It’s tough to get a banking job in Asia these days unless you already have Asian experience – banks in Hong Kong and Singapore want to hire people with mainland Chinese and Southeast Asian networks respectively. Singapore, meanwhile, is introducing new rules that are already making banks work harder than ever to justify recruiting from overseas.
At job interviews, banks will probe into your reasons for moving to Asia in an effort to weed out candidates who are not committed to forging a long-term career with them in the region.
Last month we told you how best to answer an interview question about your relocation motivations. The reality of how candidates often respond is, unfortunately, somewhat different, according to recruiters in Singapore and Hong Kong.
Here are 10 of the worst examples of job seekers who fluff their answers when asked why they want to move – try your best not to act like them if you want a banking job in Asia.
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Eight awesome answers to the most critical interview question in Asian banking
What banks in Singapore really think about hiring more Singaporean bankers
How bankers’ children are stopping bankers shifting to jobs in Hong Kong
1) The family follower
Getting your partner to fully support your relocation is essential. But if you’re shifting simply to follow him or her out to Asia, don’t mention this as a motivation. “Following a boyfriend, girlfriend, husband, wife is not seen as a good answer because it implies that you’re not motivated by your own career ambitions,” says Ben Batten, country general manager at recruiters Volt in Singapore.
2) The stone stepper
Avoid applying for a role as a short-term stepping stone into the region – and if you do, don’t admit your ambitions to your recruiter. “Candidates often tell me they are looking to get any job – just to make the move to Asia – but plan to look for a better opportunity once there,” says Batten. “This really does little for their longer-term career prospects, and also causes much time loss for companies.”
3) The escapee
Whatever you do in an interview, try to accentuate positive reasons for moving. Telling interviewers how much you hate your homeland or how bad the economy is there won’t impress them. “Hiring managers want to hear ‘pull factors’, not ‘push factors’,” says Chris Mead, regional director of recruitment agency Hays in Singapore. “Focus on why you’d love your future situation and keep these answers business related.”
4) The boom rider
Your list of positive pull factors should also be specific to your job – don’t fall into the common trap of talking about how Asia is “booming”, says Alex Berghofen, managing partner of search firm Helex Asia. “It’s too generic an answer.”
5) The globetrotter
Too many candidates are also telling recruiters in Asia that they want generic “international experience”, says Berghofen. Saying that “either Dubai or Hong Kong will do” will doom your candidacy – banks want you to show commitment to the country and to the Asian region.
6) The best Westerner
Banks in Asia may be looking to plug some skill shortages with Western talent, particularly for compliance roles, but don’t hype up the skills you’ve gained in New York or London too much – banks want experience, not arrogance. “Some people think that their great performance and career in Europe or the US automatically makes them a hot candidate in Asia,” says Berghofen.
7) The ladder climber
“Using Asia as a platform to hoof yourself up the career ladder is usually interpreted as you thinking, wrongly, that it’s easier to get a promotion in Asia than in your home country,” says Sarah Curtis, country manager for Hong Kong at recruitment firm iKas International. “Or it shows that you are likely to trample over the local population to get there – neither of which go down particularly well.”
8) The expert expat
Renting plush condos with infinity pools, flying off for long weekends in Bali, boozing on Boat Quay, or pram-pushing round the Tanglin Mall – all part of life for many expat bankers in Singapore. Except, say all recruiters we spoke to, never mention that you want any of this – even jokingly, even to fellow foreigners – when you’re applying for a job. After the public backlash in Singapore earlier this year against Antony Casey, the Porsche-driving British wealth manager who lashed out on Facebook against poor people using public transport, any sniff of expat arrogance will be frowned upon.
9) The trier
If talking up a flashy expat existence is a bad move, so is saying that you want to “try Asia for a couple of years,” says Kathy Togni, principal of search firm Togni & Zhao in Hong Kong. Such bland, short-term generic aspirations (also avoid “enjoying travelling” or “doing something new”) mark you out as a risky recruit who won’t last long in Asia.
10) The tax avoider
HR people at banks in Singapore and Hong Kong admit that their countries’ low tax rates are an attractive hook for them to snare foreign candidates. But you are still strongly advised not to talk about tax when asked why you want to move to Asia. Not only will you been seen as too money-motivated, you also risk sounding stupid – the tax benefits are also so “obvious” that nobody need mention them, says Mead from Hays.
The post Ten types of candidates who will always fail to get an expat banking job in Asia appeared first on eFinancialCareers.