(no subject)
"it's my sincere hope to add value to the firm while i'm working here"
"in the next 10 weeks, you will not add any value"
so went my "welcome aboard" conversation with one of the portfolio managers at DBS Asset Management. the negative response easily could've been born from the normal singaporean inability to understand american english. perhaps, he didn't understand that all i wanted was to learn and be useful to him and his team during my 10 week stint. regardless, with a welcome like that, it was easy to understand why i wasn't having a great time during my first 2 weeks of work.
with a broad sweep of his hand, my supervisor then told me what i should do as i was getting situated in my new workspace -- a cubicle shared with him, and 2 fixed-income portfolio managers. "research india," he said, in a calm, almost dead-pan, tone.
"what do you mean? india's a big place!"
"oh, let me focus that for you -- identify the most attractive companies in the most attractive sectors."
"don't you have analysts that do that? aren't i supposed to be doing spreadsheet work?"
"actually, no -- read some brokerage reports, there some conferences you should go to, talk with some analysts, then write your recommendations."
people usually have MBAs when they do this work. i barely have a BA. i told them in the interview that i was keen on learning everything i could learn about the buyside during this internship. i guess they decided the best way was to give me work that people with advanced degrees get paid a lot more to do. i know i was working at a "relatively" small firm (though DBS is singapore's larget bank), but somehow i expected something a little different from this, something a bit more menial. i remembered what my old man said when i was having a hard time with AP US History -- "gird up thy loins like a man!". i think he was drinking wine at the time. i also think he got it from a movie. at the time i just shrugged, wondered what he meant, but decided that if i asked i'd just sound stupider. so i put my essay to the side, and went to sleep. but, in one of the few moments in my life where i've given credence to drunken movie-wisdom, i thought of my dad's weird comment and started working.
i've already learned a lot and i'm grateful for the opportunity they've given me. thankfully, my hours aren't bad at all (8.30 to 6.30, but i'm usually out by 6.15), so i get some free time too. i've been going out to lunch with aaron twice a week, and he has it much worse -- a job that sounds better than mine but manages to provide him with a minimal amount of actual working experience coupled with shittier hours. alfie is working for a masochistic korean firm called byun and co., and he gets off work at 10. now that sucks. sometimes i completely fail to realize how good i have it.
being back home, even though i'm by myself (my family is in america for a total of 5 weeks), has been great. i haven't been drinking much at all (2 glasses of wine a night -- well, not much by my standards), i've managed to watch what i've been eating, and i even go to the gym most days. no one is even policing me. sometimes i wonder what happens to the discipline when i leave home. this is not a good sign.
my weekends are full of video games and DVDs, soup-and-sandwhich lunches, and plenty of rest. what more could i possibly ask for? maybe some ice cream, or some chocolate. i guess that'll have to be put on hold.
"in the next 10 weeks, you will not add any value"
so went my "welcome aboard" conversation with one of the portfolio managers at DBS Asset Management. the negative response easily could've been born from the normal singaporean inability to understand american english. perhaps, he didn't understand that all i wanted was to learn and be useful to him and his team during my 10 week stint. regardless, with a welcome like that, it was easy to understand why i wasn't having a great time during my first 2 weeks of work.
with a broad sweep of his hand, my supervisor then told me what i should do as i was getting situated in my new workspace -- a cubicle shared with him, and 2 fixed-income portfolio managers. "research india," he said, in a calm, almost dead-pan, tone.
"what do you mean? india's a big place!"
"oh, let me focus that for you -- identify the most attractive companies in the most attractive sectors."
"don't you have analysts that do that? aren't i supposed to be doing spreadsheet work?"
"actually, no -- read some brokerage reports, there some conferences you should go to, talk with some analysts, then write your recommendations."
people usually have MBAs when they do this work. i barely have a BA. i told them in the interview that i was keen on learning everything i could learn about the buyside during this internship. i guess they decided the best way was to give me work that people with advanced degrees get paid a lot more to do. i know i was working at a "relatively" small firm (though DBS is singapore's larget bank), but somehow i expected something a little different from this, something a bit more menial. i remembered what my old man said when i was having a hard time with AP US History -- "gird up thy loins like a man!". i think he was drinking wine at the time. i also think he got it from a movie. at the time i just shrugged, wondered what he meant, but decided that if i asked i'd just sound stupider. so i put my essay to the side, and went to sleep. but, in one of the few moments in my life where i've given credence to drunken movie-wisdom, i thought of my dad's weird comment and started working.
i've already learned a lot and i'm grateful for the opportunity they've given me. thankfully, my hours aren't bad at all (8.30 to 6.30, but i'm usually out by 6.15), so i get some free time too. i've been going out to lunch with aaron twice a week, and he has it much worse -- a job that sounds better than mine but manages to provide him with a minimal amount of actual working experience coupled with shittier hours. alfie is working for a masochistic korean firm called byun and co., and he gets off work at 10. now that sucks. sometimes i completely fail to realize how good i have it.
being back home, even though i'm by myself (my family is in america for a total of 5 weeks), has been great. i haven't been drinking much at all (2 glasses of wine a night -- well, not much by my standards), i've managed to watch what i've been eating, and i even go to the gym most days. no one is even policing me. sometimes i wonder what happens to the discipline when i leave home. this is not a good sign.
my weekends are full of video games and DVDs, soup-and-sandwhich lunches, and plenty of rest. what more could i possibly ask for? maybe some ice cream, or some chocolate. i guess that'll have to be put on hold.