Working in a bank

Originally Posted by ericgohjunhui

what is meant by operation job?

goes to show how "passionate" you are! you are only interested in the front office jobs.... and don't even know how a typical bank operates.

dream on!

this is wat i gather about the threadstarter:
- a part time student in UOL
- hope to work in a investment bank
- work related to the financial markets, hopefully at the front office
- have strong interests in this sector
- have been trading and reading up on the financial news daily
- everyone is working for the money but that's definately not my case
- always wanted a competitive career in the finance sector
- what is meant by operation job?"

i believe he is not "working for the money", at least not yet, when he knows nothing
every candidate i meet has "strong interests", "willing to learn", "team player"
but most cant make it when put through the mill

i actually know of temp staff (doing clerical work), who are invited to join front office jobs due to their good performance (dedicated, meticulous, hardworking)

in short, its not what you talk, its what you do

[ericgohjunhui]

thanks for the reply. i understand how many might feel cos i dont have much knowledge on FO and i have been asking 'stupid' question. sorry for my ignorance. i truly understand its the action that speaks, that's why i seek advice through this public channel. i just hope to find out where/how can i start as i hop to go on the right track. Truly appreciate those that helped.

Originally Posted by ericgohjunhui

thanks for the reply. i understand how many might feel cos i dont have much knowledge on FO and i have been asking 'stupid' question. sorry for my ignorance. i truly understand its the action that speaks, that's why i seek advice through this public channel. i just hope to find out where/how can i start as i hop to go on the right track. Truly appreciate those that helped.

how is it that B&F students do not know about FO?
Shouldn't they be very familiar with the industry?

I know non-business grads who can tell me that.
And these are the people who eventually get job offers.

ps: posting with your full name? not very smart.

give this guy a break!
seems lost well at least geninue. for front-office role, most are from top tier mba programs or most recently financial engineeering programs. In the older days, some back-office folks could move to front, but increasingly rare given high quality candidates. A lot of traders are hanging on to their job as openings are increasing rare with tougher regulatory environment curtailing excessive risk-taking. Also traders have short life span, not because they get old or less nimble, but the market transparency and efficiency improves such that there is no competitive advantage anymore, a classic example is G10 FX. Many markets are moving towards tighter spread, and not easy to make money anymore.

Hi Eric,

You aiming to work in a bank, and front office is a good goal. Realistically, it is a lot harder to get into those roles that you are keen in and I speak from experience. The question you should ask yourself is, from where you are, are you going to be able to find a company who will give you an opportunity in the financial world. If so, how can you use that as a stepping stone for those roles you are looking to.

Alternatively, I see that you are interested in trading, if you become passionate in trading, I believe that trading is one of the best jobs in the world. I don't mean trying to get a trader job, again realistically, its really tough. What I am refering to is keeping your 9-5 government job, and trading at night. What can you trade? I might suggest US options and the forex market. These markets are recession proof as you can buy and sell any time of the year or in good or bad times. They are also very active in the night from 9pm onwards.

I have a friend who had a 9-5pm job as an engineer and developed a passion for trading. He did trading at night for a bout 3-4 years almost everyday. He eventually mastered the market and is now a full time trader for himself. He easily earns US1000 a day while spending about 3-4 hrs trading forex and us stock options. The rest of the day is to pursue his other interests.

Do think about what you are really passionate in, its easier to pursue your passions than to pursue "big salary" jobs. I am an engineer by training, I was blessed to switch to front office in a bank and now in the front office of a global financial firm dealing with derivatives. My goal is simply to be like my friend who is a full time trader. I have a strong passion for it and I believe I will be there in around 2yrs.

All the best
N. Anthony

Im a normal acad who scored 9 points & went to poly studying non banking & after army started off at DBS bank as a temp operations staff doing anti money laundering with a pay of $1.6 while studying part time at UniSIM Bsc Finance. After 1.5yrs went to Barclays Wealth Private Bank as a operations staff doing documentations with 65% pay up for 1yr and was transferred to assets creation for 0.5yrs, stil an operations staff. Found an open door to the front office as an private banker assistant, pay was adjusted by 45%. Now after 1 yr soon to b $5. Nothing is impossible in this world. Sharing my experience to encourage many who dare to dream big, pls do it with cautious planned pragmatic steps =)

Originally Posted by Unregistered

I have a friend who had a 9-5pm job as an engineer and developed a passion for trading. He did trading at night for a bout 3-4 years almost everyday. He eventually mastered the market and is now a full time trader for himself. He easily earns US1000 a day while spending about 3-4 hrs trading forex and us stock options. The rest of the day is to pursue his other interests.

mastered - yeah right. then temasek, GIC, buffett and paulson should hire 10,000 such traders and make $10m everyday.

among so many octopuses in the world, Paul the oracle made 100% correct predictions - a perfect 8 out of 8 - in the 2010 fifa world cup. this placed him in the top 0.0001% among all octopus oracles. he must be a genius. all octopuses should learn his secret prediction strategy.

my advice: don't waste time. only 10% of day (or night) traders make money. but that's because they were lucky to "discover" a lucky strategy that worked for them in that timeframe (the lucky strategy may not work thereafter), but these people go on to believe they are true geniuses and start writing books and selling seminars (some actually sell seminars despite not making money).

really. if it's so easy, surely some nice chap would have by now made trillions and gone on to change the world, eliminate poverty, build empires, explore the universe, and become god.

Agreed. Esp for stocks, everyone is a genius in a bull or recovery market.