Banking Sector - Career Path

[ctzehock]

Hi,

I am about to ORD and will be continue to pursue my university degree in SIM. Chances for me to take up a UOL degree is high compared to the rest of the other universities due to financial capabilities and personal preference.

My current decision is on WHICH exact course that i like to pursue. During my NS, I managed to talk with the different NSman, ranging from blue collar workers to regional managers. Their company shall not be disclosed. Talking to them make me understand that most of them just went into Uni, at that point in time, with the notion that the course doesn't really matter. Their idea was that you might not be working the same job as the type of course they study. And many regrets that decisions made.

Hence, i create this thread, hopefully, that it would help me make a sensible and mature decision for my career path, regarding it will be the banking sector or not. I believer that first hand news from the graduates and collar workers out there would be my best information compared to my friends or students who have yet to step out in the working society. Any word of wisdom by any member are welcomed.

A brief background about myself. I graduated with a diploma in Accountancy and Finance from NYP with a low GPA of 3.2. This made me unable to go into of the local university business course. So i opted for SIM-UOL degree instead.

I'm still deciding which course i should be taking but I cut it down to 3 options:

1. Accountancy and Finance
2. Banking and Finance
3. Economics and Finance

The degree in accountancy and finance will most likely set me on a career path to be an accountant. Stable job and a stable income.

The banking sector on the other hand will set be on a different path. A path with high income, but comes with high competition from other fellow banker.

Right now, I trying to find out more information on the banking sector. Would any bankers like to share their opinion??

I like opinions from those working in the local banks and foreign banks. If it is possible, i like to ask u a few detail question that will aid me in choosing my career path. Please do PM me with your email, and we will correspond solely through the email or PMs (if u preferred). Any help will be appreciated.

 

[p00p00]

armed solely with a UOL accounting and finance degree wun let u become an accountant. there's more work to be done.

banking jobs are really about networks, especially the higher paying ones.

 

[sceneofsins]

Hello senior coursemate. I just graduated from nyp acc & fin haha
I think banking and finance would be more relevant, afterall you seem like you want to get into banking only.

 

[Biogentic]

i have a few friends who have UOL Banking and Finance Degree but none ends up in a well regarded job in the banking sector. the competition is extremely tough as every graduate want a place in the banking sector be it local uni, foreign uni even ivy league grad want to be in there....as such most dl degree holders end up doing ops role which is not very glamorous to say the the least.

UOL accounting and finance like what others have pointed out is not limited to being an accountant only. if you set out as an auditor, u have quite a wide range of choice namely product controller in bank, internal auditor, financial analyst, accountant to fund accountant, of course there are other accounting role like tax advisor, corporate restructuring, or liquidator for you to choose from.....

like what poopoo has pointed out since your uol accounting and finance doesnt provide a real solid grounding on accounting knowledge as such u will have to take up further study either ICPAS PE or ACCA professional level paper to qualify as a CPA Spore.

 

[ctzehock]

armed solely with a UOL accounting and finance degree wun let u become an accountant. there's more work to be done.

banking jobs are really about networks, especially the higher paying ones.

Thanks for the advice.
I do know that accountant require more than the UOL degree, but it's the baby step to become a CPA Singapore.

 

[ctzehock]

Hello senior coursemate. I just graduated from nyp acc & fin haha
I think banking and finance would be more relevant, afterall you seem like you want to get into banking only.

haha.. my junior, perharps we walked past each other b4 in school..lolz

not exactly, i just did my research on the accounting sector le, so need more info on banking sector.. haha

 

[ctzehock]

i have a few friends who have UOL Banking and Finance Degree but none ends up in a well regarded job in the banking sector. the competition is extremely tough as every graduate want a place in the banking sector be it local uni, foreign uni even ivy league grad want to be in there....as such most dl degree holders end up doing ops role which is not very glamorous to say the the least.

