For people who wanna get into Investment Banking and do Corporate Finance/Advisory from UOL and think it's hopeless. It's not hopeless, h*ck... if you know what you are doing, am proactive and patient, even third class honors don't matter. Most important things are network and luck. Academic pedigree, since already lacking, you cannot aim this angle. Trust me, some IBs in sg have Harvard MBA applying for analyst role. Meaning.. you cannot expect to send your application with nothing outstanding (just FCH don't cut it) to show, knows no one inside and expects an interview. Even if you have 2-3 years job experience, if not in CF, utterly useless - unless you damn veteran in a niche technical industry like Metals and Mining. Some IB practice generalist approach, most are split into industry, especially if you are in deal origination. I've seen alot of IB directors in a certain industry possess non-finance background. They are there cause they have technical knowledge and know enough people in the industry.

So even if you have third class honors, there's 3 ways..

First, you come from a rich family, someone in your family happens to be a client of an IB, etc.. This is the easiest and most sure-fire way. Too many white horses running around man... So if you fall into this category, Check around, ask around. I dunno how this works in a rich family, I come from a very poor family.

Second, You damn ninja at networking. Figure this out yourself, not easy. Be a great person, be daring and talk to industry people. For IB/CF, the network in Singapore is smaller than you think.

Third, You are very lucky, work in a role where you can access and network to people in the relevant industry who can help you. But of course, for this to work, your work performance have to be superb and you have to be likeable.

IB doesn't really need brilliant people, they just need 3-4 extra brilliant individual at the top doing deals, talk big picture and structure and then have the rest do grunt work. Due to supply and demand, well, they can cherry pick all brilliant people for junior role and drop most along the way in an attempt to get the survivor. So if you are not brilliant, be tenacious.

Of course, saying all these, you are fighting for a limited number of position in a hyper competitive industry. Even if it's not hopeless, you can try very very hard, and still don't get in. But seriously... this isn't the only job that can make you rich if that's what you want.

I wish you all luck.

P.S. That being said, personally I don't know anyone who got lousy grades and become a high flyer in CF. So if you do get in, please do something to improve your academic profile, you are supposed to be tenacious anyway. For people who are curious, yes, I was from UOL (Upper second) and currently doing CF.

how much u make per annum doing cf?

in fortune500 coy or iB? share your story pls

Compliance role in a bank
 

Hi, just wondering anyone here has experience working in a compliance role in a bank. Just exploring my career options and I'm wondering if this could be a possible career route.

I've heard of aml, kyc etc etc but just wondering on a daily basis is it a very repeititive work, what are the prospects and working hours like? ( must work on weekends??) is it also very stressful to the point u have no life outside of work?

Thanks in advance :)

Graduated from SIM-UOL in 2011 with second upper honours in Economics & Management. Considered entering a bank as a analyst with my economics major but decided not to since I'd be in direct competition with many Banking & Finance majors.

Entered a German IT MNC shortly for 2.5K and worked for 2 years, with constant pay raises to 2.7K. Working conditions were good for me. Entered operations line (with relevance to procurement).

Sim uol grad here Anf- fch, offered the following:

Bank of tokyo (6mth contract) -2650
Nexia- audit associate -2500
Singapore power - 3000
Protiviti -2800
3 mth Trade finance executive internship - 1400

Still awaiting a reply from one stat board.


Have about 2 years auditing experience

You actually believed the story above? If so that poster really has good story telling amd journalistic abilities. Guess the poster is thinking of ways to draft an interesting story to make ot seems like an underdog story that everybody loves. UOL grads doing cf and ib is more difficult than striking toto. The chances of you striking the lottery is higher. Unless he is doing customer service or sales in corporate finance roles. Then that is believeable, dont fall for optimistic or post that gives false hope to aspiring bankers. That would never happen to an average person.

Instead, focus on a realistic option to work towards instead of dreaming being the next "wolf of wall street".

Hi !

Graduated last yr May and gotten a compliance role with a european bank specializing in the area of aml risk n controls.

At entry levels, AML/kyc roles r paid lower than their middle/front office counterparts. You don't really have to work late / OT over the wkends becoz workloads r generally manageable. But of coz there r days u have to come back during wkends for UAT testing, etc. And , u will have plenty of "life" outside. It all comes down to how u manage your work. Every tasks that you're given with r tagged with a deadline. U screw it up, u stay back n finish it. Some banks separate AML/KYC with compliance coz at low lvls things r generally quite mundane. But as u progresses up, to somebody that provides advisory, yr pay increases exponentially. At AVP level, you can expect around 5-7k basic depending on which part of the bank u serve. From what i know, private banking pays much more to their AML executives... As you clock the hours, you might wanna explore different other compliance functions. There r specific areas within compliance that pays very well :) Unfortunately, they dont just accept any fresh grad with no prior exp in regulatory roles, you gotta work your way up there. There r also professional certs (subsidized by MAS) which banks favor it a lot.

P.S: graduated with FCH and drawing just abit below mid 3s.

Thanks! Really appreciate your reply. So in terms of work life balance it seems pretty decent cause I was previously doing external auditing and there was definitely no work life balance. Is what u mentioned true for those in senior positions as well (vp) in terms of work load? Also just curious how did u manage to secure your current role? Did u have prior compliance experience? I have tried applying for compliance positions, even contract ones and the ones that are only looking for dip holders or paying low. However,
I have not had any response, probably due to my lack of experience. In that case, how can I ever get the chance to work in a compliance function? Thanks in advance! :)

At senior level things r rather more stressful coz not only u have to carry out your daily BAU , most of the time they have projects to manage. U carry much greater responsibilities but your pay correlates with it :) .. but not to the extent of coming into office at 7am and leaving at 10pm everyday lah.

I had a short stint in aml compliance with a foreign bank as a contract staff before i graduated.. learned the core concepts of aml compliance n some of the basic operational procedures n decided that this is the route i wanna take.. went n interviewed with another foreign bank after finishing my exam.. instead of askin what i studied, the interview focused mainly on what i did last time during my contractual days... there r other 3 new joiners that joined with me.. all of them have at least 2-3yrs of workin exp with me the only 1 thats a freshie :(

im quite lucky i guess.. my managers liked me n r giving me ample learning space to familiarize the full scope of aml compliance.. (basically "sai kang" warrior that knows everything).. but i intend to move this yr.. afterall at the end of the day we work for $.

Like i mentioned earlier, the requirements for aml/kyc r rather lax.. as long u unstd english n equipped with common sense u would qualify for it. I hav to caution u first.. they r many ppl comin in n joinin this line now.. to the point banks have a large pool of candidates to choose from , hence pay packages will be diluted.. u gotta set yourself distinct from others. How to do so? I leave it for u to find it out on your own... good luck

Uol
 

Hi, I'm set to graduate this year with at least a second lower class, BnF. I've been following this thread and I must say, I'm not exactly surprised that UOL degree holders command lesser pay. But I would like to ask, what can i expect if I want a job in a bank?

I know of local uni students earning roughly around $2k plus too, so I guess we are not alone. I think it depends on the opportunities presented to us.