Banking Sector - Career Path

[Yaco99]

ok..im wrong about it.. by the way, why banks also pay bonuses for bank ops too since they are in the back office, they are more likely cost centre than profit centre.

And how many times bonuses they get? My friend in the treasury gets 23x of his monthly salary. But my friend suggested me not to join bank ops if I wanna learn more since bank ops is only 9-5 day job. That is for ppl who want work life balance. So personal banking is not my route.

Mncs that I mean are 500 fortune list.

Yep, ops is a cost centre and not a revenue centre. Not sure what does it have to do with them not getting a bonus though? Since the work they do is essential to the bank operating smoothly, they too should have a share in the sharing of the profits(i.e bonus). Of course they don't get as large a share of the bonus since they are considered less valuable then the staff members who bring in the profits. Not being a profit center doesn't mean they aren't important to the bottom line. I think the industry bonus standards in the last few years for ops like 3-9 months.

And ops is 9-5 job? I am doing ops as a temp job now and from what I see, it's a half half thing. I see those who are able to leave at 6 everyday and also those who have to come in at 7+ and leave at 9+ 10+ everyday so it really depends on what you do.

I do wonder how much is there to learn though. Given 2-3 years in an industry, you can pretty much learn the general workings and structure of that industry already unless you want the latest specifics. Which would be a never ending process of learning since at the rate technical information and products is being generated, half of what you learnt in a year is already out dated by the end of the year.

And what does ops have to do with personal banking??? I mean there personal have to go though some ops process sure but so does every other aspect of banking.

Anyway, what I want to do isn't ops either. I would prefer to go into sales myself.

Banks are MNCs? Global fortune 500. Not the one commonly cite which refers only to U.S based companies. This is just from the Top 50.

Rank Company Revenues($ millions)

8 ING Group 226,577
16 Dexia Group 161,269
21 HSBC Holdings 142,049
24 BNP Paribas 136,096
35 Banco Santander 117,803
37 Bank of America Corp. 113,106
38 Royal Bank of Scotland 113,087
39 Citigroup 112,372
43 Société Générale 104,378
46 Crédit Agricole 103,582
49 J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. 101,491

 

[friendlyguy]

Yep, ops is a cost centre and not a revenue centre. Not sure what does it have to do with them not getting a bonus though? Since the work they do is essential to the bank operating smoothly, they too should have a share in the sharing of the profits(i.e bonus). Of course they don't get as large a share of the bonus since they are considered less valuable then the staff members who bring in the profits. Not being a profit center doesn't mean they aren't important to the bottom line. I think the industry bonus standards in the last few years for ops like 3-9 months.

And ops is 9-5 job? I am doing ops as a temp job now and from what I see, it's a half half thing. I see those who are able to leave at 6 everyday and also those who have to come in at 7+ and leave at 9+ 10+ everyday so it really depends on what you do.

I do wonder how much is there to learn though. Given 2-3 years in an industry, you can pretty much learn the general workings and structure of that industry already unless you want the latest specifics. Which would be a never ending process of learning since at the rate technical information and products is being generated, half of what you learnt in a year is already out dated by the end of the year.

And what does ops have to do with personal banking??? I mean there personal have to go though some ops process sure but so does every other aspect of banking.

Anyway, what I want to do isn't ops either. I would prefer to go into sales myself.

Banks are MNCs? Global fortune 500. Not the one commonly cite which refers only to U.S based companies. This is just from the Top 50.

Rank Company Revenues($ millions)

8 ING Group 226,577
16 Dexia Group 161,269
21 HSBC Holdings 142,049
24 BNP Paribas 136,096
35 Banco Santander 117,803
37 Bank of America Corp. 113,106
38 Royal Bank of Scotland 113,087
39 Citigroup 112,372
43 Société Générale 104,378
46 Crédit Agricole 103,582
49 J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. 101,491

This banks are most likely doing big investments. What I mean is the bank like Maybank,RHB.. do you want to work in this bank ops?

Or do you want to sell citibank credit cards since you like to move in sales?btw, no need to be a graduate to sell their credit cards..even diploma holders can oso.. or do you consider the insurance?

