Hsbc Graduate Program Both My

HSBC Graduate Program

Both my academic background and my work experience to this point have prepared me for a graduate position in commercial banking. I have a major in accounting and a minor in finance from the University of California, Los Angeles. This education is, to me, the first step in a lifelong career in the banking industry. It forms the foundation of knowledge upon which I will build sound practical fundamentals once in the graduate program in commercial banking.

I found through the course of my academic career, that I greatly enjoyed both accounting and financial, the latter especially. I have a strong aptitude for numbers and find it fascinating the depth of information that they can reveal. Commercial banking is the ideal application of this skill. My objective for my career is to pursue progressively upward steps in commercial banking, building to become one of Asia's leading investment bankers.

I have extensive experience in banking functions for a new graduate. I worked for the university one summer as a research assistant. This project involved compiling and analyzing 1500 sets of stock option data from American corporations. In this position, I not only learned about the fundamentals of options valuation but I was able to flex my analytical muscles. The project's output was a report on the data and my findings regarding this option data.

I have chosen HSBC because it is the world's greatest bank, with a multitude of rich opportunities, to follow any career path I wish. HSBC's global network will provide me with tremendous opportunities to grow and to pursue greatness, while in the company of greatness.

2. My work experience has been a strong supplement to my academic resume. I have enjoyed three positions, each focused on a different aspect of business but all relying on my strong skills in quantitative analysis.

I worked on a university project to build a database of information regarding stock options of American companies. This role was crucial to developing my understanding of derivative instruments. Not only was I able to compile the information from the EDGAR database, but I contributed to the analysis of the data. The final report that came from this project provided valuable insight into the valuation of options.

These two main components to this position have led me to pursue a career in commercial banking. The experience I gained in data collection was exceptional -- I genuinely enjoyed uncovering valuable data from amidst vast quantities of irrelevant information.

The analysis of that data most closely mirrors the sorts of experiences I expect in the early stages of my commercial banking career. I learned that through careful selection and analysis of financial data, there is much information to be gleaned. The project worked with options, piquing my interest in derivatives. I may choose at some point to pursue a career in derivatives, especially the use of derivatives in an investment banking context.

My position with the university exposed me to much of the fundamental concepts and work of the banking business. It was an excellent complement to my education and will prove a fine springboard to my banking career.

In my work as an accounting intern at Ming Feng Garments, I worked on projects relating to that company's departmental accounting systems. Moreover, I was assigned the task of analyzing the departmental financial budgets and forecasts. These tasks allowed me to use the financial analysis skills I gained during the course of my education. I was able to uncover errors that were being made and alert my superiors so that the problem could be rectified.

The experience was valuable for a couple of reasons. For one, it provided me with a framework for the functional application of financial analysis. I learned much by poring through both the financial and managerial accounting figures. I focused on determining efficiencies, and was successful in making improvements in small ways.

I gained considerable experience in front line business as well. This acts as a complement to my academic background, because it puts that background into perspective. At Ming Feng, I gained a real appreciation for the way business works in the real world. It was a step into the old Hong Kong for me, away from the glass towers, but at the same time these are precisely the types of businesses that drive the world's economy. I found the entire experience fascinating from that perspective.

Ming Feng was the most functional of the three positions I had, since I was focused on basic accounting tasks. Yet, I gained a lot of experience there and was able to apply much of my academic background in the course of my daily financial analysis. My accomplishments were in a support role, but this is a role that I will play from time to time, particularly as I learn the commercial banking trade.

During my time at Hang Sing Trading, I worked as marketing intern. This role also utilized my financial expertise. I worked on pricing strategies for our Chinese shipping operations. Through a superior pricing regime, I was able to close the gap between actual and forecasted sales by 20%. Another achievement in this position was that I was able to develop means to tighten the inventory turnover, reducing inventory levels by 10%.

This experience taught me that financial analysis is a valuable skill in all facets of business, not just in accounting or finance. Indeed, I was able to do for the marketing department what none of the marketing people had been able to do themselves, simply through the careful application of my financial knowledge.