Chinese New Year is over and hiring in Singapore and Hong Kong is heating up. Unless you’re working in a skill-short function in which banks are more flexible with their recruitment requirements, competition among candidates for banking jobs in Asia looks set to be strong in the Year of the Goat.
Banks will, of course, want to hire you for your skills and experience, but they will also want you to perform the role above expectations and possess some extra characteristics that make you stand out from other applicants.
Hiring managers at banks in Asia want candidates to have the 'X factor' Share on twitter – a noteworthy special talent or quality, and something that could make you valuable to the bank over the long term. While qualifications like MBAs and CFAs are important for building careers in banking, they don’t really count as recruitment X factors, despite many candidates in Asia thinking that they do.
In a lot of cases, an X factor is a unique combination of skills, or even a character or personality trait that you didn’t develop with your career in mind. It doesn’t have to be something big – it can actually be very subtle – but whatever it is, your X factor will sometimes be the defining factor in whether or not you are offered a job.
X factor examples
Here are some concrete examples of employers choosing candidates with the X factor. I’ve seen a derivative trading firm specifically seek out accomplished athletes because of their competitive nature and the “will to win” they possess. I recruited for a private investment management firm in Singapore that wanted candidates who could display a ‘passion’ for financial markets. They loved people who traded equities or watched the markets in their own time and could carry that enthusiasm into their job.
I also represented a young candidate for a role with a large bank who was offered the job after her first interview. When the interviewers asked her if she had any questions, she just said: “Yes, can I have the job?”. She started the following Monday.
In many cases, simple things such as your management style, how you react under pressure, or even your personality can be an X factor. After all, there are a large number of extroverts in the finance sector who are respected by their peers not just because of their subject matter knowledge and experience but because they take a unique approach to their job.
Revealing your X factor at job interviews
We all possess characteristics that make us unique – the challenge is deciding how to make them recognisable to the people you are interviewing with. You will hear advice from recruiters that personal information about yourself is irrelevant when it comes to your resume or a job interview. In my opinion this is only true to a point. What if you are asked this question at your next interview? “You’ve clearly got some impressive experience, but tell me, why should we hire you?”
This kind of open-ended question is a great opportunity to reveal your X factor attributes and how they relate to the job. You could potentially talk about how you thrive under pressure and link this to an example, which could be from your personal life. A friend of mine did this during an interview for a FX-trading role by talking about how he reacted when his oxygen was cut off underwater while sitting his diving qualification.
Don’t be too spontaneous with your X factor examples – prepare them in advance of the interview. Researching your interviewers on social media can help. You may find that you climbed the same mountain, took the same language course or share some of the same interests outside of work – all natural avenues to introduce your X factor.
Just don’t overdo it by preparing a long speech that you force into the dialogue too early. You will typically have more than four interviews – and it’s often in the last round that it’s most important to separate yourself from rival candidates. Have your X factor example ready and tell your story in a few short minutes – be creative but keep your conversation relevant to the job.
Craig Brewer is a director at recruitment firm FiveTen Group in Singapore.