Unfortunately he's right. It's depressing!Original Post Deleted
Unfortunately he's right. It's depressing!Original Post Deleted
You would have 'enjoyed' what I've seen yesterday. Next to me on the MTR sat a young guy who was busy memorising a 'speech' (can't find a better word for it) he prepared for a job interview. I couldn't help overhearing every irritating single little detail of it. And no, he didn't even try to sell himself, all he practiced was flattering the interviewers....
Am with DeletedUser here, we have hired in the past 7 years here in HK some brilliant locals (and they work damn hard).
But I do get what Climber says too.
For some functions (mostly support from what I can se around me, so this is just an observation, not a truth) it's depressing to see the lack of critical thinking.
One thing I feel sometimes local grad miss is "Commercial Attitude" - as compared to the fresh grad we may hire from other places.
But they usualy compensate that by very high analytical skills, job ethics and commitment.
Just because you have a one track mind, doesn't make it fact. My entire team happens to be Chinese. One HK local and 4 from Mainland motherland. They are all brilliant quants (Math / Physics PhDs) and with their educational background have awesome communication and interpersonal skills.
My post is based on the interview processes I was asked to conduct to hire fresh grads into finance. The standout candidates (for the roles I need...which happen to be extremely confrontational in nature and require thick skin) are few and far between. However, we do find them and contrary to your belief they are not filled with gweilos.
BTW...if you're keen to kick my ass..I'll be happy to PM you my address. Just be ready to put your money where your mouth is. If you talk the talk, you better walk the walk.
Last edited by climber07; 20-07-2012 at 07:43 PM.
To the OP, I don't think it is only a banking issue or finance issue.
Generally speaking, working culture in East Asia is just built around long hours.
If you aren't working long, you must not be working hard (or so the saying goes).
I'm not a banker, and in Japan and Taiwan both 14 hour days were the norm, in office, with conference calls to the States at crazy hours of the night (i.e. 2am). During peak times, people could be in the office overnight, even (most levels of staff, as well). Similar to IB, I think.
All that said, I often question the ROI when operating like this.
It's not efficient and productivity decreases massively.