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| HOME > Career Stories > Simon Leung |
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* The interview was conducted in Mar 2004
Bachelor of Business Administration in Accounting and Finance, HKU, 2002
I graduated with a Bachelor degree in Business Administration (Accounting and Finance) in 2002 and began working in the Shanghai Commercial Bank Ltd. We are a well-established Chinese bank with over 50 years running history in Hong Kong. As its name shows, our niche is to provide commercial banking services to local as well as global corporations. In recent years, we have been increasing the distribution of wealth management services in order to meet the diverging investment needs of our customers. Shanghai Commercial & Savings Bank in Taiwan, Wells Fargo Bank in the United States and Shanghai United International Investment Ltd are our major shareholders. Apart from our close relationship with the holding bank, we also maintain strategic relationship with Shanghai Bank.
The training program provided by the Bank is very tailor-made and flexible. Upon first entry, trainees will be assigned to marketing units to receive on-the-job training. After a couple of months, they will be assigned to different banking areas according to their specialization, preference and performance. In my case, I was assigned to the SME Centre responsible for promoting commercial banking services and investment products. My major job duties were to write credit reports on clients and manage the accounts with my mentor's guidance. I also participated in trade and marketing events such as SME Market Day organized by Trade Development Council in July 2003. After my first assignment in the SME Centre, I am now an Assistant Operations Supervisor in the Credit Control Department, responsible for monitoring and evaluating loan account's performance.
The Human Resources Department will assign a senior manger as the trainee's mentor to guide them during the training period. The mentor will communicate with the trainee frequently to help them adapt to the Bank's culture and norms and to become productive quickly. Besides, the bank provides a variety of professional training classes, on various financial products and licenses (e.g. MPF). Furthermore, in order to monitor trainee's progress, management conducts evaluation every 6 months and we need to submit a Training Report on what we have learnt, how we feel about our progress, and what areas require further development and improvement. Then, HR will adjust our training program and provide necessary assistance to keep us on track.
The Bank looks for pro-active, self-motivated as well as disciplined team players. It will be an advantage if you can demonstrate your knowledge about various banking products (company and product research will help in this regard). You also need to keep abreast of current events and be able to state your opinions about what is going on around the world.
You will start as a Graduate Trainee, then promote to be an assistant supervisor within the first year of training. Upon successful completion of the two-year program, you will be promoted to become an Officer, which is a junior management position responsible for leading a small team of members.
Today, there are plenty of opportunities for doing business in China, and SME can obtain benefits from the various trade initiatives (e.g. CEPA). Personally I think we can expect lots of growth and prospects in the banking industry.
Banking environment has been changing very rapidly in the past few years. You need to be pro-active and eager to learn in order to keep abreast of the latest development. On the other hand, bank operations are routine in nature. Employees need a high degree of discipline, patience and attention to details. You should decide for yourself whether all these match your personality and working style.
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