OCBC Graduate Talent Programme 2019 (Previously Young Banker)

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Offers are out!

Hahah I just got mine also. See you inside!

[megalomaniac]

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Standardised - 4.4k in 2020.

Fake news. I was just offered 4.6k today as FCH. Salaries are still tiered.

Anyway, for the others who got in as well, looking forward to meet you guys

Can those offered share a little bit more about the panel interview and how it went? Thanks so much having mine next week!

[megalomaniac]

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Can those offered share a little bit more about the panel interview and how it went? Thanks so much having mine next week!

Mine was with HR, 2 grad programme managers and a manager from the business function that I applied to.

They were generally quite nice, and mostly asked me to describe my previous experience (internships etc) and skillsets that would be applicable to the job.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Which are the best and worst divisions to be in? In terms of career growth and prospects

Ranking:
1. Finance/Treasury
2. Corp banking (front and middle offices)
3. Consumer/retail banking (front and middle offices)
4. Ops and tech


Above list applies only to career prospects within the Finance industry (not just banks but corporates as well). I did not list HR, Legal etc. as these are support functions that lie outside of the industry.


1. Finance/Treasury
Coveted divisions that are in high demand for all banks and MNCs, not just OCBC. Singapore's status as a financial hub enables such positions and skillsets to be high-paying as well. Shielded from troublesome external stakeholders such as demanding customers. High career mobility as almost every company requires these 2 functions. MNCs and trading companies like to establish their regional finance and treasury HQ in SG as well (the hope is to jump to a BB bank or an international commodity/trading firm). Potential for good worklife balance as less subject to tight deadlines and SLAs as other divisions.


2. Corp banking
More room for growth compared to consumer banking as the banking needs of companies are more sophisticated than a person's. However local banks' corporate client portfolios are disproportionately weighted towards local SMEs. The skillset required to service such SMEs is much simpler and narrower than for MNCs as the former mostly require just simple cash management products. MNCs, especially trading companies, have more diverse needs, such as FX and trade finance. For good career prospects, aim to service the MNCs and not SMEs. The skills picked up will be valuable when applying for job at corporates as well.


3. Consumer/retail banking
Similar to corp banking, aim to service the higher end of the market, private banking is most prestigious and lucrative.


4. Ops and tech
Back office. Viewed as cost centre and is thus located out of CBD, where front and middle offices are. Manual and operational tasks. Constantly getting whacked by customer, front office and middle office. Outdated IT systems. Lotsa OT. Need I say more?

Originally Posted by Unregistered

4. Ops and tech
Back office. Viewed as cost centre and is thus located out of CBD, where front and middle offices are. Manual and operational tasks. Constantly getting whacked by customer, front office and middle office. Outdated IT systems. Lotsa OT. Need I say more?

Is O&T really that bad? I understand that for ops this is probably the case, but tech/digital transformation seems to be trending these days in every industry. Plus banks need to compete with other industries for people who have the technical skill.

Originally Posted by megalomaniac

Fake news. I was just offered 4.6k today as FCH. Salaries are still tiered.

Anyway, for the others who got in as well, looking forward to meet you guys

How about 2nd Upper or 2nd Lower? Anyone knows the updated amt?

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Is O&T really that bad? I understand that for ops this is probably the case, but tech/digital transformation seems to be trending these days in every industry. Plus banks need to compete with other industries for people who have the technical skill.

Yes tech in local bank is bad as well. Firstly, the systems in use are mostly legacy systems that have existed since the 20th century. Such systems are archaic, have their own scripts and languages and are not open source. What this means is that whatever you learn about these systems will not be useful in almost any other company (except for other companies that use the same system, which is at most 2, UOB and DBS). Secondly, even if the local banks want to power ahead with digitisation and innovation, they are hamstrung by MAS regulations, which impose the highest levels of cyber security. While most companies are free to host their data online through cutting edge cloud services such as AWS or Microsoft Azure, I'm quite sure local banks are not free to do so, as customer banking details are deemed far too sensitive to be sitting in some server room in a foreign country, to which MAS, SPF and the banks themselves have no physical access. This is just one example of banking regulations stifling digital innovation. If you want more examples, you may want to check out Jack Ma's rant against the Chinese banks. The same gripes can be levelled at our local banks. Don't get me wrong though, I'm not taking his side, or any side. I'm simply making the point that digital transformation is hampered by regulations and cybersecurity concerns in a local bank. Thirdly, contrary to your statement, banks (at least the local banks) do not need to compete for top tech talent, because most of their IT systems are not developed in-house. They only need managers who can manage the vendors who develop the systems. Lastly, even if banks wished to hire quality tech talent, they are not paying enough and the work is unattractive and boring. When GTP 2021 starts, take a look around you and see how many tech GTs graduated from NUS/NTU com science. Likely 0. As a CS grad, a local bank would be one of the worst places to work in. And 4.6k is not nearly enough to attract a local CS grad. I don't think OCBC, DBS or UOB have managed to hire a single local uni CS grad through their fresh grad programmes in the last few years, and with demand for such talent continuing to heat up, their failure to attract such talent would likely continue.

Offered $3200. Second upper uol. Times are bad so took up the offer even with such pay and with uol being a inferior degree.

Ops **** on tech as well. Because when systems are down, it is tech's fault. Ops dept cannot process customer transactions and will complain to tech dept. In banking, no system can afford to go offline for even the smallest amount of time. It is like our Singtel/Starhub/M1, when network down, the whole country is affected and it will be in the news.