Hey, Cassie,

not from the banking industry but I really admire your great attitude with dealing with some unhelpful (and quite rude) posters here.

good luck with the job hunt! with your personality I'm sure you will go far.

and no i'm not a guy who's trying to get your number. i'm a girl too!

Thank you guys(and one girl) so much, there is really more polite people here than rude ones. Some even pm-ed me encouragement, such sweethearts haha! I really appreciate it.

I would agree to the person posting above me. I don't understand why some people get really rude when someone says 'I hope to get into an industry, any job will do'. We have to admit that it is THE way to gain entry and the relevant experiences necessary. It is not wrong for someone to have interest in any particular industry, so why is it wrong for someone to have interest to take up any position of that industry? Not many people in this world has the luxury to say 'oh I like this field and I am going to stick to it'. And this is something a lot of people should recognise.

Even if you don't have much to share to help the TS or the thread, it is rude and unnecessary to say/type things that has no value at all.

You are looking for a job, not calling a counselling center. If you want sweethearts go to EDMW, guarantee you lots of otakus will pm you with sweet talks of encouragement.

It is not wrong to have an interest in an industry, but I must say it does get pretty tiring to hear fresh grads say they are interested in banking but do not even seem to demonstrate any effort made to understand or network within their so called interest.

As for asking others to shut up and not type things of no value, I wouldn't go down that route. Technically speaking your post while not rude is also devoid of substance other than saying it is ok to have interest. It's not like you really have any insights in helping TS to get the banking AML job.

Do you have hypertension? I'm pretty sure you do, go check with your doctor.

And ask him to get that stick out of your ass too while he's at it.

many bank jobs available out there. hard to believe she cant get a job. truth is, she IS picky about the bank job she wants, and she isnt accepting ANY bank job.

else, you mean she can't even qualify for a job like this?
://jobs.jobstreet.com/sg/jobs/4746815?fr=23&src=44

if you don't have much to share to help the TS or the thread, it is rude and unnecessary to say/type things that has no value at all.

this is creepy....

get lost and go see ur imh psychatrist plz. knn she want to be banker u recommend call center job.

Just curious, OP mention that she have friends working in banking industry and had refer her to the HR, but still got rejected.

Certainly, they will tell you that you lack of banking experience and etc. I think telling you that you do not have banking experience is just a reason for rejection, not the actual reason for rejecting you.

Because if you have connections (your friends where your friends parents have connection with the director play golf), I don't think banking experience will affect much, cause you mention that you want to apply for any position in the bank.

The reason of rejection could be the way you approach, for example, did you tell your friends to refer you to ANY position in the banking industry? If thats the case, then your rejection is 100% confirm.

Or did your friends put up good words for you? because if refer someone the HR will roughly ask about the candidate and etc.

Or you apply through job portal? That is the worse platform to go to, it is better to send your resume directly to the HR.

To those who encourage her that just go for it, go for her dream, I know your intention is good, but the reality is harsh, if I am the HR, receiving the resume from OP, I will have to think again, because she dont have a goal. Even if she makes it to the first round or second round of interview, she will be hammered down by the employers (HR, managers and directors).

For now, I would rather OP to either start networking, not by pm people through linkedin and ask for referrer, because you will only dig your own grave. The reason I say that is because you might not know that the person might be your hiring manager or the decision maker of deciding whether you should get the job. Even is just a normal employee, this desperation will spread to the manager's and/or director's ears then your career in banking will be gone.

Banking industry is rather small, so if this kind of negative news spreads across the industry, I can tell you, your dream of entering the banking industry will be vanished. Even if you go in, you will be a small fry and that's it. Your AML career goal will be diminished.

Not sure how many people you have pmed in Linkedin, but for sure, news will spread.

For now, good luck in your job hunting. Also, listen to both negative and positive side of the comment by the people here. Certainly, some of them might be harsh and some of the comment might be good (cause of encouragement and support your decision), but if you only want to hear the good stuff, then filter it out yourself.

Well I do apply for Customer Service roles as well, the local banks do not politely reject applicants (they just ignore you :p) but here's the rejection message from HSBC for the role of First Impression Officer, sent 4 hours after I applied.
An FIO is the pretty lady or handsome dude that will greet you and direct you to the right place, according to what you are at that branch to do.

Received
Friday, 19 June 2015, 14:35:46
From
HSBC Resourcing Team <[email protected]>
To
[email protected]
Cc
Subject
HSBC – Your Application for 000066DT – First Impression Officer - Sales, Distribution and Business Development


Dear ------

Thank you for applying to join HSBC.

We regret to inform you that you have not met the minimum requirements for this role and therefore we will not be progressing your application on this occasion.

At HSBC we know that people develop over time and so we're happy to consider re-applications to the same role after a six month period.

You will no doubt appreciate that competition for roles is very intense and we regret to inform you that the position has now been filled and we will not be progressing your application.

