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Internship – CIMB (posted on 30 JUNE 2015)

 

Company	CIMB
Industry	Banking
Location	Singapore
Position Type	Graduate Program
Post Date	30 June 2015
Closing Date	n.a

Employer Description

CIMB Group is a universal bank headquartered in Kuala Lumpur, operating in high growth economies in ASEAN. CIMB Group is an indigenous ASEAN investment bank, the largest Asia Pacific (ex-Japan) based investment bank and one of the world's largest Islamic banks. CIMB has a wide retail branch network with 1,080 branches across the region.

Responsibilities

You will develop a deep understanding of our operations during this hands-on period and build a strong network across the company. You will develop a deep understanding of our operations during this hands-on period. You will be coached and mentored throughout this journey. 

Qualifications

• First, second or penultimate year students across all degree backgrounds
• Able to intern for a minimum of two months up to six months
• Strong academic results - Minumum CGPA of 3.0
• Active in extracurricular activities including sports
• Strong desire to learn and succeed
• High energy and versatile
• Good interpersonal skills, able to communicate effectively
• Work well, both independently and as a team player
• Placements of non-residents or non-citizens are subject to regulatory approvals.

Application link

Please send your CV to sg.recruitment@cimb.com

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[Career Preparation Tips]: Is Consulting Right For You?

(Written by Shelly Palmer)

During a time of transition (forced or otherwise), many of my very successful corporate executive friends ponder the merits of starting a consulting practice. It seems like a logical career path. It may be. But the transition from corporate executive to successful consultant has more to do with self-knowledge than subject matter expertise or skill. If you have been successful in business, you probably have the skills to become a successful consultant. That said, here are seven things to consider before you start your new, new thing.

1. Your Identity

You have been John Smith, EVP, Widgets & Strategic Initiatives for Gigantic Corp. for years. In fact, you did 8 years at Big Corp. before you got your dream job at Gigantic Corp. Your business card has always had a household name on it. Everyone has always immediately returned your phone calls and emails. After all, who in their right mind would not respond to an executive from Gigantic Corp.?

That was then. In your new life, you are going to be John Smith from John Smith Consulting. No one will know what you do or why they should call you back. Your business card will say something like, “John Smith, President, John Smith Consulting.” Even if you make up a cool corporate-sounding name, you are still going to be just some person who is consulting.

This simple fact will have a dramatic impact on your presentation of self in everyday life. You will go from “Jeff … he runs a division of Disney” to “Jeff … he’s a _____ consultant.” You may not think this is going to matter. Trust me – it will make a huge difference. Be sure you’re ready for the psychological change. It can be severe.

2. Getting Work

Just because you’re an expert in doing work does not mean that you are an expert in getting work. These are two very different skills. You’ve had a few jobs in your life and been on a few job interviews. Now, you’re going to be going on a job interview or job interviews every single day. Selling your services will be a constant requirement. Work does not fall from the sky. The world is a very competitive place and people who do what you do spend all of their waking moments thinking about how to take food directly off your table. If you’re not the aggressive sales type, you will need a plan to fill your sales pipeline.

3. When You’re Working You Can’t Be Selling. When You’re Selling You Can’t Be Working

Even if you are an awesome sales person (and most consultants are), there is an immutable law of consulting life: When you’re working you can’t be selling, and when you’re selling you can’t be working. We all live in a time-constrained world, but if you’re building a solo consulting practice, be ready to spend your days selling and your nights working. You’ve never worked harder or longer. And while you have developed expertise managing one boss, you will now be managing many. These are not trivial issues.

If you’re unlucky enough to have a client that wants you on-premises during the day, you’re going to have to learn to manage your sales process. It is very difficult to work 8- to 10-hour days for a client and be an efficient manager of your own sales pipeline. How will it play out? You may be technologically sophisticated enough to handle it, or your career may start to look more like that of a freelancer than a consultant. Not bad, but not ideal.

There are several good solutions to this problem, but they all require you to build a small business infrastructure. Be prepared: consulting is not a job; it’s a business.

