Big4 Advisory VS Banking Tech & Ops

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Market entry feasibility is just a fancy word for market research & reporting, commercial due diligence is what it is, a process implementation. These aren't business or financial strategy stuff in any meaningful sense. Only freshies who are not exposed to senior echelons of decision making will call that "strategy". At most, I would classify them as a niche form of financial operations and planning.

Hi, you sound like been through this before, may I know what is your background? I often hear that joining big4 advisory is the ticket to moving to real consulting or strategic finance senior management roles in multinationals.

Is this true? Because the offer so far is honestly not attractive and the HR over there keep selling me career prospects in the long term, but I am hearing conflicting information everywhere.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Hi, you sound like been through this before, may I know what is your background? I often hear that joining big4 advisory is the ticket to moving to real consulting or strategic finance senior management roles in multinationals.

Is this true? Because the offer so far is honestly not attractive and the HR over there keep selling me career prospects in the long term, but I am hearing conflicting information everywhere.

it depends how well u perform in that. which dept/firm are u referring to?
btw, back office bonuses are not fantastic even for Foreign BBs

Was in a similar position as TS 2 years ago. Went for bank tech grad prog eventually.

Pro:
Starting pay 4.8k vs 2.7k (during that time.. now is 5k vs 3k for fresh grads, I think)
Better company benefits (more leave, insurance etc)
Senior management attention (HR, mentor, bosses)
Promotion/take up managerial roles quickly (team lead, project manager)
Good hours (most of the time)

Con:
Outsourcing/Offshoring always a threat
Sometimes can be political (instead of doing value-adding work)
Limited exposure; only internal (in big4 you get to work with multiple clients)
Highly performance based (unlike big4 you more or less always get promoted till Manager)

Pay is a major factor to me... Better performers from my batch (like me) are getting 7-8k now while average ones are drawing 5.5-6k. Our big 4 peers just hit 4k recently but they will eventually catch up in a few more years, if they stay on.

Conclusion: Join a reputable grad prog if possible!

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Was in a similar position as TS 2 years ago. Went for bank tech grad prog eventually.

Pro:
Starting pay 4.8k vs 2.7k (during that time.. now is 5k vs 3k for fresh grads, I think)
Better company benefits (more leave, insurance etc)
Senior management attention (HR, mentor, bosses)
Promotion/take up managerial roles quickly (team lead, project manager)
Good hours (most of the time)

Con:
Outsourcing/Offshoring always a threat
Sometimes can be political (instead of doing value-adding work)
Limited exposure; only internal (in big4 you get to work with multiple clients)
Highly performance based (unlike big4 you more or less always get promoted till Manager)

Pay is a major factor to me... Better performers from my batch (like me) are getting 7-8k now while average ones are drawing 5.5-6k. Our big 4 peers just hit 4k recently but they will eventually catch up in a few more years, if they stay on.

Conclusion: Join a reputable grad prog if possible!

that was straight out of school ya?
was the switch from TS to tech hard?

Originally Posted by Unregistered

that was straight out of school ya?
was the switch from TS to tech hard?

Any insights for software implementation consultants for grads straight out of school?

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Was in a similar position as TS 2 years ago. Went for bank tech grad prog eventually.

Pro:
Starting pay 4.8k vs 2.7k (during that time.. now is 5k vs 3k for fresh grads, I think)
Better company benefits (more leave, insurance etc)
Senior management attention (HR, mentor, bosses)
Promotion/take up managerial roles quickly (team lead, project manager)
Good hours (most of the time)

Con:
Outsourcing/Offshoring always a threat
Sometimes can be political (instead of doing value-adding work)
Limited exposure; only internal (in big4 you get to work with multiple clients)
Highly performance based (unlike big4 you more or less always get promoted till Manager)

Pay is a major factor to me... Better performers from my batch (like me) are getting 7-8k now while average ones are drawing 5.5-6k. Our big 4 peers just hit 4k recently but they will eventually catch up in a few more years, if they stay on.

Conclusion: Join a reputable grad prog if possible!

Congrats on your big salary jump. How are your working hours like? What kind of programming language and projects do you deal with?

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Was in a similar position as TS 2 years ago. Went for bank tech grad prog eventually.

Pro:
Starting pay 4.8k vs 2.7k (during that time.. now is 5k vs 3k for fresh grads, I think)
Better company benefits (more leave, insurance etc)
Senior management attention (HR, mentor, bosses)
Promotion/take up managerial roles quickly (team lead, project manager)
Good hours (most of the time)

Con:
Outsourcing/Offshoring always a threat
Sometimes can be political (instead of doing value-adding work)
Limited exposure; only internal (in big4 you get to work with multiple clients)
Highly performance based (unlike big4 you more or less always get promoted till Manager)

Pay is a major factor to me... Better performers from my batch (like me) are getting 7-8k now while average ones are drawing 5.5-6k. Our big 4 peers just hit 4k recently but they will eventually catch up in a few more years, if they stay on.

Conclusion: Join a reputable grad prog if possible!

Wow I didn't know bank tech and ops pay so well! Do you provide any specialized skills? I am assuming it's mainly catered to computer science/info systems graduates?

Originally Posted by Unregistered

Wow I didn't know bank tech and ops pay so well! Do you provide any specialized skills? I am assuming it's mainly catered to computer science/info systems graduates?

take note that bank tech jobs are EXTREMELY tend to being outsourced or downsized whenever a financial downturn hits (which is every 5 years) due to it being a cost center......

join at your own risk if you are the type looking into job security and stability but it ain't.

take note that bank tech jobs are EXTREMELY tend to being outsourced or downsized whenever a financial downturn hits (which is every 5 years) due to it being a cost center.....

Actually, it's the reverse now. Not sure about local banks but I can confirm that across all foreign BBs (with exception of Barclays which moved out of SG for tech), they have been aggressively moving towards inhousing -> in fact the number of tech staff across most foreign BBs have increased a lot since 5 years ago.

One thing to note is that for international MNCs, the attitude towards technology is very different from local companies (i.e they no longer think that outsourcing is a solution, but rather, recognizing the importance of having tech innovation). This may or may not have something to do with them learning from Silicon Valley's success.

its true.

the pay can be high compared to other tech&ops job..
but if there is any financial downfall, company first to aim is BO which is tech&ops..
and most likely is those that dont perform or capable.

hard truth