Thank you for your interest and we hope to hear from you soon.

Kind regards

HSBC Recruitment Team

@theGrumpyPants I know! You're gonna say cos I'm not pretty enough right! Hahaha! We're getting to know each other too well :D

Thank you for your balanced perspective. I have applied directly with my friends to actual roles that I saw were open on the bank's site. My friends are all front line but my applications was for back office, so they did not get to speak to the HR or hiring manager directly. Furthermore, they are pretty new, so I do not want to push them to ask so many favours.
The one whose dad has choice golfing mates is only my school mate and not my close friend. So no favours there! Haha!

It would help if TS can articulate what exactly is it in bank that makes her so interested & desperate to get in to the point of just asking strangers for reference.

No offence, but I read the thread so long and still don't get it why die die must be working in a bank. I can understand if you don't like your current job and on the look out, but really why must it be a bank?

Is it the money? Is it the glamour? What? Cannot be CBD because there are thousands of other companies also based in CBD area. To me it seems strange that with many jobs out there that you can at least leverage on your cert and experience to have a good chance of an upward or lateral move you don't want but keep trying for a place where obviously you are a misfit.

Some of my friends die die must go for banks, but that's because they want to gamble a shot at becoming investment bankers or traders and willing to take the risk & rejection. You appear to be just applying any job even downgrading to low level basic customer service / general sales type. Why? Is being a sales agent or customer service in a bank really that much appealing compared to say another MNC in a different industry?

Cassie, I have a few questions:
1) What is your height?
2) What is your weight?
3) What is your Age and which part of SG are you from?
4) Are you single?

Thread is fast spiralling out of control to something else. Entertaining! Haha

From my personal experience, no relevant work experience in bank do not stand any chance of even getting basic kyc role although requirements look very basic. Even those who have worked for bank already find it hard. How come your banking friends never share this aspect?
Don't even think certification will help you that much besides networking. That said, most greenhorns going to aml field will start out getting ICA certs. I don't think launching into acams certification alone is going to help you much. (Whether these certs even help at all is questionable)

that's what I've been trying to ask but not response yet.
If you can't even articulate it out, then maybe you won't be able to articulate it to your interviewer either.

Well I guess you have you answer right there. You do not meet the _minimum_ requirements for the role. Even if you want to network to 'get your foot in the door', you still need your basic requirements. For example, no amount of networking is going to get a clueless arts or science graduate into a front-office banking job. But the right contacts will help the fresh business/finance grad get into the front-office banking job.

un believable

Buff up your resume. You have LinkedIn?

A few guys here want to see how she looks like lol, keep asking for linkedin

obviously trying to xian her, even email or pm her ptely. haha she either a good liar or a noob, really think they very positive to encourage her...

Well, that makes sense. Some of the most lascivious people I know are bankers.

The things that they do during their office parties... Hahahaha.

What does lascivious mean?

Work in bank so nice meh. Long working hours,
Office politics and endless need to outperform.. Still need to carry balls. Wonder why so many ppl wan to get in. Even the pay is high but u calculate $/hr. Still bo hua .. Gone are the glory days..

You need lots of capital to start a bank

I miss you Cassie. Why are you not active in your thread? Come back.

oil and gas still much better

This is not unique to banking field. Can happen in any company and industry

Totally agree with this. Glad I got out of it when I started looking like 40 years old at 30.

commodities even better

Apply for cleaner lo. No need experience and confirm can get in any banks you desire.

o' Dear Cassie
Are you gone for good?
Please, change your mood
and think about our wood.

Come back and let's go out to eat some food
this is from a dude
who can be sometimes rude.

I don't mean to be rude
And I hope you can be astute
But if you can read the mood,
You'll know she's gone for good.

If she has even slightly above average looks. she really doesn't even need to worry entering this industry.

Hard truths.

Hi Cassie,

Genuinely admire your spirit. I don't know the correct way to go about things, but don't give up!

To the rest:

1) It is difficult to articulate why I want to work in a bank. For me at least, it's not about the money. Maybe a little about the prestige. Truth is, I have friends working in banks who share stories about their lives, and I want a job there to discover why this industry attracts so many people, and whether the high pay is justified (is the job really that tough, and are the people really so smart??).

2) I wonder how many people commenting here entered the banking industry 3 years (or less) ago. I don't know how much the banking landscape has changed, especially in terms of job availability and level of capability of applicants, but in recent years the ratio of applicants to job vacancy is can be 200:1 for back office or middle office roles, and 1000:1 for front office roles. Analysts positions usually require prior working experience in banks (chicken and egg, anyone?), and because of the sheer number of candidates applying, even internship positions which do not explicitly require prior banking experience end up being filled by those who have already interned at some other banking role before. Because of this, to get a step into a bank - in literally any role, no matter how irrelevant - may just open doors, because without it your resume is dumped immediately. I'm not saying that an irrelevant banking experience will help secure another banking job, just saying that without it is becomes like 2 million times harder.

