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Corporate Title: AnalystBusiness Area: Investment Banking, Equities
Year Joined Credit Suisse: 2006
Journal Entries Hope you enjoy reading my journal entries. Allow me to briefly introduce myself. My name is John Ra, and I am a recent Rutgers graduate now working for Credit Suisse Asian Cash Equities Sales Trading team. You may wonder how of all places I landed this job here in Hong Kong. I majored in economics with concentration in finance and also minored in psychology. Last year I was chosen as a CS Sales Trading intern during the summer of 2006, and was offered a full time position. I loved the job, location, and the energy at the trading floor so much that I took the offer without a moment of hesitation. It was certainly a relief knowing that I had secured a job while my peers were struggling through the semester balancing out their academics and gruesome application and interview process. So if you are considering Credit Suisse, and more specifically Equities, as your career choice, I strongly recommend that you first do some research. Why Credit Suisse over other top houses? Who works at Credit Suisse? What is the function of equities in i-banking? One question that I often get from ambitious students with dreams of becoming i-bankers is, "What is the difference between equities sales, sales trading, and trading?" This is the big question which often gets asked during the interview (which I simply replied, "I do not know, but I am willing to learn any of those positions"). I look forward to answering this question in the near future to come. Even after 10 weeks of internship and 6 weeks of graduate program, I’m still learning and trying to digest all this, but one thing is for sure: I picked the right company, right team, at the right time. Enjoy reading my blog, and hopefully it will give you some insight as to what Credit Suisse is all about. First Week of My Career - 30 August 2007 Hi y’all. It’s the first week of my career and there are so many paper work and legal and compliance responsibilities to get done. I am in the process of registering for the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Regulation exam, getting set up for Bloomberg, phone line… the list goes on and on. What I learned during the graduate training is this: lazy people never succeed. Successful investment bankers are always up-to-date on all major markets around the world, and never stop learning. That is the attitude of successful bankers here in Credit Suisse: some think they know enough, we think it’s our business to learn. How to Sell Yourself to a Prospective Employer -22 December 2007 Different divisions of an investment bank look for various talents. For example, one cannot be expected to work in any sales division without any communication skills, while it’s less required to work in Information Technology. One cannot be expected to work as a Sales Trader when he or she cannot deal working under tremendous amount of pressure and at a very fast moving environment. With Equities division in mind, I knew exactly what my employers were looking for: enthusiasm, plenty of energy, hunger to learn constantly and excel in this competitive industry. It is very much of a cliché, but nonetheless true and one can only witness by interning. As interns working along side of some of the best in the industry, I have no doubt that even some of the most talented students will be wowed. Show the employers how hungry you are. There is a thin line between confidence and arrogance, and make sure the employers do not see you as the latter. I wish all of you reading this the best of luck, and as a final advice, please do not forget to ask questions when your employer asks, “Do you have any questions for me?” |
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