The financial sector is rapidly evolving, with emerging trends such as sustainable finance and generative AI at the forefront. Continued technological advancements and the increasing complexity of financial markets mean staying updated with relevant skills is essential for career resilience and mobility.
The Institute of Banking and Finance (IBF) was appointed by Workforce Singapore (WSG) to administer the Career Conversion Programmes (CCPs) for financial services to support mid-career individuals seeking to join the sector through on-the-job training or attachment opportunities to build the pipeline of Financial Professional talents. IBF also works closely with financial institutions to pre-emptively reskill and redeploy existing employees whose job roles are impacted or re-designed due to technology or business transformation. The CCP also offers jobseekers on-the-job training or attachment opportunities to pivot into growth roles within the financial sector.
Manulife’s Kon: His key takeaway from this journey is that continual self-improvement not only expanded his skill set but also opened new career paths. Photo: Manulife
Acquiring new skills
Several mid-career professionals share how participating in WSG CCPs supported by IBF has helped them grow in their careers or pivot to new careers in the financial sector. For Kon Shi Wang, originally a client services executive at Manulife, the prospect of acquiring new knowledge in digital transformation, design thinking and data analytics was “particularly appealing”.
The executive already had a growing career, but changes in job requirements required skills that he did not have. Hence, when the reskilling opportunity arose, Kon embraced it with an open mind.
See also: IBF’s journey in building a skilled and resilient financial sector workforce
Through the CCP, the structured training equipped him with data analytics and service design skills, which he applied through on-the-job training in his new scope of work. “The programme was transformative. It not only expanded my analytical skills but also enhanced my approach to strategic decision-making and problem-solving,” he says. This opened further possibilities for Kon and led him to eventually take on a Product Manager role within Manulife today.
Standard Chartered’s Seow: IBF’s support provided him with “great comfort” during his transition into a new industry. Photo: Standard Chartered
See also: Nurturing growth, embracing change
Similarly, Sebastian Seow, now a branch sales and service manager at Standard Chartered Bank, had no experience in the financial sector in the first decade of his career.
He had an extensive career in the hospitality industry in the US, having worked for large-name resorts and casinos. However, he wanted to return to Singapore and participate in the city’s growth as a financial hub. “I came to know about IBF’s many programmes through roadshows and personal research and it gave me great comfort to know that there were many avenues that I could tap on to support my transition into a different industry,” he says.
Seow’s rigorous participation in training and development programmes informed him about how to excel in the role and the industry’s most fundamental aspects. His present area of specialisation is wealth management.
“A proud measure of this success has been my ability to consistently exceed my sales target, keeping me on track for progression by the end of this year,” he says.
Transitioning into technology in finance
It is also possible for individuals to pivot midway through their careers into a technology role within the financial sector. IBF’s Technology in Finance Immersion Programme (TFIP), which is under the attach-and-train mode, provides mid-career individuals with the opportunity to attend structured training followed by an attachment with financial institutions to gain on-the-job experience.
Rajaseharan Reghuram, now at Mizuho, switched careers to study AI and machine learning full-time in IBF’s TFIP programme. Photo: Mizuho
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After 20 years in the same function, Rajaseharan Reghuram was keen to explore a new role. As AI and machine learning started to gain global traction, Reghuram was inspired to expand his knowledge on the subject matter and pursue a career in technology within the financial sector.
He learned about the TFIP by chance from a friend and subsequently spent close to two years in the programme before being offered a role with his host financial institution. In his few months, he attended full-time classes at DigiPen (Singapore), where he learnt new and emerging technologies such as the Python programming language.
After completing his structured training with Digipen (Singapore), he started his attachment with Mizuho Bank’s innovation team, where he worked on a document analysis AI software, which is used to extract data points from digitised trade documents, a key technology to support the bank’s compliance and anti-money laundering efforts.
Other notable projects include “teaching” machines to label data and transforming manual data entry processes into digital systems. “The TFIP programme has opened the door to a career in the financial sector for me. It has also exposed me to different teams in Mizuho and gained further breadth in experience, as the skills that I have gained from both the structured training and my attachment are transferable and applicable,” Reghuram adds.
Like Reghuram, Kwan Jun Jie came from a background unrelated to finance. As an engineer in the oil and gas industry, he wanted to explore opportunities in the data analytics field and was drawn to TFIP, which offered both training and practical work experience through attachments with financial institutions.
Great Eastern’s Kwan: Anyone can acquire new skills and transition to a new career path with the right support and mindset. Photo: Great Eastern
Kwan learned foundational programming concepts during the programme, such as data life cycle and Python-related modules. Alongside gaining technical competencies, the now data analyst at Great Eastern also enjoyed interacting and collaborating with classmates from diverse backgrounds.
“My main learning from this journey was that anyone can acquire new skills and transition to a new career path with the right support and mindset,” he says. “The programme has helped me to advance my career by giving me the confidence and competence to work with different types of data and projects.”
Career advisory
As part of IBF’s jobs development mandate, it offers career advisory services to guide job seekers looking for opportunities within the financial sector. Glen Fook, for example, was looking for a change in his career when he chanced upon IBF’s career advisory services. After struggling to land a permanent role, he made an appointment to see a career adviser who advised him on tailoring job applications and applying for roles through LinkedIn.
There, he met coaches and friends who helped broaden his perspective. He began to learn to be open-minded and refrain from being overly picky or restrictive in the jobs he was applying for. After which, he began to see a slew of opportunities opening up. “In the past, I may avoid applying for roles at certain types of companies for certain reasons. After I remove such criteria, the job opportunities increase,” he says.
Meanwhile, the friends he made through IBF Careers Connect workshops and networking sessions helped him feel less alone in the challenging journey of finding a job and reduced his fear.
Today, Fook has not only gained exposure and experience but also expanded his network. Like Kon, Reghuram and Kwan before him, these individuals are key beneficiaries of the services offered through IBF, all of them agree that this would not have been possible if they had not gone in with an open mind.
“For those considering or participating in such programmes, I would advise embracing these opportunities wholeheartedly. It’s a chance to redefine your professional path and discover new potentials,” says Kon. “My key takeaway from this journey is the value of continual self-improvement. The programme didn’t just expand my skill set; it opened up new pathways in my career.”