Sorry I'm very long winded, but in summary I'm trying to say: please don't judge people for not being able to get into 'the most basic jobs' like branch sales or BO. Even there, competition is tough. If you've worked in the bank for quite a while, I'm not surprised that you don't know this, because when hiring managers conduct interviews, they probably don't realise that thousands of resumes have been screened and deemed unworthy by HR. Anecdotal evidence: I once had the privilege of speaking to line managers via the backdoor about a possible internship position. They looked at my resume and expressed surprise. In their words, "With your resume you should have at least received a few job offers. Why didn't you send your resume to our HR?" I sheepishly admitted that I did, and HR probably screened it out.

im sorry but what 'prestige' is there for someone who's working in BO / branch sales?

I do have friends bragging about their 'banker' work life and after-work 'social life'. For those that are not familiar with the banking industry might think those so-called 'bankers' are living a high life with a fantastic career.

For those who are within the industry would know different tranches of 'bankers' are classified into different tiers and have their / our own 'cliques'.. I'm not being elitist here but this is what it is at the moment, i assumed you already clinched a role with another bank so pretty sure you'd seen it or soon would be seeing it..

Back to the topic about ppl bragging about being a 'banker'... hadn't you realized whenever you try to ask them what are you working as and they would give you a generic answer such as "banking analyst', 'analyst with the corporate banking side' , 'analyst with the FX division'... Like duh.. That tells us the insiders a lot about their high flying 'banker' profile..haha..

Another thing is the location of the offices. Pretty sure by now i guess ppl would know banks like to separate their profit making functions and their BO / other cost centers... For mild cases would be just different floors.. But most commonly banks would separate them to different buildings. If you tell me you're from CS / DBS / SCB from CBP or UOB / OCBC from tampines / cross street or barclays / SCB at MBFC... ppl would roughly know which trench you belonged to..

Then onto the topic about getting a bank job.. man, even with whatever preps you may have luck is still the most important factor. I had zero internships at all, armed with only a degree..But managed to get one back then.. I'm in the regulatory / control side overlooking PB and mostly structured corp fin/ treasury.. Pay is not too shabby compared to others who only have 2years of exp.. But if you ask me whether I like banking or not, I tell you i am just clocking my mileage before moving out from banks. Oh and by the way, i never once referred myself as a banker nor do the traders / guys that are managing UHNW portfolios that i often worked together with referred themselves as bankers as well.

I'll cringed whenever those DBS / UOB RMs from neighbourhood HDB branches start referring themselves as bankers and comparing themselves to those 'rainmakers' you see in financial news.

For BO/MO jobs, the more correct term would be support function department in a bank. Anyone who is in BO/MO who calls himself a banker is an idiot and obviously just trying to impress layman who might not be too familiar with the industry.

For FO jobs though it is not wrong in theory for someone involved in fronting the normal banking needs of normal consumers or corporations to call himself a banker, it does sound like bragging and trying to insinuate to others that he has "arrived".

Personally the word banker as most people associate with high finance life style and big money only applies to private and investment banking.

The trading side is also the same. I know a lot of people who are actually working in trading operations (i.e. support function) or doing backend analysis / report generation supporting the front office try to BS others by calling themselves traders or buy side analyst.

The banks know this and try to feed their ego without paying them big by inflating their job titles to ridiculous levels where every monkey working in a bank seems to be some sort of vice president. Useful for them to act out the role in front of unsuspecting friends and relatives.

Banker and consultant are 2 of the most abused titles out there. Many other industries who can pay higher than banking don't seem to have the same problem though - when was the last time you hear someone in the O&G industry anyhow call himself a driller or energy trader? Same for shipping, they don't anyhow call themselves broker unless they are really doing ship broking. Even those in HF/PE don't anyhow call themselves fund managers unless they are really the principal looking after particular funds.

Hi,

I am the poster just before you and thank you for echoing my thoughts..

It is because of this misconception / perception about anyone who is in banking = glam, high class, get to wine and dine with colleagues and clients and big chunk of bonuses at the end.

These people need to stop reading too much into efinancialcareer / wallstreet oasis,etc. Remember this, prospective applicants - you are in Singapore, a tiny red dot located in bloody tropical south east asia. You are not in wall street or frankfurt or london.. Stop thinking whatever you read on the internet applies to SG (not everything but to a certain extent).

And the last thing you would want is to send your CV with a cover letter telling me how passionate you are with banking yada yada,etc. C'mon la, we have hordes of applicants lining up from collyer quay to loyang telling us the same thing.


And if you still really want a banking job, then make it happen with your own hands. Don't come to forums n ask how to go about doing it because if you can't even manage this, then you have a long way to go.... Call me an asshat or what not, i don't care. I do not like spoonfeeding information to total strangers on the cyberspace.

Probably the last post from me for the week and here comes the dreadful monday...