how much shall I expect for a vp role in a local bank?
 

It's UOB actually. The role is of technical nature but not sits in IT, rather under finance side. I have 12 years experience but not in financial industry. so it's a career switch sort of.

I put in the expected monthly basic 12k, then HR told me it's way out of budget... not sure if it becomes a deal breaker

noticed from glassdoor there's a big difference for VP salary across different organisation, even across the three major local banks. Thought shall be similar in DBS, OCBC, UOB, but seems DBS is like 20% higher than OCBS which in turn about 20% higher than UOB. UOB's title inflated?

btw, anyone can share on average technical role in UOB got how many months bonus? how is the working culture and work/life balance like? glassdoor review kinda sucks for UOB compared to DBS and OCBC...

Titles don't mean much in UOB, there is a lot of overlap as they don't control the bands properly compared to DBS or OCBC. VP over there can go as low as 10k and as high as above 30k for some of the old birds.

What is your bottomline? 10k? Try and ask the HR if 12k is way out of their budget, then what is their budget realistically? It is a legitimate question. Just do it politely and don't sound aggressive as if money is all you care.

If your 12k is not negotiable, best is to emphasize to HR that 12k is take it or leave it. If they don't have the budget they will automatically drop your from the process, no point wasting both parties' time to wayang in interview if the money isn't even there in the first place.

I don't think 12k for a VP position, for someone with 12 years of experience in the field, albeit not totally related, is too much to ask for. The minimum I will be expecting is 10k, and that's already the lower spectrum of a VP role.

You can politely ask what is their budget for this role, and negotiate based on that. FWIW, local banks bonuses usually are the best in the Singapore market, around 3 months ++.

Thanks for the reply above. I actually based my expectation on 1-2 month bonus. If it is 3 months+, i guess i can accept lower base. I did reply during the hr interview my thought on this and expressed that i am open to negotiation. Hope it is not a deal breaker as the economy outlook is not good and there may not be many openings in the near future.

Btw anyone can share how is the working culture in uob? hr mentioned its family business tradition therefore more stable than some of the foreign banks. I guess that may be an advantage during bearish times which is imminent?

That's a nice way of saying backwards and hierarchical culture typical of family run business. Roughly speaking in terms of CV branding among local banks, DBS is slightly ahead of OCBC, UOB tends to be distant 3rd with many people lumping them with the likes of Maybank or ANZ.

Bank job titles do not necessarily translate one-to-one between each other. A DBS VP is similar to an international bank's (apart from Citi and HSBC) VP from what you described. At 12 years experience, I would expect salary to be in the >$150k area. What's your education background, work history and last drawn salary? Putting all these together + the responsibilities and skills required for your new role will tell you what is your market value. A large majority of people in your peer group will be below $150k. The question is are you on track or not?

Please elaborate on your 12 years experience. It's not in the finance industry, but is it related to the technical nature of this VP post?

If it's not directly related, I can understand the HR's reaction. Times are bad now, they can't be paying good money to someone who isn't well equipped to handle the job responsibilities.

If it's directly related, it's best to negotiate with HR on an annual package basis. Tell them you're looking at a 160-170k annual package, how many months bonus they give over there? UOB may be paying high bonus months and HR got shocked at your high base because annual package is too high for them.

Thanks for the reply.

Of my 12 years experience, roughly 8-9 years are in the same area of the role I applied. But since technology evolve constantly (in fact almost all jobs nowadays change), I can't say it's 100% direct related. I mean one could be a trader for 20 years, but over the past 10 years trading has drastically shift from floor to electronic platform. Can this trader claim 20 years trading experience all related to what is now more algorithm based trading role?

It could be the case that I presumed a much lower bonus portion than what is practised by them, thus it'll appear too aggressive. I explained my way of calculation and hopefully they understand.

I can't say for sure my market value without a few offer to gauge. Think I'll try to negotiate using my current package and the work scope of the role which does require specialized skills that is not common in traditional banking environment.

It should be the range of annual package $200-$260K.

HR would always claim too high and is their job to negotiate unless you are headhunted.

Heard people in one department work very long hours. Doing digital-related projects.