Serena, a now final-year student and one of the most hardworking we’ve had the privilege of getting to know, came to us with the goal of breaking into sales and trading. However, she had 2 major hurdles:
🛑 Lack of relevant experience, and
🛑 Lack of technical knowledge
Serena had already completed 3 internships by her second year, with 1 being in consulting with Deloitte and the rest being in IB and Asset Management within firms such as AIA and lesser known ones. Here's how she shifted her career planning:
👉 We worked closely with Serena to firstly, refine her CV and shape it to ensure it was more suitable for Sales and Trading and secondly, train her in being able to enhance her storytelling skills so she could better frame her narrative in interviews.
👉 To help Serena tackle her lack of technical knowledge, we had her join many of our practice sessions focusing on IB and technical information, held weekly, to aid her in enhancing her knowledge base.
👉 She drafted and practised several typically asked questions in interviews for S&T. We aided her in gaining a strong understanding of market news to ensure she would be able to maintain a client-centric approach and be able to apply market news to her work. We also provided training on how students should frame their answers when interviewing at different financial institutions. Additionally, we sent her, and other students, weekly job updates to help them save time in their job hunt.
This was exactly what Serena needed, because although she would clear initial CV screenings, she would miss clearing technical / manager interviews.
Serena applied to a highly coveted investment bank in Hong Kong and bagged an interview.
In the interview itself, she wowed her future employers with her well-structured answers that were framed around the bank itself, and left them highly impressed with her intricate market knowledge. She was able to articulate her keen interest in the bank and needless to say, she landed the S&T role she always wanted, in the highly reputable company like Wells Fargo.
In the IBank Coaching team's experience as well, sometimes it's not your lack of hard work that sets you back, but the direction where you focus that effort.
So stop comparing yourself to other students and start focusing on what you can do differently to secure IB offers in this market.
Reach out to us for a free one-on-one consultation- use this link to reserve your free demo- https://www.ibankcoaching.com/
Comments