Banking Position / Credit

Originally Posted by superprawney

Thank you very much! I feel much more enlightened now after reading what you just said, i really appreciate it.

I only have one last thing on my mind though, for back end settlements role will there be any good future prospects? regarding career advancement wise in the future, or its like a dead end because as someone said its a very administrative work, im afraid i won't be able to learn much.

In this forum, you will find plenty of people lambasting BO roles and even MO roles. Seems like everyone here are part of the 'elite' FO group and looking down on everyone in a non-FO role.

However, the reality of the banking industry for a fresh grad is pretty simple. It really boils down to the quality of your university degree and your grades, your internship experience and lastly, your field of study. I have no idea how well/bad you did in uni, but the cookie cutter route for grads with excellent results from reputable universities will be to apply for management associate/graduate programmes with the various banks.

For the rest of us (I didn't perform spectacularly in uni, I had decent results from Monash but no Honors), the majority of the roles that will even consider us will be in the MO (maybe 20%) and BO (80%). It's always easier to jump from FO to MO/BO or from MO to BO but it's the rare unicorn that makes the jump from BO to FO. I have seen people move from BO to MO, albeit with a rank drop.

As for your future in BO roles, it's not dead-end. It may be mundane as f*** but the prospects of doing well and being promoted, of being able to move around different backoffice functions is always there. Pay-wise, it's nothing special but it's pretty stable and upward trending, which the same can't be said for the FO guys.

Originally Posted by superprawney

Thank you very much! I feel much more enlightened now after reading what you just said, i really appreciate it.

I only have one last thing on my mind though, for back end settlements role will there be any good future prospects? regarding career advancement wise in the future, or its like a dead end because as someone said its a very administrative work, im afraid i won't be able to learn much.

If you have 2nd upper or 1st honors from a local uni then you are probably better off waiting for a permanent position in at least a local bank BO.

Anything lower than that, this is about as good as you are going to get - i.e. a 2.7-2.9k contract job in the back office or local banks or local offices of Asian banks. So in that sense it's not about whether the job is good enough for you, but rather that's all you will be getting.

As for career, I never believe in following certain "paths". Most of it is really how you network, play politics and increase visibility and advertise your performance.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

If you have 2nd upper or 1st honors from a local uni then you are probably better off waiting for a permanent position in at least a local bank BO.

Anything lower than that, this is about as good as you are going to get - i.e. a 2.7-2.9k contract job in the back office or local banks or local offices of Asian banks. So in that sense it's not about whether the job is good enough for you, but rather that's all you will be getting.

As for career, I never believe in following certain "paths". Most of it is really how you network, play politics and increase visibility and advertise your performance.

This is the guy that's been replying the TS.

If someone has 2nd upper/1st class honors from a local uni and is content with BO roles, I'll gladly smack the **** out of the dude. This is grossly underleveraging the material you have on hand in entering the finance world. There are heaps of finance jobs you can apply to which has much more potential and upside, there is no reason to settle for a vanilla BO role.

As for perm vs contract positions, it has little to do with your grades. Rather, it boils down to the fact that you are a fresh grad without any experience. Contractual positions are almost the norm now for BO roles. Perform well and you will almost always be converted, barring a dramatic change in business strategies causing your team to be outsourced/dissolved.

Originally Posted by Unregistered

This is the guy that's been replying the TS.

If someone has 2nd upper/1st class honors from a local uni and is content with BO roles, I'll gladly smack the **** out of the dude. This is grossly underleveraging the material you have on hand in entering the finance world. There are heaps of finance jobs you can apply to which has much more potential and upside, there is no reason to settle for a vanilla BO role.

This is exactly the kind of big talk that permeates the entire forum. What is so wrong for a local uni grad to stay in BO? BO offers lots of opportunities as well. If you play your cards right you can rise up the ranks to senior level within BO as well. I am also a local grad that has worked in BO for 9 years before moving to another industry.

Many people here like to big cannon about BO is brainless work and if your grades are good then you should always try to move to elite MO/FO. I call that BS 101%. It is much better to be a big fish in a pond and be a SVP for credit transactions that be a small fish in the ocean and stuck as a manager/AVP due to stiff competition in risk management.

To TS:
I have not replied to TS yet. I was hired as a perm in Maybank 4 years ago. It will be a good exposure for a fresh grad to the banking industry. Understand that now it has more contracts now according to my colleagues who are still there. During my time, mostly perm roles. Also the bank is tamily oriented and gives stable bonus. Most of my ex colleagues who stayed got promoted in 2.5 to 3 years. So no harm giving this role a try, you never know where it will bring you. Just sharing from my own experience.

[superprawney]

Originally Posted by Unregistered

To TS:
I have not replied to TS yet. I was hired as a perm in Maybank 4 years ago. It will be a good exposure for a fresh grad to the banking industry. Understand that now it has more contracts now according to my colleagues who are still there. During my time, mostly perm roles. Also the bank is tamily oriented and gives stable bonus. Most of my ex colleagues who stayed got promoted in 2.5 to 3 years. So no harm giving this role a try, you never know where it will bring you. Just sharing from my own experience.

Thank you very much to you and everyone else for your contributions. It really helped me alot and gave me insight to what to hope for in the future. I hope if I do get the job everything will work out fine