* The interview was conducted in Jan 2002

University

Bachelor of Economics and Finance, HKU, 2000

Employment

Graduate Trainee, HSBC Asset Management, 2000 to present

Career Progression at HSBC

• Training Programme - Hertfordshire, England
  
  1 month residential programme comprising of topics such as Accounting, IT, team building, communication, presentation, outdoor exercises, history, organisation and business activities of HSBC.
  
  
• First Posting - London, England
  
  Private Clients
  
  3 month posting - duties included conducting research and presenting findings on different equities; setting up and managing database.
  
  
• Second Posting - London, England
  
  Fixed Income Department
  
  Duties included assisting a Fund Manager with managing government and corporate bonds; reviewing clients' portfolios to flag up concerns to the Fund Manager, attending investment meetings and giving weekly presentations on his own analysis of the economy once a week.
  
  
• Current Posting - New York, USA
  
  Equities Division
  
  Since September, 2001.
  
  
• Possible Future Posting - Melbourne, Australia

Product Development or Tactical Investment Unit.

What do you enjoy about your work at HSBC Asset Management?

It is an amazingly young organisation. It is eye-opening for me to see the important role that research has in big businesses where turnover is in the billions. It is remarkable to see colleagues in their twenties maintaining high standards in the essential and detail-orientated areas of number crunching and market analysis.

The marketing professionals are more mature, mostly in their thirties and forties. They can present their case and nurture relationships with clients in ways I have never seen before. I have been very lucky to have the chance to work with a lot of very senior colleagues and most of them are very good mentors.

I go out with trainees from many diverse countries including Sweden, Turkey, Norway, Italy, France, Egypt, Syria, Malaysia, Singapore and Venezuela. We meet up at week-ends for the theatre and cinema. We also go climbing, clubbing, drinking, and touring the UK or the Continent.

What is a great career to you?

I look for expertise in my career. By that I mean I want to be a specialist in the financial industry.

How did you arrive at that decision?

It happened more or less by chance. Both my parents and the school that I attended, Wah Yan Hong Kong, were very liberal and gave me the freedom to pursue my interests. By chance I found a summer job with a stockbroker and became very interested in finance. This experience gave me valuable insight into the active financial market that is very much part of Hong Kong. I followed up this interest by focusing my University studies on Economics and Finance. It is a challenging subject that is entirely new to me. Its focused, rather than generic approach appeals to me as does its macro, rather than micro perspective.

What did you do at HKU to enhance your success in the job market?

I basically used my time at HKU to develop myself in all aspects through spending time with friends. The most formative experience that I had at HKU was my participation at TILIP (Tufts Institute for Leadership and International Perspective).

Half of my time was spent on attending lectures and other activities connected with academic study. The rest of the time was spent going out with friends to the cinema, singing karaoke and playing tennis. We also took Putonghua and Japanese lessons, and attended a few current affairs discussions at the Personal Development and Counselling Centre.

Is there any particular experience at HKU that helped you launch your career?

I believe the TILIP experience was pivotal. I was partnered with an American student from Tufts University to conduct a research project into the global oil industry - its nature, the major players, and the state of play.

I lived, worked, and socialised with 10 American, 6 Hong Kong, and 4 Beijing students and learned to enjoy their company. We still keep in touch with each other. Actually one of the Americans just came over to stay with me recently.

We met community leaders and captains of industry, such as Mrs. Anson Chan, the then Chief Secretary and Mr. Linus Cheung, the CEO of the former HK Telecom. During the two week cultural tour of Beijing we met and discussed with senior Mainland academics major issues such as globalisation, Asian values, the Asian financial crisis and the current economic situation of China and the world.

In New York, we visited various organisations including the United Nations, the Council on Foreign Relations and Chase Manhattan Bank. Our visit to Boston involved attending seminars at Harvard, MIT and Tufts University.

Through the programme I gained a macro view of issues by looking at them from an international perspective. I learned to work with people from different nationalities and became more culturally sensitive.

The TILIP experience was invaluable when it came to looking for jobs. Interviewers invariably asked me about it and that gave me an opportunity to present my ability and achievements.

Was there any other helpful experience?

Overall, I would say that I prepared for my career by building up self confidence and learning to work with people of different backgrounds.

How did you prepare yourself for the competition for employment?

I researched extensively about the organisations that I was applying to, using the Internet, the Careers Library and attending recruitment talks. Also, practise makes perfect. Over time I became very comfortable with the various selection procedures used by employers, such as reasoning tests, in-tray exercises, presentation, group discussions, occupational personality questionnaires, case studies and interviews.

What advice do you have for job-seekers?

Be pro-active - do not rely completely on advertised positions, but send prospecting letters to those organisations that you admire.

What other advice do you have for current students or new graduates?

• Follow your interests. By choosing to study a subject that I enjoyed, I was much more successful at university than in secondary school, graduating with first class honours.
• Be focused and make the best of the situation that you are in, rather than constantly looking around for something else.
• Research thoroughly. On the Internet I used www.vault.com and websites of various financial institutions for information on the finance industry.
• Think laterally and creatively. Do not be confined by conventional wisdom, do not toe the line and follow peer pressure blindly.
• Be open-minded and learn from other people.
• Teamwork - Take advantage of opportunities to work with others.
• Pursue personal development in a natural, rather than a contrived, manner. Act, reflect, and improve.
• Treat interviews as a natural dialogue, be yourself, and just explain what you have done in the past and how you have improved because of it.