Who's afraid of turmoil? Not Barclays

In a slow market, not many investment banks continues to hire. Therefore this particular news sounds encouraging and I would like to share it with you, though it is quite Asia focused. For those who wants to start an investment banking career, you can still check out what kind of quality do banking bosses look for.

12 February 2009 - Straits Times
UK bank presses on with plan to hire up to 1,500 skilled staff here

BRITISH banking giant Barclays is sticking to its aggressive plan to hire up to 1,500 highly skilled staff by early 2011 in Singapore - despite the turmoil that has ravaged many financial institutions.

The bank wants project managers, applications development managers, and software and IT specialists for its Business Technology Centre at Changi Business Park Central launched last year.

Barclays has already hired 250 staff - mainly locals - and wants to increase this headcount to 650 by the end of this year.

'We need hundreds of people. So, in the next few weeks and months, we'll keep hiring as fast as we can,' Mr Frits Seegers, the chief executive of Barclays' global retail and commercial banking, said yesterday.

The centre will allow Barclays to run its international cards and banking platforms out of Singapore.

'I'm looking for the best of the best,' said Mr Seegers, who cited candidates having Master of Engineering degrees. 'But most of all, I'm looking for people who are passionate about their jobs...people who know how to win and survive.'

The new staff are in addition to the 2,500 that Barclays already has for its investment banking and wealth management businesses in Singapore.

Mr Seegers said the corporate bank team here, which comprises six staff including bankers, is also set to expand.

'I can't give you numbers, but we're going to grow it very quickly,' said the British-based banker.

Barclays - one of the few major British banks that has yet to receive an infusion of government capital - reported relatively strong results this week, with last year's full-year net profit down just 0.8 per cent from a year earlier.

Mr Seegers, who is forgoing his bonus for last year, said that to dwell on variable compensation is to miss the full picture.

'I have 130,000 colleagues, and many of them work in the retail network - cashiers, personal bankers, commercial bankers. The bonus for them is the difference between going on holidays with their family and not going on holidays with their family. They've worked hard, and I would argue that they deserve to be... rewarded for their hard work.'

Barclays, which snapped up small Indonesian lender Bank Akita last year, is not ruling out further acquisitions.

What about buying Citi's precious Singapore business, which will give Barclays an entry into the home loans and credit cards-sort of business here?

After all, Mr Seegers once ran Citi's consumer banking operations in the Asia-Pacific out of Singapore.

'I have an old rule, and I never comment on what I'm going to buy,' he said. 'My nickname is Discount Dutch. If you talk about what you're going to buy, it's going to become more expensive.'

Mr Seegers hinted that what he is looking for are 'networks' - basically banks with branches and a retail presence.

'People like to do business with us because we're able to turn things around in a short amount of time,' he said.

Investment Banking Resumes - News

Intern Resume Critique

Have you wondered why I consider this as a good resume? It is good because the author is looking for his first intern job. You won’t expect PhD, MBA qualifications together with those Wall Street bulge bracket names on such intern resume.

Let’s call the author of this resume Henry. Henry’s resume has a professional layout. It is well organized and easy to read. Good enough to build a good first impression.

Henry doesn’t even have any commercial experience. However I could visualize from his resume a very energetic young person who participates in various activities and is willing to take up responsibilities in those activities. He also has achievements in what he does.

As I said, a bachelor degree is your basic key to set your feet into an investment bank. Of course if you come from a famous institute, you have a slight relative advantage. But this does not imply a sure win. Apart from qualifications, personality fit is an important factor. Henry managed to present himself as a team player which will earn him extra credits.

Scholarship is one of the most attractive factors on intern resumes. My market resources indicates that the MNC scholarship does exist but the amount Henry gets is rarely given, except to really outstanding students.

Anna Maria D’Souza’s Thoughts on Intern Resume Writing
You might have a long list of your goodies. Try not to list all of them. Consider the readers - What will generate their interest to interview you? Compose a ‘best list’ rather than a ‘long list’.


Investment Banking Intern Resume Critique
Amazing Resume Creator
Amazing Cover Letter

Best Investment Banking Resume Sample – Intern

My niece submitted a resume from her schoolmate for my critique. I found it a gem and would like to share with you. This is one the best intern resumes I have seen. Though everybody has a unique story, but if you manage to produce a resume like this, I’m sure investment banks would want to consider you as an intern candidate. Author of the resume has asked me to remove names to keep his privacy. Come back and see my resume critique in my next post.

NAME

One Line Address
(+321) 1234 5678 (mobile)

candidate@email.com

EDUCATION
Sep 2007 - Present XXX University
Major: Quantitative Finance
Courses taken: Financial Management, Advanced Calculus, Statistics, Economics, Accounting
Expected Graduation Year: June 2011
1st year GPA: 3.36/4.00

EXTRA-CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES
Aug 2008 - Present Leadership Development Programme of XXX University
* One of 28 selected from 3,600 first and second year students
* Developed leadership and team building skills, practised presentation and communication skills, improved critical and logical thinking

Sep 2007 - Present XXX College Toastmaster Club
* Assumed the post of Treasurer in the Committee, making year plan and budget for the Club
* Organised regular club meetings and promotional activities
* Took on various roles as MC and giving speeches

Oct 2008 - Academic Cup of XXX University
* Learnt to effectively analyze cases and clearly present ideas
* Practised team building and working under time pressure

Jul 2008 - University of Overseas Summer Programme
* Learnt to communicate effectively with people from different cultures to complete tasks together and exchange ideas

Sep 2007 - Present - XXX Federation of Business Students Mentorship
* Coordinated regular meetings between mentor and mentees
* Learn about the financial industry through regular informal meetings with mentor

WORK EXPERIENCE
Dec 2007 - Information & Design Business Week
* Took charge of the Service and Information Counter, deploying more than 500 translators
* Coordinated work between 9 helpers
* Successfully answered enquiries and provided assistance to honoured guests

SCHOLARSHIP
2007-2011 A Famous MNC Scholarship (value: $500,000)

COMPUTER & LANGUAGE SKILLS
* Proficient at Microsoft Office: Word, PowerPoint, Outlook, Excel including Macro; Programming: Visual Basic
* Proficient spoken English and Chinese, effective writing skills

Investment Banking Intern Resume Sample

Amazing Resume Creator

Amazing Cover Letter