I just gt offered the Standchart ops management trainee program. There were 2 online tests, one hr interview n 2 interviews with the line managers. Is this considered a true program?

Dont sound like it

can someone clarify which depts are:

- front
- middle and
- back?

That's a huge worry for me then. Can fellow contributors shed some light as to what jobs are available for econs grads? Perhaps an estimation of the salary as well?

I am thinking of getting cfa or other professional certification in when i'm closing in to uni grad. Will that help in my future career prospect?

What are your career options graduating from Econs? Not talking about everything under the sun but realistic/relevant/practical options?

1. Become an economist. Where? MAS or in-house Economist (sell-side, in banks) or a similar research function at fund managers (e.g. GIC)

2. Related functions within financial services. You don't aspire to do Ops so it is mainly the front office positions. Sales/Trading? Not likely. They prefer more quant background. No added advantage at all for your econs major. Corp Finance? Not likely. They prefer accounting/banking finance. Equities? Perhaps. But equal footing against accounting/b&f.


For 1, there is a very limited number of such jobs. Hence you need to be really creme of the crop. Also, most houses want to hire experienced economist and rarely have any graduate program. This narrows down your chances of starting well.

For 2, there is no added advantage of Econs. Maybe even disadvantage since some depts/roles consider Econs as akin to Arts (i.e General Degree). I think in NUS, Econs is under Arts fac?

generally most ntu/nus degrees will land you a job in civil service where you won't be poor but you wont get rich also. jobs like econs teacher, financial writer for bloomberg/sph come to mind. You can try applying to MAS, MTI, CPF, IRAS too. You do know that different service tracks (financial, generalist etc.) in civil service are paid differently right - the financial or professional track being paid slightly higher.

I think if you want to earn mega huge salaries its probably easier by being a property agent. I mean that not as a slight to you but realistically speaking. Everyone wants to get into investment banking but like as the guy above me said, there are so many people chasing after that limited pool of jobs and these are already the cream of the crop. your resume might not even go pass HR even.

Front: Generally client facing. Revenue generating. Usually in-charge of a client portfolio / have revenue targets. Example, sales & trading, corp fin, research, corporate RM, GTS sales, Wealth mgmt RM, Personal banking RM

Middle: Support functions like Finance, Risk, Legal, Accounting

Back: Operations & Technology

Hey yes, it is offered under Arts. However I am aiming to graduate with Social Science (hons) instead. Frankly I find Arts pretty ridiculous to graduate with the basic requirements stated.

But anyway, I believe econs will instill critical analytical skills which will be crucial when i progress to finance/ trading area. Hence explaining why i am looking at taking up CFA prog. Just wondering will taking CFA help in this sense?(I haven't been as far in life compared to you guys, so i ask for your humble opinions on this) Also, econs will do myself good when i am doing personal trading.

Although i know school seminars are pretty much a big scam, but there was this graduate (graduated not long ago) invited to share his experiences. He is currently working in one of the big 4 in sg, and he graduated with BA(econ). Perhaps he's one in a million, but just wondering, what do you think he is working as? (I apologize if this question sounds illogical)

Hey wern, that is something that hasn't come to my mind yet.
Yes, totally agree with your first paragraph. What i deter is to get stuck in a miserable position for ages and retire in manner. Imagine life in the same position for 10years for instance, never promoted, no pay rise, no opportunity to perform. That, to me, equates to wasting my life.

I guess putting in effort followed with experiences gained, that should open the option to look for better prospect? Is that how it works?

Just to side track a little, I guess connections matter more than what's reflected on paper. I have a friend who's 1 year my senior. She schooled in SIM UOL for banking and finance, which her father had already began training her (on market stuff/ finance i'm not so sure about the specifics) since she was 16. Upon graduation, she got into c*t*Bank as her first job. In less than 6mths, she went on to work at erm, well established private bank (which normally accepts people with a certain years of experience) and once again, in less than 9 months, she's now in B**c*** working happily.

I think in her case, she's one in a billion where her career progression is like on steroids.

If you're feeling brave, put in a ridiculously low amount, just so that you'll get questioned about it.

Or put in negotiable.

What businesses want is a set of skills at a ridiculously low price. If you put 2.8, and they have 3.5 in the budget, congratulations, you've just cut off 0.7 for yourself. If you put 3.6, congratulations again, you've just disqualified yourself.

So, before putting a figure in there, think about what it means, if you're the one running the business. Then, put on your thinking hat as a candidate again, and I'm sure now, you've a better idea what to put.