Working in a bank

thanks for the insights. having done executive search before for a short time i agree, most ppl will be shock if they ever find out how much the so call condemn functions like ops, hr, it, finance etc. are making. in many case its even higher than those frontline functions.

main difference is those frontline sales and customer facing function have a culture willing to spend, brag and act cool, so ppl w/o industry knowledge get the wrong impression they are very rich.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

I disagree with the common misconception that ops is boring SOP nothing to learn and no future while "FO" (don't think anyone in banking industry considers them FO btw) like Priority, Private, Commercial or Corporate Banking is sexy, exciting, high paying and can progress quickly.

Ops side also got people move up to SVP or MD level and if you are a low level Manager or AVP grunt the work is going to be boring as you are really just doing all the 'sai gang' for the higher ups. Other than those elite jobs where people with talents or connections jump straight into action, this sort of hardship is just requirement that most people need to go through for the first 10-20 years of their career.

Sometimes I hear similar complains from my peers in other industries always saying how support or ops depts cannot make it nothing to learn and sales & marketing is where all the action & money is. But if you look at it objectively, IT support also can rise up to IT Director / CTO, Procurement can be Supply Chain Director, operations can be COO etc.

It's all about whether you can move up the ladder with a combination of performance, politics, connections and luck. This idea that the closer you are to revenue generating and customer facing, the more to learn and faster salary progression is just not true for most industries including banking.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

thanks for the insights. having done executive search before for a short time i agree, most ppl will be shock if they ever find out how much the so call condemn functions like ops, hr, it, finance etc. are making. in many case its even higher than those frontline functions.

main difference is those frontline sales and customer facing function have a culture willing to spend, brag and act cool, so ppl w/o industry knowledge get the wrong impression they are very rich.

his is an insight that I'm encountering for the first time. If you don't mind sharing, and just to put things into perspective, how much can someone in a so called "condemned" function like ops be raking in with say, 5 yrs and 10 yrs of exp?
From what I know, people in non front-line functions are usually paid less at the junior levels, so does this gap decrease towards the senior levels?

Originally Posted by Unregistered

his is an insight that I'm encountering for the first time. If you don't mind sharing, and just to put things into perspective, how much can someone in a so called "condemned" function like ops be raking in with say, 5 yrs and 10 yrs of exp?
From what I know, people in non front-line functions are usually paid less at the junior levels, so does this gap decrease towards the senior levels?

I think the gap between a foreign bank vs a local bank is pretty big. For example, GS/JPM pays their fresh grads in ops about 4.5k starting.

The base does tend to narrow to a certain extent a higher level, but the bonus are way more in FO, some times more than the base even in a good year of deals.

How is the culture like at the BBs? Bunch of money-minded alphas and egos, should be brutal?

[JAMJAM]

I am one year in one of the civil service doing accounting work. Drawing about 5k pm excluding bonuses. However, I am thinking of joining the bank in middle office/front office under fresh graduate hire .

I do not have past internship experiences in bank. However, I want a more challenging lifestyle and I don't mind the pay cut as long as there's good progression. What are the chances of me able to join the mid/front office?

Thanks in advance

Originally Posted by JAMJAM

I am one year in one of the civil service doing accounting work. Drawing about 5k pm excluding bonuses. However, I am thinking of joining the bank in middle office/front office under fresh graduate hire .

I do not have past internship experiences in bank. However, I want a more challenging lifestyle and I don't mind the pay cut as long as there's good progression. What are the chances of me able to join the mid/front office?

Thanks in advance

Your pay in civil service is high as an entry level.

Are you sure you want a pay cut? Unless you join a graduate program, your starting pay will probably be between 3k to 4k. Your one year is civil service is not relevant as the tenure is too short and the experience is not related as well.

Why was everyone so b*tchy towards TS? He was just trying to find out more about this industry. Can't people have dreams?!

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Your pay in civil service is high as an entry level.

Are you sure you want a pay cut? Unless you join a graduate program, your starting pay will probably be between 3k to 4k. Your one year is civil service is not relevant as the tenure is too shorrt and the experience is not related as well.

I don’t mind the pay cut as I took up civil service to pay off some of my loan and to accumulate some capital. But I would need some guidance on this to jump to private sector as fresh grad as I am concern more about career progression. I am afraid I won’t even get through the first round in bank since most of the pipe line is from summer internship programme. Hope someone is able to shed some light on this.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

I don’t mind the pay cut as I took up civil service to pay off some of my loan and to accumulate some capital. But I would need some guidance on this to jump to private sector as fresh grad as I am concern more about career progression. I am afraid I won’t even get through the first round in bank since most of the pipe line is from summer internship programme. Hope someone is able to shed some light on this.

Bump for replies!

There is a very fking big difference between IBD, Prop desk, FICC sales and the losers who stand at mrt stations, bank branches, wearing Hermes, Ferragamo, Gucci belts. Many of them purchase fake rolexes, panerai, but have no money to go overseas except for fking Bangkok. For the losers selling loans, insurance, financial plans, they have rubbish basic salary and have little to zero knowledge on anything related to financial markets. All the AXA, AIA, and people who have titles such as relationship manager @ DBS, personal financial consultant, are making peanuts ands targeting elders to hit their sales targets.

These losers draw 2.8-3.3k and dress like their making 10k which is the base of an FICC sales and trading intern. But their language, their grooming, reveals they are nothing but rejects. I laugh Everytime I see these wannabes.