UOL accounting and finance like what others have pointed out is not limited to being an accountant only. if you set out as an auditor, u have quite a wide range of choice namely product controller in bank, internal auditor, financial analyst, accountant to fund accountant, of course there are other accounting role like tax advisor, corporate restructuring, or liquidator for you to choose from.....

like what poopoo has pointed out since your uol accounting and finance doesnt provide a real solid grounding on accounting knowledge as such u will have to take up further study either ICPAS PE or ACCA professional level paper to qualify as a CPA Spore.

thanks for the detail.. this was exactly what i was hoping to get..haha

I like to check with you and your friends, what are the ops role that are being offered to you?? Did any of your friend manage to get into the private banks??

My initial route was to get degree (full time), be auditor (while part time study ACCA and get some working experience), but after that is a big blank..

 

[Biogentic]

thanks for the detail.. this was exactly what i was hoping to get..haha

I like to check with you and your friends, what are the ops role that are being offered to you?? Did any of your friend manage to get into the private banks??

My initial route was to get degree (full time), be auditor (while part time study ACCA and get some working experience), but after that is a big blank..

sorry, i wasnt really sure what ops role they were being offered as i dont know them very well.. i think your ultimate aim is just to join a bank right? you dun know what kind of role you want to do in the future?

 

[red_devilz]

Are you interested in investment banking ? Seriously that is one hell of a field to get into, even for local grads. Very small percentage of local grads eventually make their way into the upper echeleons of the banking sector as it is saturated with ivy leaguers, OxBridge-es and whatnots who have tonnes of connection, networks.
Not to discourage you but I think a more feasible way is to ace your course, head over to LSE, pursue a prestigious MBA and then enter the industry.

 

[piggywitch]

Well, I think UOL degree is ok if you just want to get a job in the banking sector.
Banks do hire a lot ppl from SIM.
Last time when I was doing attachment with one foreign bank, there is a lot of my collegues who are graduates of either RMIT or UOL degree.
They are earning the same amount of money as those local uni graduate.
Perhaps coz I was working the back office.
Usually the requirement for settlement officer, fund accountant,client service officer and other trade support staff is not as high as those front office people.

 

[ctzehock]

sorry, i wasnt really sure what ops role they were being offered as i dont know them very well.. i think your ultimate aim is just to join a bank right? you dun know what kind of role you want to do in the future?

yeah, i'm not sure what kind of role i wanna do yet, but i'm curious in being a financial analyst, so i'm still deciding whether to have a banking role (work in a bank), or more of an accountant role.. Trying to find out the pros and cons of each sector before making a decision.

 

[ctzehock]

Are you interested in investment banking ? Seriously that is one hell of a field to get into, even for local grads. Very small percentage of local grads eventually make their way into the upper echeleons of the banking sector as it is saturated with ivy leaguers, OxBridge-es and whatnots who have tonnes of connection, networks.
Not to discourage you but I think a more feasible way is to ace your course, head over to LSE, pursue a prestigious MBA and then enter the industry.

Hmm... sorry for my ignorance. Investment Banking, Private bankers, i have been hearing them for some time. Heard they earn alot of money etc etc.

But nobody actually mention what are their roles or job scope.. What do they do?? And by upper echeleons, are u referring to private bankers who earn more than a million.

I'm not that of an ambitious person and I know where i stand in the society, hence i doubt that I aiming that high

 

[piggywitch]

yeah, i'm not sure what kind of role i wanna do yet, but i'm curious in being a financial analyst, so i'm still deciding whether to have a banking role (work in a bank), or more of an accountant role.. Trying to find out the pros and cons of each sector before making a decision.

I think ops are very routine kind of job.
U will do the same thing over and over.
Sometimes I think it don't really require much brain but more of experience, that's why u will see some of the older generation ppl without a professional degree working in ops department for years and years.

 

[ctzehock]

Well, I think UOL degree is ok if you just want to get a job in the banking sector.
Banks do hire a lot ppl from SIM.
Last time when I was doing attachment with one foreign bank, there is a lot of my collegues who are graduates of either RMIT or UOL degree.
They are earning the same amount of money as those local uni graduate.
Perhaps coz I was working the back office.
Usually the requirement for settlement officer, fund accountant,client service officer and other trade support staff is not as high as those front office people.

