Julia Westra’s Post

What is the stage of applying to graduate roles and internships do you hate the most? Mine has to be assessments 😩😩I will literally put it off to the very last minute to avoid doing it. It just doesn’t spark any interest in me at all. Good news though, if you’re thinking of applying to any HSBC early career roles, you can utilise the Practice Zone to prepare for assessment!! #HSBCWiserAcademyX #lifeathsbc #applicationtips

Proud to announce the completion of my September summer internship at Commercial International Bank (CIB)! These two weeks have been filled with educational experiences, challenges, and new opportunities. Big thanks to the CIB team for their support and guidance throughout the internship. I'm excited to apply what I've learned and leverage this valuable experience in my future career. #sas #CIB_Summer_Internship2024 #CIB #achievement #Data_literacy #Digital_transformation

I never forget my first income Receiving your first income is like a moment you never forget. What you also don't forget is the struggle behind it and the story that defines you where you are today. 👉 My journey began with an internship at HSBC. My role there was to source credit cards from the open market. It was a challenging experience but also a rewarding one. I learned a lot from it and got deeper into the world of finance since then. The skills I mastered there are the skills I use till date. Sometimes it's not just about the money you earn but also about the learnings that follow. 👉 My first income wasn't just a celebration of moving towards financial independence, but an experience I cherish till date. Do you remember your first income? #firstincome #internship #hsbc #income

The problem with a university education (undergrad) is that it teaches you how to be unhappy. It tells you what you should aspire to become, how much you should expect to earn, who you need to network with to get your foot in the door and where you should be applying. It promises you financial freedom. Stack those internships like pancakes, get that degree, get hired for a good job based on that jacked resume. Climb your way to the top. But until then, you stay discontent because you haven’t reached a place you are supposed to be. And since climbing your way to the top involves some form of ruthlessness, let’s bring that into the class room as well. Let’s make class participation competitive , presentations cut throat: your grades bell-curved just like how your future work bonus will be similarly moderated. Hopefully you feed that bloodlust long enough so that you can bring it into the boardroom as well. I remember feeling inadequate having done only ONE internship. At a local production house, cleaning out cupboards, attending casting calls, holding a boom mic for filming, eating leftover fried chicken from a KFC shoot. A business student with no relevant internship(s) or near-perfect GPA. Sadly it made me terribly unkind as well. The way we bidded for modules, schemed our way into forming stronger presentation teams and being absolutely unforgiving when it came to Q&A for presentations against opposing presenters. As though decimating the competition meant better grades for us. How … childish. When I look back, I was simply groomed to view the world in a myopic manner. A university operates as a business. It is required to breed a cohort of laser-focus, ruthless graduates that can compete and successfully capture a limited pool of jobs. Jobs that pay high starting salaries. So when post-surveys period comes along, the average starting salary declared becomes causative to what a good university education is. In Sunny Singapore, some industries pay a lot more for the same work and so naturally we were herded to those high income sectors ( banking and consulting in my time ). To reinforce that belief, the school invited successful alumni, perfect specimens that exemplified how career success looked like. Mentorship panels are still the same, everyone has to be some CEO/Partner/GM/Founder. I look at my Alma Mata now and it’s sad. Undergrads are homogenous. Their resumes reek of exactly this- multiple internships, committees they never really wanted to be apart of, interest-groups they joined just to look interesting. Instead of providing them the capacity to ask questions, to think for themselves, we have given them a mould of life success to conform in. To those who are not stacking internships. Good. Just live. Explore life. Read wider. Write more. Speak clearer. Think deeper. Explore you. Hold on dearly to that passion that comes with youth. You are so much better than this and life really is … so much bigger.

How far will you go for your dream career? For Singapore's aspiring bankers, it's doing as many as six internships and going a step further by deferring their graduation. While there’s long been intense competition between students as they jostle for opportunities to build their work portfolio, mass layoffs in Asia due to a slump in deal-making in the region have only further fueled the competition. And Goldman Sachs and J.P. Morgan have seen a surge in applications for their internships programs. More in my story with Ainsley Thomson:

"Once-in-a-lifetime opportunity", except that it is not. What seems like a dream may unravel when reality sets in. #GenZ tends to glorify their job/career. But there is no glory at all. Every job comes with pain and joy. I have had mentees who secured coveted jobs in seemingly prestigious European and American banks, only to feel disillusioned a couple of years later. Having what you want and wanting what you have are two very different things. It also begs the following questions. Amidst all those job cuts, why are they tripping over themselves to join banking industry? Are they not concerned about future retrenchment? Are there no other industries worthy of their time? If you are an #undergraduate, I like to hear your views.

Excited to Share My Virtual Internship Journey at HSBC Bank by using Forage As a Relationship Manager intern, I had the unique opportunity to dive deep into the world of investment profiles. My role involved identifying distinct investor needs and crafting comprehensive investment recommendations tailored to each client. The experience has been nothing short of transformative, allowing me to develop a keen understanding of the financial landscape and the diverse strategies that drive investor success. I’m eager to connect with fellow finance professionals and exchange insights on investment management and client relations. Let’s explore collaborative opportunities and push the boundaries of financial innovation! #FinanceInternship #InvestmentManagement #RelationshipManagement #HSBCInterns #FinancialInnovation Feel free to customize this post with any specific experiences or learnings you want to share.

I am proud to share with you that I obtained a second certificate from cIB in cooperation with LinkedIn about "Financial Literacy &Entrepreneurial skills" as an integral part of the CIB Summer Internship program. I learned a lot from this training,and many thanks to CIB Bank and to LinkedIn 🤍 #CIB_Egypt #CIB_Summer_Internship_program_2024 #LinkedIn_Learning

I am thrilled to announce that I have successfully finished the CIB Summer Bootcamp on "Human-Centric Interpersonal Skills" as part of the CIB Summer Internship Program. This accomplishment has earned me my third certificate from CIB Egypt and Frankfurt School of Finance & Management. #CIB_Summer_internship_2024 #Data_literacy #Financial_literacy #Entrepreneurial_Skills #LinkedIn #Interpersonal_Skills #Frankfurt_School #Future_Of_Banking #Leadership #Innovation #Finance #Professional_Development #Continuous_Learning #Career_Growth

🚨INVESTMENT BANKING APPLICATIONS ARE OPEN🚨 The time has come - all the hard work studying and networking is going to pay off! If you're interested in investment banking, take a look at the below presitgous firms that are hiring! Don't forget to reach out to your connections at these firms to: - Learn about the role, group and culture - Use this information during the interview to prove you've done your homework (and name drop as appropriate) - Put down a reference or two, and/or get connected with HR/Talent Management at these firms (through your networking efforts) to ensure your resume gets picked out of the pile! Last but not least, reach out to our amazing PFF mentors who currently work for (or who are alumni of) these firms and check out the learning tab on our website (proformafutures.com) to master the techincal questions you may encounter. Best of luck! https://lnkd.in/eUkRWA3A -- Pro Forma Futures is a non-profit working to increase diversity in finance and consulting. We do so by introducing candidates from backgrounds currently underrepresented across these industries to the various post-graduate opportunities available to them, then supporting their pursuit of these roles.