4. Lumpy Income vs. Steady Paycheck

One of the biggest shocks for every corporate executive turned consultant is the transition from a steady paycheck to lumpy income. Are you ready to get paid 45 to 90 days after you send a bill? That’s the best of it. Consulting sales cycles can be pretty long. You might go six months without a sale or a job, then do four weeks of work for half a year’s wages. It all comes out in the wash, but it is anything but steady. Do you believe in yourself? Will you have enough confidence in your abilities to keep your head in the game when you just aren’t winning bids or getting paid? Consulting is a rollercoaster. If you don’t like rollercoasters, you might want to consider another line of work.

5. What Specific Problem Do You Solve?

Why does consulting look so easy for some and so difficult for others? Consultants who solve specific problems make it look easy. In a perfect world your prospective client will say, “I need ____. Call Joe!” If your consulting practice solves a specific problem, you will always be on the short list for ____. Get this right and everything else will take care of itself.

Success

In success, you are going to have two soul-searching issues. They are rich people’s problems, but they are worth mentioning.

6. Your First $10,000 Round of Golf

When your consulting fees hit $10,000/day (or any big number; it’s a relative scale), a friend or client is going to ask you to play golf on a Wednesday. This is awesome! Except that Wednesday is a work day and even though you are playing as a guest, the round is going to cost you $10,000. Will you go play or go work? You may think you know your answer right now. Trust me – you don’t!

7. O&OBC

This is an abbreviation for “One and Only Biggest Client.” This is the dream client that books 80 percent of your time and is responsible for 80 percent of your income. Having an O&OBC is the worst possible thing that can happen to you. Don’t let it. Do you have the ability to restrict a client to no more than 20 percent of your income so you can risk-manage your business? Lose your O&OBC and you’re back to square one. Lose a client that represents only 20 percent of your business and it’s another day at the office. You may think you know how you’ll answer this question now. You don’t. Saying no to additional work from a good client is very, very hard. If you want to run a strong, sustainable consulting practice, it’s a requirement.

Good Luck

Is consulting right for you? Hopefully, these seven thought-starters will help you arrive at your decision.

Associate Program – Global Banking –HSBC (posted on 29 JUNE 2015)

Company	HSBC
Industry	Banking
Location	Singapore
Position Type	Graduate Program
Post Date	29 June 2015
Closing Date	14 August 2015

Employer Description

HSBC Holdings P.L.C. is a British multinational banking and financial services organisation headquartered in London, England, United Kingdom and is one of the world's largest banks. In Singapore, The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited first opened its doors in December 1877. Today, HSBC's flagship office remains at the original Collyer Quay site where its first branch was opened.

One of the earliest banks to establish in Singapore, HSBC is today a prominent player in Singapore's banking sector and offers a broad range of banking and financial services tailored to meet a wide spectrum of needs, from those of multi-national corporations to local businesses and individual Singaporeans.

Responsibilities

• Manage a portfolio of clients with some regional co-ordination, ensuring that the clients have full access to the product suite and global network of HSBC in order to achieve the business objectives.
• Assist senior regional bankers in regional account management, co-ordination and account plans
• Build effective customer relationships and become the customers' preferred financial partner and trusted advisor.
• Pro-actively engage clients on market cash management, working capital and hedging solutions based on their needs/priorities
• Communicate and liaise with various internal stakeholders (e.g. Global Relationship Banker, risk, legal, trade, cash management, Global Markets, operations) to deliver customized solutions and ensure a smooth implementation and client satisfaction
• Demonstrate a commitment to excellence and perform to the highest standards, combining client relationship management with strong risk assessment and management capabilities
• Understand and ensure compliance with all relevant internal and external standards, Know Your Customer, regulations and procedures that apply to the conduct of the business
• Uphold the highest level of integrity and act as a role model for all HSBC values and business principles.

