Thursday, May 10, 2007

Walking Path

I am in my penultimate year of BA (Hons) Industrial Economics now. The path of my career planning has been charted out, and I have two options upon graduation. First, embarking the investment banking sector with power houses such as JP Morgan, Merrill Lynch, or Credit Suisse. This is the reason I chose to include International Finance module as part of my modules for my final year. In a nutshell, typical issues that will be taught are foreign exchange markets, international risks, international banking, and security markets. Second, working in one of the Big Four like KPMG or PriceWaterhouse Coopers while achieving ICAW or ACCA. The former aspect is the most suitable vis-a-vis my degree title. The latter depends on my success on optional accounting modules like Corporate Finance (basically this module develops my knowledge of financial decision-making and strategic financial decisions like mergers and acquisitions), Management Accounting, and Financial Accounting which are the stepping stone for me to get exemption papers in ICAW or ACCA later. At the moment, I am focusing on my French learning and my aim is to speak good 'francais' in a year time. This ability brings a major advantage for me in the working world in the future if we talked about globalisation and the evolutionary finance. Moreover, the ability to speak a foreign language is part of the essential achievements in university education as today's world does not communicate in a single, isolated language.

I have done few research on my prospect degree. According to Nottingham University Business School 2006/07, a wide range of career options are possible upon graduation, though typically students of Industrial Economics gain final employment in areas such as management consultancy, accounting, and financial services. In addition, from the source of U.S. Department of Labour; Industrial Economists or organizational economists study the market structure of particular industries in terms of the number of competitors within those industries and examine the market decisions of competitive firms and monopolies. These economists also may be concerned with antitrust policy and its impact on market structure. Vis-a-vis prospect environment "economists have structured work schedules. They often work alone, writing reports, preparing statistical charts, and using computers, but they also may be an integral part of a research team. Most work under pressure of deadlines and tight schedules, which may require overtime. Their routine may be interrupted by special requests for data and by the need to attend meetings or conferences. Frequent travel may be necessary"... :)

For now, I have to seize every single day with hard work passioned by perseverance, dedication, and blessings from God. bon courage pour moi.

As Benjamin F. Fairless said "What is the recipe for successful achievement? To my mind there are just four essential ingredients: Choose a career you love, give it the best there is in you, seize your opportunities, and be a member of the team"

2 comments:

Unknown said...

investment banks or big4?

depends on ur motivation. are u genuinely interested in capital markets rather than going for the obscene amount of money in investment banking? if u are, take investment banking. the working hours are really horrible. that's why motivation and drive are very important in this industry, especially for Investment Banking dept (mergers, acquisitions, IPOs). the appropriate qualification is CFA but is very difficult to pass. if u bcome a trader or salesperson, reasonable working hours but very hectic and chaotic working environment, esp when market is active. can u handle the pressure and chaos? i tried becoming a trader before, when i participated in Dresdner Kleinwort's open day's trading simulation game, and i was my team's trader. it was so hectic, chaotic, i couldnt make sense of trading, couldnt make sense of pricing our commodity traded and was lost. worst- i could not reject trades from a salesperson.being an investment banking analyst? crunching numbers all day and all night for M&A proposals, even during the weekends? no thank u.i wanna hang out with my chick.

if ure more business-minded, take the big4. they give u qualification (ICAEW la bro, ACCA tak best la) which is do-able. they give exposure to companies which u audit so that u can make up ur mind which industry to work in. they provide u client contact whilst auditing so that u can network with clients who are potential employers. but in msia, auditors are not rewarded handsomely. but after u are qualified, you earn a lot.this is also good for those who are risk averse. reasonable working hrs except during audit.a lot of auditors said that its fun that they get to travel and work offsite. yeah, right..travelling to client's ofis. another ofis. and they get to audit different types of accounts. if they are working in a small office without any audit industry teams. if ure working in say, KL, most likely, u'll be assigned to a particular industry audit team.

not considering investment management? buy-side industry, clients of sell-side investment banks. like Fidelity, Blackrock and Vanguard. or like PNB in msia. requires genuine interest in markets but still, long working hrs (except for PNB) but less than investment banks. this is where the real asset picking happens.

apsal blog ko cam jiwang smacam uh?

cool gak psl ur trip to eastern europe and also ur uni group's report.

Sharazad said...

yess dann you're right.
ICAEW which awards you the ACA 'baru best' :)
i read an article about the career in investment banking in DOCTORJOB and it struck my mind that it's going to be a dull path which is not as enjoyable as working in big4 ;). in addition, according to a general manager of an internal audit department in Malaysia the prospect for asian people to be investment bankers is not as rewarded as in the big4 due to the white men's mentality (which tells their ignorance in accepting an asian investment banker's advice on where to invest and so on and so forth). at the moment, auditing which relates to corporate governance is the most suitable, promising path for our generation. until we prove our credibility and transparency in ensuring the best practice in lieu with CG, years down the road will be our time to influence the Wall Street.