Working in a bank

Originally Posted by Unregistered

I believe in your earning thru Forex as I do have friend who really made very much more than that.

Got to be cautious that if luck is not on your side, it will burn a deep hole into your pocket.

Nevertheless, I'm glad that you done well in trading.

Do you know of friends who have burnt deep holes in their pockets? For each friend who made "very much more than that", how many other friends have burnt holes? Is it luck or is it skill?

Originally Posted by Unregistered

I believe in your earning thru Forex as I do have friend who really made very much more than that.

Got to be cautious that if luck is not on your side, it will burn a deep hole into your pocket.

Nevertheless, I'm glad that you done well in trading.

No, i earn the most through futures trading and yes its very very risky. I treated Forex as a learning platform as you can't really lose big nor win big here unless u play a very high stake game.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

ERIC, if you are still reading this post...

You are going to get negative comments from people who find joy in putting people down. Don't let it get to you. Average achievers are generally bitter people. I consider myself an slightly above-average achiever myself @ 30 yrs, but I see your initiative coming to ask questions before going out to the workforce, which is good.

There is a perception that many people who make it into banks after undergrad studies do well and make good money. Sometimes yes, sometimes no. You should have come across this term the Bell Curve. This applies wherever you go, and I am seeing people smack in the middle of this curve in private banking, where I am. You have people who climb high, people who lag behind. My ex team mate in Switzerland worked in the same bank, same job (no promo) for 35 years. That's older than you, older than me. But he has got the widest smile in the whole department, with always a kind word especially for a foreigner like myself.

Back to your post. Find out a bit more if you can by reading forums, or talking to people. Just find out more. Some things may not be easy to understand at first but it helps if you just keep an open mind, open ear, and try to relate on your own terms.

There is a good and lucrative career in banking, and it is rewarding if you CHOOSE to make yourself stand out. That applies for Front, Middle, Back offices. It helps to move around these 3 as well though people would say Front Office pays the best. If you like human relationship and are ok with the banking world, a job as a banker pays really really well (if you are a successful one.) Operations and Middle Office jobs are not too bad although they (quite) definitely pay less. Profit Centre = Front Office. Cost Centre = Operations. You can have a rewarding career in Operations too which I would put myself as a good example.

Just keep an open mind and go for your instinct. Just fresh out of school, what you studied and what you encounter and taste in the working world seldom go hand in hand. Someone who studied banking and go on to earn 350K a year as a banker, things are beyond their wildest dreams. Those who studied the same thing and still earn 3-4K after 5 years, they will curse and lament in a 120deg radius wherever they go.

IT'S ALL RELATIVE. Find out more and if you want to venture in this direction, go for it. For you can move in this GENERAL direction and see what opportunities unfold. There is A WHOLE LOT to banking jobs/functions. A veteran would even be hard pressed to lay them all out in a jiffy.

I can only tell you I took a Dip in banking (don't know still if right move or not now) following by an overseas Bach in Econs (WRONG MOVE) then I bit the bullet to work as temp $7/hour in a top, top investment bank and told myself I am getting converted to a fulltime perm staff no matter what. Guess what, I did it in just 2 weeks when it was a tough environment then. I didn't look back since. Yes I am in Operations, but I can tell you it has been really rewarding so far. Comparing to the engineers/project managers/etc/etc/etc here who earn 200-300K, I can't even smell their continental car's smoke, but hey, It's All Relative.

++++

PEOPLE, give this guy a break. How many of you graduated and attained sudden enlightenment about what you wanna do in your life? You chose your tertiary and bachelor courses only with a half-informed mind and a vaguely-formed perception based on your observation, IMAGINATION, and HEARSAY.

You may be doing well right now, and I am happy for you, but did you get there immediately? Was it not with trial and error, and perhaps a lot of luck? So, big deal if this guy doesn't know now what is front office and back office. For the MAJORITY of you, were you fantastically better informed when you were in his position? At least he came out to ask a honest question in search of hopefully a honest opinion.

Mr Anonymous

Great inspirational speech

Was bothering me if I should further my studies in Economics and Finance as I'm nearing 24 and being too used to work as an Insurance Broker, I forgotten my career target, I forgotten promises with my friend to venture this path together. Maybe I didn't forget by accident. But by purposed.

Not to mentioned, I flung my English Language since Primary one. Secondary 5, i pass for the first time. Yes i'm academic streamed. I'm good at nothing but only Maths and Physics.

I love Physics, hate Maths. But i love Statistic, graphs, quantitative methods. So i tried means and ways to research about the requirements to be IB. After knowing all the requirements, i got my career path plan out bit by bit. I even graphed it out with sticky notes beside each and every point what i NEED to do in order to advance into next step.

However, i felt disgusted to know how the Banking society goes about when my friend became a junior IB with an 'O' level cert. Not because he is proficient in English or Maths. But he just happened to know a person inside and got in.

Worst, his senior collegues are MBA in Econs or Honors 1st class in Econs and Finance from Cambridge, London University of Econs LSE. How the hell am i comparable with lousy English and notorious school records. Do i have good relation with insiders? Do i have good education from start? I've got none. And there i had the answers to why i forgotten my career target. Is because I chose to.

It's too late for me to start. The society is just too realistic to be true. In the end, i'm still an IB (insurance broker).