Thanks piggywitch, but can i ask a few questions back??

Banks hire alot of ppl from SIM?? Is there any specific course that they look out for??

As for back end office - what are the salary structure??

And can you clarify, what u mean by front office people?? what are their job scope??

 

[ctzehock]

I think ops are very routine kind of job.
U will do the same thing over and over.
Sometimes I think it don't really require much brain but more of experience, that's why u will see some of the older generation ppl without a professional degree working in ops department for years and years.

That's what most job are about anyway.
An auditor will do the same checks, same control
An accountant will keep on doing the profit and loss, balance sheet.

So by ops, i meant that you are referring to such working in the banking sector.

As i have not working in a bank before, what are the structure of a working bank?? Mind sharing your own view??

 

[piggywitch]

Thanks piggywitch, but can i ask a few questions back??

Banks hire alot of ppl from SIM?? Is there any specific course that they look out for??

As for back end office - what are the salary structure??

And can you clarify, what u mean by front office people?? what are their job scope??

Ya..they do..If not, where are the SIM ppl working at?
I am not sure about the specific course coz seriously i think ur degree dun really matter.
Of course, if it's an accountant job, they will hire ppl with accounting backgrounds.
Their salary should be around 2.5K plus for new employee,but the working hour can be quite long without OT pay.

Though i dun have much understanding about front office ppl, I think mainly are those that deals directly with client, like broker, fund manager, relationship manager.

 

[FrostWurm]

Hmm... sorry for my ignorance. Investment Banking, Private bankers, i have been hearing them for some time. Heard they earn alot of money etc etc.

But nobody actually mention what are their roles or job scope.. What do they do?? And by upper echeleons, are u referring to private bankers who earn more than a million.

I'm not that of an ambitious person and I know where i stand in the society, hence i doubt that I aiming that high

My mum's a private banker, but she definitely does not earn more than a million lol

 

[piggywitch]

That's what most job are about anyway.
An auditor will do the same checks, same control
An accountant will keep on doing the profit and loss, balance sheet.

So by ops, i meant that you are referring to such working in the banking sector.

As i have not working in a bank before, what are the structure of a working bank?? Mind sharing your own view??

Though auditors are quite rountine, at least they will meet different kind of clients, ops is really sit in front of the computer all day.
What do u mean by the structure of a bank?
There's different sectors in the bank, consumer banking, corporate banking and ect. They are all very different.
And from front, middle to back office, it's very different again.
Personally i would recommend u to work in a foreign bank, the benefits are better and the environment is better.
I think there is a lot of opportunities working in a big bank, for example, leadership opportunities, internal transfer and etc.
It really depends on ur ability and ur luck.

 

[red_devilz]

Hmm... sorry for my ignorance. Investment Banking, Private bankers, i have been hearing them for some time. Heard they earn alot of money etc etc.

But nobody actually mention what are their roles or job scope.. What do they do?? And by upper echeleons, are u referring to private bankers who earn more than a million.

I'm not that of an ambitious person and I know where i stand in the society, hence i doubt that I aiming that high

Hmm, their job scope is rather subjective and it varies from bank to bank. Basically they earn by managing the portfolios of their clients. More clients=more money. Some of them make major financial decisions for the bank and such. Yes the top honchos earn freaking ALOT.

Actually you do stand a chance in the industry. Excel in your course and fly over to LSE. Graduate with a FCH and get a masters from a reputable school. These are the tickets needed as the barriers to entry to the industry is very high indeed. Just be confident of what you are doing.

 

[HappyGoLucky22]

as such most dl degree holders end up doing ops role which is not very glamorous to say the the least.

if you're not very ambitious/talented, there's absolutely nothing wrong with going into ops. I don't understand why people view ops so negatively. After all, the pay is pretty good esp if you are in the foreign banks. And it is much less cut-throat than Front Office.