Gauri Chhabra
The year 2009, the Mighty Fall of Lehman Brothers- spelt the doom for Banking as an industry… Not Quite. Banking today still stands on very strong fundamentals and is a niche career for candidates who wish for a steady career and balanced growth trajectory. For the beginners, it is the first step towards understanding the global economy, discovering the challenges of the marketplace and identifying themselves with a career that provides them with tremendous opportunities. In and day out we see a number of banks coming up, each providing a plethora of opportunities offered across a broad spectrum from sales,to accounts to management to operations.
Getting in:
An admission to bachelor’s program in banking requires good percentage in Class XII. If you are a student from CBSE, you would require at least 80% overall to get admitted to a good college.
Besides, the skills expected from students to clear the interview include good communication skills, aptitude for banking, sales, marketing and money matters. If you are an enthusiast who loves trading in stocks, mutual funds, hedge funds and understands the pros and cons of availing personal loans and insurance policies, it only adds to your career prospects.
Banking programs introduced by various government and private organizations aim at equipping students with concepts, tools and techniques in the banking sector.
For instance, broadly, the bachelor’s degree program in Banking and Insurance offers specialization in the following areas:
* Environment and Management of Financial Services
* Micro Economics
* Effective Banking Communication
* Quantitative Techniques
* Organizational behavior
* Taxation of Financial Services
* Laws relating to Banking & Insurance
* Cost Accounting of B&I Services
* Equity Debt
* Corporate Laws governing Capital Markets
* International Business Management in Banking Organizations
* HRM in Banking Organizations
* Strategic Planning in Banking organizations
Skillsets:
Banking is a career that offers opportunities to students from all streams, be it humanities, commerce or science. However, to make a career in banking, you must be good at analyzing numbers, that is, your mathematics must be strong enough to interpret and analyze numerical data. You must be prepared for the Banking Entrance Exams and for the interviews that follow these entrance examinations. For instance, if you are a BA student with excellent communication skills, you can actually get placed with a banking BPO as process executive.Concepts such as Hedge Funds dominate the overseas markets and a sound understanding of these would help.
Companies such as GE Money, Max New York and leading banks such as ICICI, HSBC, HDFC, Standard Chartered, American Express, to name a few, select students from colleges.
Thus, choosing banking as a career is a wise option for those interested in growing fast in their careers and those who wish to get exposure to world markets at an early stage itself.
Fee Structure:
The fee structure for a banking bachelor’s degree varies from Rs 10,000 to Rs 100,000 depending on the college you select.
For a post graduate diploma or master’s degree, you may be expected to spend anywhere between Rs 50,000 to Rs 7,00,000 based on the college you select.There are several ways to fund your banking degree. You may approach banks for educational loans or if you are a working professional with an organization that offers study programs to employees, your company may fund your studies and allow you to repay after a few years.
Career Pathway:
Banking offers a wide spectrum of career options all across the globe especially in India.Job opportunities for graduates and post-graduates in banking are excellent in India. Once you complete a selective professional course in banking, you will immediately be offered a position as a banking sales officer with the private banks. Of course, your technical skills and basic communication skills do matter in the process.
Besides, positions in insurance, personal loans, mortgages, collections and back office operations are always vacant and offer all bright to average students to avail the opportunities presented. Banks such as ICICI, HSBC, Kotak Mahindra, HDFC, Standard Chartered, Barclay’s, and American Express are some of the companies that hire banking students at all levels depending on the colleges they are recruiting from.
Placements and Pay Packet:
Based on the college you are graduating with a banking degree or diploma, you may expect placements with various companies.
If you are from a tier-1 college such as the IIMs, you can expect banks abroad such as JP Morgan Chase, Fidelity etc. to hire you for an excellent salary.
Besides, as evident, top banks such as Barclay’s, Royal Bank of Scotland, American Express, Standard Chartered and other financial institutions require hundreds of banking professionals every year and are more than willing to hire the same for considerably good salaries.
Most of these companies come for campus placements with universities, which makes it quite easy for students to approach them and understand the opportunities.
The pay scales for banking student who is a fresher could vary anywhere from Rs 8,000 to Rs 20,000 to begin with. Students who have post graduated from top Business schools and banking institutions can expect up to Rs 8 lakhs per annum for the role of relationship managers depending on their overall scores and the college they are from.
Several banking companies recruit Indian students from the IIMs, XLRI, FMS and other popular colleges every year for pay packages not less than Rs. 10 lakhs per annum.
However, please be wary that the financial markets are ever fluctuating and may all of a sudden cause crashes in career. There is a constant need to keep yourself updated with latest trends in banking so you remain relevant in your job profile.
Future Track:
Grounded in sound financial fundamentals, the banking industry has seen a renaissance after the financial tsunami in 2007. With popular mergers and acquisitions such as Royal Bank of Scotland and ABN Amro, there is light at the end of the tunnel. The CAT and GMAT scores after graduation enable students to get into post-graduate programs in banking per se not only in India but across the globe. However, even as a banking professional who joins after aBachelor’s degree in Commerce with a leading bank, you can look forward to an escalation in your career.
Combination Offer:
Banking is a mixed bag of hits and misses. Banking professionals are required all year long. After privatization, the requirement for banking professionals has increased manifold.
Students with different specializations such as Science, Arts and Commerce can apply for jobs with banks after equipping themselves with diplomas that provide them with the basic knowledge required in the banking organizations.
Salaries of students getting placed abroad are huge and provide excellent scope for professional and personal growth.
The layoffs in banking jobs have become frequent due to fluctuating stock markets in recent times. Post the gloomy clouds over Wall Street, the enthusiasm of jobs in the banking sector has slightly dampened.
Yet today, with the revival of the economy and with the per capita income in India on the rise, banks have re-embarked on their journey…of scripting successful careers.
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