Qualifications

• University Graduate with a degree in Business Administration or Banking and Finance
• Prior experience working in Corporate Banking with exposure to cash management, trade and a working knowledge of credit will be key differentiators
• Proven ability to work as a team in a culturally diverse environment with internal and external stakeholders locally and cross border
• Possess initiative, tenacity, drive and a strong client orientation
• Change orientation and the ability to multi-task and cope with pressure in a fast-evolving environment

Application link

Click Here

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[Career Preparation Tips]: 15 ways you’ll screw up your banking internship

(written by Sarah Butcher)

Ask any bank how many of their summer analysts they ‘convert’ into full time hires and they’ll almost always say, “as many as possible.” Even so, anything from 30% to 50% of a summer analyst class usually leaves in August without an offer.

If you’re one of the abnormally fortunate young people interning in an investment bank this summer, how can you also ensure you’re one of the special portion who gets to come back after graduation? It will help if you do none of the things below.

1. Say ‘I’m also thinking about consulting as a career’

Banks are looking for people who are committed. They aren’t interested in people who are “exploring.” As long as you’re at work, banking is the career for you. Equally, don’t let it be known that you see banking as a stop-gap to your career in hedge funds or private equity.

2. Over-promise, under-deliver

If you don’t know that banks work you hard, you know nothing about banking and probably shouldn’t be working for one this summer. You need to manage your workload so that you can last the full 10-12 weeks, especially if you’re handed a range of projects. “Don’t insist that you can deliver something in a few hours when it will take a day,” say ex-M&A bankers Thomas Viguier and Guillaume Tardy-Joubert of Coaching Assembly.

If you’re being handed a lot of work (this may not happen), Mae Busch, a former COO of Morgan Stanley Europe suggests you ask for advice on prioritizing your workload. She advises all young bankers to say, “I’d love to take that on too, but I’ve got three other projects. How would you like me to prioritize this because it won’t be possible to do them all.”

3. Fail to connect with your other interns

Although you’re effectively in competition with everyone else in your intern class, you can’t behave as if you’re aware of this. Banks want ‘team players’ and that means getting along with your peers.

In a recent Google hangout run by Goldman Sachs, ex-interns at the firm said bonding with other summer analysts brings big advantages: “If someone’s already worked on a desk you’re moving to, ask for their advice. Ask what you should read, who you should talk to.”

4. Make a lot of small mistakes

As an ex-Deutsche Bank intern helpfully pointed out recently, being an intern in an investment bank is a lot about doing really boring work that requires huge attention to detail and offers ample opportunity to make mistakes. You must not make these mistakes. “This, essentially, is the test,” the intern said.

5. Wear some ostentatious jewelry or clothing

You might think that because you’re interning in a bank and banks are filled with people with money then it will be acceptable to signal your own relative wealth using costly garments and trinkets. Don’t. Don’t wear a Hermes tie. Don’t wear Gucci Loafers. Don’t wear fancy cuff links.

“Leave your Breitling at home,” says one trader. “The watch your mamma gave you for getting to uni is NOT a good show. Unless your people are hedge fund managers and you will bring their biz on the floor, no one likes a spoiled brat as a junior.”

6. Take the holiday to which you are officially entitled

You’ll get a little holiday allowance during your internship. You might feel a little like making the most of it. This would be tantamount to coming into the office smeared in manure. “Interns are young, fit, bright and enthusiastic people,” says the head of graduate recruitment at one bank. “The internship is their chance to prove themselves, not to book themselves a weekend break.”

7. Go home early, come in late

It’s the summer. You might feel like staying out, lying in, chillaxing, languishing etc. but you’re on an internship. In a bank. In 2013, Bank of America intern Moritz Erhardt died in the shower after allegedly working 72 hours straight. You absolutely do not want to work these kind of hours. Erhardt already had a reputation for incredibly hard work. He was also said to be in line for a job offer.

8. Do nothing, conspicuously

Yes, some interns will be stupidly overworked but others will have the problem of not enough work and not being sure what to do. If you don’t have any work, quietly ask for some. Try to find ways in which you can contribute (tidying up databases, putting together contact lists, writing a report on something relevant etc.)  “Most interns are incapable of doing anything except answering the phone,” one equity salesman told us. “You usually just throw them a pile of work and make sure they’re out of the way. The work has to be unimportant, but they have to be made to feel that it’s very important and you have to turn the screws on them to get it done.”