In my opinion, bank ops will not make me learn much.. see, even you have worked there but you still want to move to sales.

 

[AndreFLo]

Interesting debate there I see. Bank ops is a good place to start, from there u can see the flow of the business. But the work itself is really monotonous and routine, everyday u will be doing the same thing pretty much.

Bonus wise varies for different banks. The 1 which I was in previously, the front office (FX sales, RMs) gets the main portion as they are deemed to be revenue generating centres, and bank ops are only left with the pathetic residue. As I said, this does not mean every bank is the same, different banks have different policies.

Lastly, for learning wise, it is pretty much limited. If u are the type to want a stable and routine schedule, den ops is suitable for u.

 

[Yaco99]

This banks are most likely doing big investments. What I mean is the bank like Maybank,RHB.. do you want to work in this bank ops?

Or do you want to sell citibank credit cards since you like to move in sales?btw, no need to be a graduate to sell their credit cards..even diploma holders can oso.. or do you consider the insurance?

In my opinion, bank ops will not make me learn much.. see, even you have worked there but you still want to move to sales.

The reason why I want to do sales has nothing to do with the learning, rather more to do with the fact that I think it is a place where efforts reaps more visible rewards and you have the chance to do much better then another guy doing your same job, depending on your personal capabilities. I think of myself as quite a driven workaholic that hates to lose so it would be a worthwhile area to put my efforts in.

What I am trying to ask is why are you dissing ops so much? What you want to do should be some place where you are a good fit. Like the TS, who says that he would prefer to do work in the middle or bank office and deal with risk management. There is nothing wrong with that. It's just his personal preference.

And I do know that you can do sales even without a degree but for advancement sake, you should still by all means get one.

The way you are framing the words in your comments is only viewed in whatever way you want isn't it? When you use MNCs, you didn't realise that banks are MNCs then you bring in fortune 500. Given examples, you bring those out of the list and only consider those that are below. Why would anyone who want to work in the banking industries consider only the smaller local or regional banks. You may have to start there but there's always the prospect to move up.

You can work as a gas pumper(no idea what the correct term should be) at a petrol kiosk under Shell, the biggest MNC there is but what does that make you?

 

[Agravaine]

I think I need to explain myself clearer lol.

Yaco, my intention of using the IT dept salary example was to say that:
even in ops, you earn a pretty decent living as long as it's in a BB bank.

Hence my interest in the middle office, which offers a balance between working hours and pay.


Friendlyguy, I agree with you that ops can be quite dead-end, but you might not mind it so much if you were getting a decent paycheck right

Still, I'm only referring to BB, and the distinction is important. How many ppl working in local companies get to earn 6k before 30 yrs old doing 'monotonous, mind-numbing work'?

 

[friendlyguy]

I think I need to explain myself clearer lol.

Yaco, my intention of using the IT dept salary example was to say that:
even in ops, you earn a pretty decent living as long as it's in a BB bank.

Hence my interest in the middle office, which offers a balance between working hours and pay.


Friendlyguy, I agree with you that ops can be quite dead-end, but you might not mind it so much if you were getting a decent paycheck right

Still, I'm only referring to BB, and the distinction is important. How many ppl working in local companies get to earn 6k before 30 yrs old doing 'monotonous, mind-numbing work'?

Are you a girl or guy? My friend is a fresh grad, joined stanchart as bank ops, do you mean she will earn 6k before her 30 years old? And after 30 years old, how much she will earn?
Yes, I should respect it.

 

[friendlyguy]

The reason why I want to do sales has nothing to do with the learning, rather more to do with the fact that I think it is a place where efforts reaps more visible rewards and you have the chance to do much better then another guy doing your same job, depending on your personal capabilities. I think of myself as quite a driven workaholic that hates to lose so it would be a worthwhile area to put my efforts in.

What I am trying to ask is why are you dissing ops so much? What you want to do should be some place where you are a good fit. Like the TS, who says that he would prefer to do work in the middle or bank office and deal with risk management. There is nothing wrong with that. It's just his personal preference.

