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https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=665915441225141&id=100034200728835
When I was a senior in college, the prospects of entering the working world seemed daunting – a plethora of career fairs, recruitments talks, company brochures and a multitude of advice from your career counsellor.
The golden standard at the time was to work at a premiere financial institution. Exposure to the holy trinity – consulting, investment banking and Private Equity – was a dream career path for many of my peers. The most common route was to pay your dues , work the brutal 85-95 hour weeks for a few years (yes, our career counsellor would joke, be prepared to be a door mat) then apply to business school or make a career switch that is more in-synch with your true passion.
Meeting senior banking professionals such as Roger Ng and Tim Leissner was nothing more than an opportunity to learn more about Goldman Sachs demanding analyst program. Any college senior will attest that you need to do your groundwork and network with industry professionals in order to land a competitive job that matches your interests.
I personally had a profound interest in government and foreign policy (I graduated with a Bachelor of Science in International Politics and Foreign Policy from Georgetown University, Washington DC) so I wanted to find a role that marries finance and government policy.
Yes, I did inquire if Goldman Sachs had such interdisciplinary roles. I was prepared to interview for them. And yes, I was told that Goldman Sachs does business with the government of Malaysia so it could be a conflict of interest.
Tim Leissner then introduced me to the fundraising group at TPG , a global Private Equity firm. Raising investment funds from strategic institutional investors (most notably pension funds and sovereign wealth funds) meant that my policy background would come in handy. I interviewed for an intern analyst position at the TPG London office. Yes, an intern. This meant you’re at the bottom of the food chain. Besides your core job scope you’re also responsible for the spadework. You’re the PowerPoint girl, the photocopying girl, the coffee girl and the delivery girl just to name a few.
It is worth noting that TPG adheres to strict compliance processes. We had an internal ruling that given my father’s government position, I would not be allowed to participate and/or work on any Malaysian investor accounts.
After about 11 months as an intern I was promoted to a full-time analyst following an internal performance review and transferred to the TPG Hong Kong office where I spent 1.5 years working on the TPG Asia fundraising efforts. I subsequently left TPG in June 2015 to focus on my business and graduate school applications.
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Tim Leissner said that they got a job for Najb’s daughter at TPG.
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weehingthong 