Honestly, I doubt I will earn this kind of money if I run my own business. I don't think I have talent in running a business.

I probably stay in this field and try to move to business management (non sales related), if such a chance comes along.

AFAIK, only directors make that much money in banks.

that's if you are not a top dealer/sales/trader (front office)....

Originally Posted by wahlaoeh

Yup, an MBA at the local unis cost 60k thereabouts. That is why I didn't apply for an MBA anyway, I don't have the money.



Thanks for the encouragement my friend. Treat you to Kopi if you send me your FB or mobile :P



Your views are quite insightful.

I have been sending out over 100 resumes trying too get another job but to no avail. I didn't even get a reply from anyone. I did get a few replies but they were from overseas employers.

I have been stuck in the management accountant job for 3-4 years now, I don't see a way up in my company. I don't mind starting as an analyst job in a bank and working my way up, after 5 years, I can be an associate and earn about 6-8k that is pretty good for me. Will banks take on 30 year olds as a fresh analyst? I don't get the too old thing as I still have 32 years of working life inside me assuming the retirement age is 62 and people do quit jobs often anyway.

You mentioned you earn 300k/year, that is about 20k+ per month, which is what a surgeon/CEO earns. Even a lawyer would need to work for at least a decade or so and make partner to earn that amount.

You are easily within the top 5% in terms of income in Singapore. Do you mind sharing with us your job/career path and how you did it? Are you in sales?

Just to clarify, I am not the same guy with that 300k claim, so I can't answer for that.

I suspect is something is stopping you from progressing - it could be poor interview/cv skills, lack of professional network, problematic presentation or interaction skills, not being able to adapt and play the corporate game etc. It is unlikely that having no masters is the main impediment, management accountant is a pretty common standard job, you don't need masters to progress.

As for banking, the problem isn't about you or your POV - it's all about demand and supply. You might think 30+ years old isn't that bad, but what about the bank's POV? Every year they have hundreds if not thousands of fresh grads in their early 20s from local university, ivy leagues to full time private universities applying to get in. Most are probably with honours as well.

Even within this new young cohort they can only pick like 5% while discarding the remaining 95%. In what way would someone who is 30+, has a general local MBA, a lackluster career in management accountancy, no direct relevant experience appeal to them?

Also it is highly unlikely that after joining the bank at 3-4k as an analyst you will be able to double your salary to 6-8k in 5 years. That's like a 15% increase consecutively for 5 years - very unlikely unless you are a high potential MA. Bank normal increments average 4% p.a. with 10-15% if its a promotion year. You do the Maths and you will realize your expectations in this area are too far off from reality also.

My advice is to look at other areas that I have listed for competency gaps and see if you can improve them. Banking all your hopes that spending more money to get a masters that you can barely comprehend due to lack of senior responsibility and does not even provide you with useful professional networks is just setting up for disappointment.

It's very traditional thinking that MBA is to move into C-level positions. Nowadays there are EMBA for that but those are just a farce, to charge the company ridiculous amount of tuition fees since the candidates are sponsored anyway.

The true value of an MBA is the network you'll make. Head to a M7 MBA, you'll most likely meet the next CEO of a F500 company. Next, you'll get to reset your career, many prestigious companies like big3 consulting, Google, Banks and etc have dedicated MBA program, you're looking at recouping your tuition within your first year of working here. Total tuition fee for a 2 year program is about 150k USD while an MBA grad can expect between 120k to 150k before bonus at a consulting firm and even more at banks and PE.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

It's very traditional thinking that MBA is to move into C-level positions. Nowadays there are EMBA for that but those are just a farce, to charge the company ridiculous amount of tuition fees since the candidates are sponsored anyway.

The true value of an MBA is the network you'll make. Head to a M7 MBA, you'll most likely meet the next CEO of a F500 company. Next, you'll get to reset your career, many prestigious companies like big3 consulting, Google, Banks and etc have dedicated MBA program, you're looking at recouping your tuition within your first year of working here. Total tuition fee for a 2 year program is about 150k USD while an MBA grad can expect between 120k to 150k before bonus at a consulting firm and even more at banks and PE.

nobody here is talking abt some abstract elite mba for F500 CEO that doesnt apply for 99.9% of the forumers here. do u have any insights to share for nus/nut mba?