Lan was an active student in NUS Business School, being involved in programmes such as NUS Overseas College (NOC) which he completed in India, and the Student Exchange Program (SEP) in Aalto University School of Business in Finland.
He interned in numerous companies such as Sanofi in Vietnam in 2011, where he liaised with auditors from Ernst & Young in performing internal audit tasks, and En Route Media in India in 2012, where he engaged with leading companies in the IT and fashion retail industries. Apart from gaining international exposure, Lan also interned in SG-based companies such as Acumen Research Laboratories Pte Ltd. He also interned at Schneider Electric as a Global Account Management Intern.
Lan’s last internship was with JPMorgan Chase as a Corporate Development Program Intern. Shortly after that, he decided to start his first job there.
Q: How did you decide/end up in your first career?
After the internship with JPMorgan, I felt that the internship was very structured in terms of providing the interns an all-rounded internship experience. We had the opportunity to come up with solutions for case studies on hypothetical situations and present to the higher management. We also get to be part of charity events and volunteer work, such as bringing children with special needs to the zoo for a day. I felt that JPMorgan gave me a really meaningful experience as interns had the privilege to reach out to staff from different departments which allowed us to explore beyond our job scope.
I knew that I wanted to continue my career here, so I joined as an OTC Derivatives Operations Analyst before transferring to the Rates Trader Support department in 2017.
Q: Are there any insights in your career thus far that you feel students should know about?
During my internship days with JPMorgan, I worked on numerous case studies and realised that they taught me how to work as team and how to develop effective communication skills. Talking about skills, it is also important to have both hard and soft skills. Hard skills gain you an entry ticket but ultimately, soft skills will help you land a job.
It is also important to have specific objectives in mind and communicate them clearly with your managers so that before the performance discussion, they would have already known about your achievements and how you have fulfilled all your promises. Besides, you should always participate in projects as it is the easiest way to help showcase your teamwork and problem-solving skills as well as enrich your business knowledge.
Q: What has been the greatest challenge in your career so far?
The most notable challenge while working for a big corporation is to develop a personal brand through getting recognitions, leaving good impression and building lasting relationships. I know the importance of interacting and leaving good impressions for my colleagues and higher-ups to recognise me. To overcome this, I always strive to get involved in big scale and international projects which allow me to demonstrate my abilities as well as gaining visibility across different stakeholders. I also schedule regular catch-up sessions with my managers to gather feedback and make sure my performance is on track.
The stress of having to exceed expectations and delivering results is a major challenge as well. However, I think it is inherent in all jobs and you can overcome the pressure as long as you are motivated and perseverant in what you are doing.
Q: Are there key traits/portfolio/experience that JPMorgan looks out for when choosing future employees?
There is no definitive answer as JPMorgan is very big and different roles in the bank require different skills. Based on my own experience, you can stand out during the interview stages if you can demonstrate the ability to organize and work in a team.
Back in my days, there were 3 rounds of interviews including an online test, a phone interview and an assessment centre. Within the assessment centre, there were 2 individual interviews, 1 case study discussion followed by 1 individual presentation. During group discussions, you should be proactive. Try to coordinate the discussion and get people who didn’t have the chance to share their ideas to speak up. If the discussion seems to be going to a dead-end without any consensus, try to salvage it by gearing the discussion towards achieving a final solution. It is also important to always keep track of time in all your interviews.
Q: Do you have any other final advice to fresh graduates or current students?
Be daring and try new things. Extend your network in university. Everything you do, try or experience will be beneficial to you, both in the short-run and long-run. Also, it is very important to catch up with technology trends, as technological advancements are inevitable.
NUS provides its students a lot of opportunities to learn and succeed. It is not sufficient for you to be just book smart, you need to be innovative and interactive in class too. A lot of projects in business school don’t have textbook answers and require you to form your own solutions.
Q: As a Vietnamese, do you think you have a greater advantage over locals when it comes to connecting with business partners in Vietnam?
I may have a small advantage but of course it is only restricted to the tasks involving Vietnamese local branches. I always admire my Singaporean colleagues who can speak Chinese, English and Malay. This multilingual ability enables them to communicate effectively with business partners across major markets in Asia. However, even if you do not speak a foreign language, having international exposure can help you adapt and succeed in a MNC environment. That is why I have always found my NOC and SEP experience very valuable.
The Alumni Spotlight Stories is a weekly series that explores a Bizad alumni’s journey from school to the working world. The story was first published in “Alumni Spotlight Stories: From Student Life to the Peak of your Career” compiled by the NUS Business School Alumni (NUSBSA).