Blessed and be blessed,
Des

Originally Posted by Unregistered

My career path (3 years): Operation Officer>Dealer>Full-time local at home

Cheers

Trading full-time at home can be extremely boring. I was a full-time trader for 1 year plus and now I'm deciding to go back to work for somebody. No problem, the future boss can raise his voice at me but hey, I know a job is not something that I have to have. It becomes "good to have" and I won't be stressed out anyway.

Life is not just staring at the screen and having "candlesticks" as friends. You got to meet real people. Take your job as something you do in addition to trading.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

I believe in your earning thru Forex as I do have friend who really made very much more than that.

Got to be cautious that if luck is not on your side, it will burn a deep hole into your pocket.

Nevertheless, I'm glad that you done well in trading.

Luck is never a factor for success in trading. If you think luck plays a part, you are better off "donating" your money to RWS or MBS.

It's sheer HARD WORK, my friend.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Luck is never a factor for success in trading. If you think luck plays a part, you are better off "donating" your money to RWS or MBS.

It's sheer HARD WORK, my friend.

really? so i can hire people who will WORK HARD and make billions for me?

Originally Posted by Unregistered

really? so i can hire people who will WORK HARD and make billions for me?

I guess your big boss is under this category "hiring hard working people to earn billions while he sit back and pay you a lousy pay"

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Trading full-time at home can be extremely boring. I was a full-time trader for 1 year plus and now I'm deciding to go back to work for somebody. No problem, the future boss can raise his voice at me but hey, I know a job is not something that I have to have. It becomes "good to have" and I won't be stressed out anyway.

Life is not just staring at the screen and having "candlesticks" as friends. You got to meet real people. Take your job as something you do in addition to trading.

Maybe because i'm a married man with my 1st born (4months). i feel that i can really dedicate myself to my family under this situation and I can't really see myself going back to working for other people unless i go bankrupt trading... haha and to the person who feels trading is down to luck, guess you're not in the trading sector because, trading is about identifying a pattern which you can utilize to your advantage. Of cos the trend might change but its like buying big/small in casio only the stakes are higher.

can start with a kim eng forex acct. Cheap start-up

[ericgohjunhui]

Originally Posted by Unregistered

ERIC, if you are still reading this post...

You are going to get negative comments from people who find joy in putting people down. Don't let it get to you. Average achievers are generally bitter people. I consider myself an slightly above-average achiever myself @ 30 yrs, but I see your initiative coming to ask questions before going out to the workforce, which is good.

There is a perception that many people who make it into banks after undergrad studies do well and make good money. Sometimes yes, sometimes no. You should have come across this term the Bell Curve. This applies wherever you go, and I am seeing people smack in the middle of this curve in private banking, where I am. You have people who climb high, people who lag behind. My ex team mate in Switzerland worked in the same bank, same job (no promo) for 35 years. That's older than you, older than me. But he has got the widest smile in the whole department, with always a kind word especially for a foreigner like myself.

Back to your post. Find out a bit more if you can by reading forums, or talking to people. Just find out more. Some things may not be easy to understand at first but it helps if you just keep an open mind, open ear, and try to relate on your own terms.

There is a good and lucrative career in banking, and it is rewarding if you CHOOSE to make yourself stand out. That applies for Front, Middle, Back offices. It helps to move around these 3 as well though people would say Front Office pays the best. If you like human relationship and are ok with the banking world, a job as a banker pays really really well (if you are a successful one.) Operations and Middle Office jobs are not too bad although they (quite) definitely pay less. Profit Centre = Front Office. Cost Centre = Operations. You can have a rewarding career in Operations too which I would put myself as a good example.

Just keep an open mind and go for your instinct. Just fresh out of school, what you studied and what you encounter and taste in the working world seldom go hand in hand. Someone who studied banking and go on to earn 350K a year as a banker, things are beyond their wildest dreams. Those who studied the same thing and still earn 3-4K after 5 years, they will curse and lament in a 120deg radius wherever they go.

IT'S ALL RELATIVE. Find out more and if you want to venture in this direction, go for it. For you can move in this GENERAL direction and see what opportunities unfold. There is A WHOLE LOT to banking jobs/functions. A veteran would even be hard pressed to lay them all out in a jiffy.

I can only tell you I took a Dip in banking (don't know still if right move or not now) following by an overseas Bach in Econs (WRONG MOVE) then I bit the bullet to work as temp $7/hour in a top, top investment bank and told myself I am getting converted to a fulltime perm staff no matter what. Guess what, I did it in just 2 weeks when it was a tough environment then. I didn't look back since. Yes I am in Operations, but I can tell you it has been really rewarding so far. Comparing to the engineers/project managers/etc/etc/etc here who earn 200-300K, I can't even smell their continental car's smoke, but hey, It's All Relative.

++++

PEOPLE, give this guy a break. How many of you graduated and attained sudden enlightenment about what you wanna do in your life? You chose your tertiary and bachelor courses only with a half-informed mind and a vaguely-formed perception based on your observation, IMAGINATION, and HEARSAY.

You may be doing well right now, and I am happy for you, but did you get there immediately? Was it not with trial and error, and perhaps a lot of luck? So, big deal if this guy doesn't know now what is front office and back office. For the MAJORITY of you, were you fantastically better informed when you were in his position? At least he came out to ask a honest question in search of hopefully a honest opinion.

Thanks alot sir. i learnt alot through what u have typed. it really inspire me and i will definately do more research in what i can do in order for me to go into this role in IB. Thanks