And I do know that you can do sales even without a degree but for advancement sake, you should still by all means get one.

The way you are framing the words in your comments is only viewed in whatever way you want isn't it? When you use MNCs, you didn't realise that banks are MNCs then you bring in fortune 500. Given examples, you bring those out of the list and only consider those that are below. Why would anyone who want to work in the banking industries consider only the smaller local or regional banks. You may have to start there but there's always the prospect to move up.

You can work as a gas pumper(no idea what the correct term should be) at a petrol kiosk under Shell, the biggest MNC there is but what does that make you?

will Bank ops make ur CV better? I think u will be bank ops forever once u bank ops..cannot move to other industries, true?

 

[Agravaine]

Are you a girl or guy? My friend is a fresh grad, joined stanchart as bank ops, do you mean she will earn 6k before her 30 years old? And after 30 years old, how much she will earn?
Yes, I should respect it.

I'm a guy.

Which dept in ops? Back office is more dead-end than middle office. And anyway, Standchart is not BB.

 

[friendlyguy]

I'm a guy.

Which dept in ops? Back office is more dead-end than middle office. And anyway, Standchart is not BB.

This is what I mean bro.. IB/BB banks are very good, but other than that It will destroy your career..

However, those banks are very limited in sg and working hours from these banks are worse what I knew

 

[Yaco99]

will Bank ops make ur CV better? I think u will be bank ops forever once u bank ops..cannot move to other industries, true?

This is what I mean bro.. IB/BB banks are very good, but other than that It will destroy your career..

However, those banks are very limited in sg and working hours from these banks are worse what I knew

Every single BB banks have a significant presence here in SG so it's not really as limited as you say. And like I have said, it's more of what you are doing in a company then what company you are working at. Doesn't mean that you are working at a BB means you got it made.

It's like you are seeing two stairs infront of you. One can reach the 100th floor while the other can reach the 80th. Knowing yourself, you can only reach the 40th to 60th floor before you retire so does it really matter which stairs you take?

Also, I have personally seen several people who were in ops moving to other sectors of the industries like private banking. Few and far in between,true, but still doable. It is really who you know in banking.

 

[Agravaine]

This is what I mean bro.. IB/BB banks are very good, but other than that It will destroy your career..

However, those banks are very limited in sg and working hours from these banks are worse what I knew

Actually, no matter what industry you work in, you're kinda 'pigeonholed' into it after some time, unless you go for postgrad and switch careers.

Working hours are long everywhere you go nowadays, especially for Fortune 500 companies. Gone are the days of 8-5. What's worse is Big 4 auditing, with so many fresh grads working like hell for crap pay, and can't tahan after 1-2 years and leave =/

 

[AndreFLo]

will Bank ops make ur CV better? I think u will be bank ops forever once u bank ops..cannot move to other industries, true?

Not true la, was from bank ops but now working in finance department in an oil firm

 

[AndreFLo]

Also, I have personally seen several people who were in ops moving to other sectors of the industries like private banking. Few and far in between,true, but still doable. It is really who you know in banking.

QFT. Its really about networking

 

[ctzehock]

after reading all your comments here.. I think i got more of a idea to work with..
I agree that we each have different goals.. Some want to work the front line, sales, you will definitely earn more money but you will have to work long hours as well while i myself prefer a work-life balance, hence i would choose more of a 8 - 5 job, despite earning much lesser

 

[friendlyguy]

Hi, I have just been offered for interview as an Investment banker officer at futures firm.
Accept it or not? and can you share the role of it since many ppl think futures firms are bad firms.

 

[Agravaine]

Hi, I have just been offered for interview as an Investment banker officer at futures firm.
Accept it or not? and can you share the role of it since many ppl think futures firms are bad firms.

What's your job scope there?

 

[sailSIN87]

why banking? in general it seems to be overrated don't you think?

what about it seems so enticing to graduates/undergraduates such as yourselves?

 

[Agravaine]

Money money money.

 

[Buaya_Hunter]

Money money money.

Money makes wonders

 

[friendlyguy]

Money money money.

Become entrepreneur la.. bank ops do not offer you a big money..