Help wat should I do?

[k6996]

I graduated from SIM UOL with a mgmt degree in 2007 June and till now I cannot get a proper job, I have work as a clerk in a family own biz and also a temp at a local bank. I have tried to apply directly to banks and FI. I have tried to get agents, I have also tried to ask for help from friends working in banks but since most of my friends dont work for FI I have little network availble.

I really wanted to go to investment management and has been applying for banking jobs ever since i graduated but no luck. I have passed lvl 2 of the CFA exam and is about to sign for lvl 3 next year.

The options availble to me are as follow
1. Keep trying for investment mgmt or investment banking related job
2. Remove my CFA qualifications and apply for any job in the bank (including admin assistant and operations support) and try to gain connections in the field, once I cleared all the exam then venture into investment mgmt
3. Join AIA and prudential (ok this is out of the question)
4. Become a stock broker (I can consider but I have no network to get clients)

What are your advise?
also a sideline question If I enter into operations in a bank would it be difficult to switch to investment mgmt or investment banking later?

It's good that you have the aspiration, but my advice is that you should be more realistic. Bear in mind that you are competing with overseas grads, foreign talent and other local grads. Be a little flexible and aim for back office jobs first. When you pass your CFA level 3, then look around for openings within the same FI. There are many different job roles in FIs- investment mgmt may not be the only one that is appealing to you. A poly grad I know started in credit operations and is now an associate director in credit risk in a big foreign bank.

Ai I agree with u but now the economy so bad. Even back office job also hard to get in. And most back office job like confirmation and settlement needs 2 to 4 yr expereicen at least. From what I know he did work as a temp but it is unlikely that his activities would feed the requirements of the banks.

Actually once you get a full time job in a FI you can start to build network from there. But this first step is the most difficult especially now when the downturn and banks not hiring, even if they would, their first priority is would be experience individual and there are many whom has been retrench and ready to move back to their previous line.

Graduate programs is also an option but since he graduate from SIM, the chances I know are near to nothing. I study SIM UOL also and as far as I know only a tiny tiny managed to get an interview and none I know secured a job. The MAS graduate immersion program is out of the question for him as he has more than one year of work experience.

About your sideline question. It is difficult the employer would ask why did you choose to go operatiosn when u wanted to go investment mgmt in the first place be able to ans. Also since operations has nothing much to do with investment banking and mgmt you would be appling for entry lvl positions and yes you would once again face the challeges of local grads foreign talents etc. So it just delaying your challeges. The only thing is you would be more mature, maybe have CFA lvl 3 and know some connections. So in short it is not impossible to move from back office to investment mgmt. But what i know is much more ppl move from front line to back then from back to front.

To be honest sales jobs in bank is most easy to get into. Although you may not like it, I still advise you to give it a try. Once you enter and work a few years and pass ur lvl 3 you can then ask to transfer to investment mgmt. Just bear for a few years. U have bear 2 yrs in the army whats 2 more years in sales.

Well my friend some times you need to face reality. In singapore it is everyone on his own, no one would ever hire someone with a CFA lvl 3 that would potentially be a threat to his/her own position. This is reality, and would always be a reality. I have a collegue whom is retrench and got an MBA and CFA chartered whom cant even get an entry lvl job. In the end he has to seek a job in HK. Maybe you should explore overseas jobs, but again given your experience it may be difficult to secure one.

I really have no idea how to help you. You seem over qualified for most entry lvl job but yet under qualified for mid level jobs. So if I would you I would remove the CFA qualifications and try to enter a low lvl job first then strategies from there. You may want to sign up for contract job say 6 months. If you find an investment job mid way u can just quit if not u can stay for 6 months. Dont feel bad about quitting b4 contract ends. Quit when you get a job offer not b4, if u quit b4 then u have to explain why u left b4 contract ends. If you quit when you got job offer it is understanable. Most people use contract jobs as a bridge for perm job or launch into the industry.

You can consider agents. Most agents like recruit express etc would offer you jobs no one wants like data entry, they dont really give any **** about your CFA. But never the less it is still a job in the bank.

Once you gain some experience and pass lvl 3 you can try to look for more pro agents like micheal page etc. But for now with your experiecne elites headhunters would not bother to look at your resume. You can sent all you can but most likely you would not get a job offer.

I also suggest you do CAIA, since you only need one year experiecne, after one yr you can put CAIA beside your name, once you do that your resume would stand out.

Tan Birdy, CAIA is better than Tan Birdy, nothing

From then on you can venture into investment mgmt, at least you also open an alternative investment path, which is fast growing in asia. Right now there are less than 300 CAIA singaporeans in singapore, so if you get it early you may stand a chance to be hire. But then again AI is not really very establish in singapore so there is a risk to take but hey most of the staff in CAIA are same as CFA just that it is AI so there is not much effort except for the exams fees.

[Jaedey]

Originally Posted by k6996

The options availble to me are as follow
1. Keep trying for investment mgmt or investment banking related job
2. Remove my CFA qualifications and apply for any job in the bank (including admin assistant and operations support) and try to gain connections in the field, once I cleared all the exam then venture into investment mgmt
3. Join AIA and prudential (ok this is out of the question)
4. Become a stock broker (I can consider but I have no network to get clients)

Looks like you've gotten some solid advice so far... My two cents would be look into becoming a stock broker. You just need to get in with a solid firm from the start - be willing to work only for commissions and training to start, and eventually you'll be able to build up your client base and pull down the typically high broker salary, with a good portion of it coming from a base salary to provide you security during slow times. You seem well-qualified to take this route, so good luck!