9. Fail to ask questions

You have to ask questions to make the most of your internship, but they have to be the right kinds of questions. They should be simple, concise questions about the task in hand rather than anything fancy that’s designed to show off your knowledge. You also need to make sure that you’re not asking questions at an inopportune moment. “Situational awareness is key,” said an ex-intern at Goldman Sachs.

10. Fail to note the answers

When you ask questions, you MUST WRITE DOWN THE ANSWERS. DO NOT ASK THE SAME QUESTION OVER AND OVER AGAIN. Equally, note down all other interesting pieces of information and technical words that are imparted. A notepad should become an extra appendage throughout the internship.

11. Fail to connect with anyone

It’s not just your fellow interns you need to get alone with. It’s everyone. It’s the full time analysts and associates. It’s the senior bankers. It’s the HR people. Everyone must like you. They need to think you’re a human being – not an uber-overachiever who’s fanatical about getting a full time job.

“I was talking about work too much,” says ex-Goldman intern Serrena. “I was sitting on the desk, trying to talk about markets and different asset classes, but the people I was with wanted someone they could sit down with for eight to ten hours a day. They wanted to be able to form a personal connection.”

An intern who didn’t get an offer told us the personal connection was where he went wrong: “90% of the interns are capable, so ultimately it’s all about finding a team you can click with. Unless you’re a complete genius, the team aren’t going to take you unless you fit in. ”

12. Fail to connect with your buddy

It’s not just your fellow interns. It’s not just the analysts and associates, the senior bankers and the HR people. It’s also your buddy. “We will assign mentors, buddies or sponsors – an extra go-to person outside of the hiring manager. Take full advantage of those resources. Ask questions, get advice and get feedback,” says a senior recruiter at J.P. Morgan. 

13. Assume banks are only interested in profit

You’ve read the stories, you know the rumours.  Banks are only interested in one thing: money.

Actually, no. They’re also interested in abiding by the rules and regulations that will stop them perpetually suffering enormous regulatory fines. And theyy’re interested in avoiding losses.

“While obviously important, banks should not solely be interested in whether you end up losing or making money,” says Hesketh. “Interns, grads and junior traders lack the same level of information as their professional superiors. ”

Instead, it’s all about how you respond to loss.”What banks don’t want to see is arrogance,” says David Hesketh, a former trader at Bank of America Merrill Lynch who now runs a company providing trader training software. “They don’t want to see that you think you know best and that the market is wrong. They don’t want to see you holding onto losing trades longer than winning trades and most of all, they don’t want to see you doubling down.”

14. Demand some more interesting work

The work you do as an intern will be boring. Embrace it. Spend all your working hours doing it. Don’t make mistakes and don’t complain. “The work has by and large been more dull and monotonous than I expected,” complained one of our intern diarists in IBD.  “I’ve learned that an analyst’s job is basically manipulating data and collating information to put into pitches whilst also occasionally assisting superiors in the management of a deal. Banking isn’t particularly glamorous and isn’t particularly for geniuses. It’s not about having super stamina or enjoying late night work. It’s about being reliable, accurate, driven and astute.”

15. Get stuck in a team that’s not hiring

This is a particular problem for sales and trading roles. “The vibe that’s given out by these firms is that you’ll get a job offer just as long as you turn up and you don’t mess up. But that’s not really true – it all depends upon finding a team which is actually hiring. On rotational internships, you have no choice about where you’re placed. It’s just pot luck whether you end up in a team where there are actually jobs on offer,” warns one unsuccessful banking intern.  

[Relax]: Funny work week

[Industry News]: Six Singapore companies make it to Forbes Asia's 'Best Under a Billion' list

[Reported by The Business Time on 26 June 2015]

SIX Singapore companies have made it to Forbes Asia's "Best Under a Billion" list this year, three more than in 2014.

The six companies are Cordlife Group, Hock Lian Seng, Pacific Century Regional Developments, Q&M Dental Group, Silverlake Axis and Wee Hur.

The "Best Under A Billion" list honours 200 leading public companies in the Asia-Pacific region with annual revenue of between US$5 million and US$1 billion, having positive net income and having been publicly traded for at least a year. From a universe of 17,000 companies, the candidates are screened on sales growth and earnings growth in the past 12 months and over three years, and for the strongest five-year return on equity. Of the 200 companies, 123 are new to the list.

This year, China and Hong Kong topped the list with a total of 84 companies, one down from last year. The second largest group of companies on the list came from Taiwan - this year, five more companies made it to the list, bringing the total to 36.

Elsewhere in the region, South Korea is third on the list with 17 companies, up from 12 last year. India and Malaysia both have 11 companies on the list while Australia has nine companies. This year, Japan dropped out of the top five countries, with only eight companies compared to 15 last year.

Way of life - Being Positive and smile on

BestTop X Raffles College of Higher Education Career Talk：Portfolio and Resume Writing!

Graduating in the coming months? Thinking of how to land your first job? Wondering how to write an impressive resume to amaze your future employer?

These are common questions among the graduating batch!

Recently, BestTop has been partnering with several schools to bring in working professionals to the campus!

This time, we had Raffles College of Higher Education! At the modern campus of Raffles, BestTop brought in two visual and graphic designers (Nick and Wilson) to share with the students from design school regarding portfolio writing and first-handed industry insights.

During the talk, Nick highlighted his passion for design and his initiative to give up a stable job in the bank to fulfill his career dream before moving into his current position in graphic design and media. I believe that you might have seen the below advertisements before! Guess what, they are designed by Nick!  

Right after the sharing by Nick, we had Wilson. Being in the design industry for 10 years, Wilson was no doubt the right person to talk in details about Infographic CV, Creative Portfolio and the tips for fresh design graduates to stand out in a job interview! 

True. Below are some examples for a creative portfolio!

Last but not least, BestTop would like to thanks Nick, Wilson and Raffles College of Higher Education for this successful collaboration. 

NOTE: Nick is also a career mentor at BestTop! Book him now and get some customised career advise from him in person at just $29.8.

Internship – Singapore Airlines (posted on 25 JUNE 2015)

Company	Singapore Airlines
Industry	Airline
Location	Singapore
Position Type	Internship
Post Date	25 June 2015
Closing Date	n.a

Employer Description

Singapore Airlines Limited is the flag carrier of Singapore which operates from its hub at Changi Airport and has a strong presence in the Southeast Asia, East Asia, South Asia, and Oceania.

It ranks amongst the top 15 carriers worldwide in terms of revenue passenger kilometres, and 10th in the world for international passengers carried. On 15 December 2010, Singapore Airlines was announced by the International Air Transport Association as the second largest airline in the world by market capitalisation with a worth of 14 billion US dollars.

Responsibilities

You will be exposed to a variety of departments, projects and tasks within the relevant Division.

If you perform well during the internship, you may be offered a full-time position.

Qualifications

You must be Polytechnic student currently in or starting your final year of study in University.

You must be a responsible team player with a high standard of excellence.

Application link

Click Here

Internship – Security Solutions – IB Consultancy (posted on 24 JUNE 2015)

Company	IB Consultancy
Industry	Security Solutions
Location	Singapore
Position Type	Internship
Post Date	24 June 2015
Closing Date	n.a

Employer Description

IB Consultancy is an independent defence and security company dedicated to make this world a safer and more secure place. To achieve this, we provide rapid, innovative defence and security solutions to government, and trade & industry.

Responsibilities

• Researching potential themes and topics for our events through in-depth market research;
• Contact potential speakers and make arrangements;
• Arrange media partnerships and be responsible for accurate follow-up;
• Write articles for our CBRNeProtal.com;
• Support our senior consultants with market studies, analyses, etcetera;
• Updating the company’s CRM system.

Qualifications

• Proficiency in the English language, and preferably able to speak another language;
• Strong written and verbal communication skills;
• Excellent organisational skills and practical attitude;
• Strong analytical skills, a curious mind and being creative at the same time (out of the box thinking);
• Excellent knowledge of MS Office packages;
• Graduated (or graduating) in a relevant field of study at a Masters level;
• Have international experience;
• No criminal record that could result in refusal of a security clearance (Restricted level).

Application link

Click Here

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