Interview Reflection Report

I had an interview based on job advert I selected for my career industry. I had applied for Junior Assistant post in Nepal SBI bank. It is an entry level post for undergraduate freshers, there was no requirement of any experience. As I was facing a job interview for the first time I was quite nervous before my interview. Before going to interview I had gathered a great deal of information about the company I had chosen.

In the beginning of the interview, interviewer asked me if I had brought any documents or not, although I had an internship certificate I did not bring it to the interview which was the biggest drawback of my interview. Then I was asked to describe myself which I started with confident and told about my educational background, experience as an intern, my interest and strengths. Further, interviewer asked me about my work experience as an intern, as I had done an internship in Nepal Rastra Bank (Public Debt Department) I briefly explained her department's function, debt issuing process and named her different debt tools.

After I finished explaining about my internship experience, she asked me questions related with industry and job advert, as she instantly switched question from my internship experience to my job advert or company related question I was confused whether she was asking question from my internship experience or about company, I answered it from internship experience perspective but interviewer wanted answer from company's perspective so I apologized her for my previous answer and answered again through company's perspective.

Then I was asked to tell my two strengths and weaknesses, I was most comfortable answering my greatest strength because I have always felt that I have a great strength to learn and I am flexible to the changing situation. I was also comfortable with answering my greatest weakness because I was honest with my answer and told interviewer what I had been told by others. I also told her what I have been doing to get rid of these weaknesses.

Finally I was asked about my succession plan after I will be hired in this company which I explained by providing time frame of five years and ten years, I said her in five years I see myself at least in officer level post and in ten years maybe in managerial level post, then she counter questioned me by asking hierarchy of the company which I could not explain well so suggested me to understand the hierarchical system of the company.

Overall I was said that I was confident throughout my interview and interviewer praised me about the research I had done about the industry and seriousness I showed during my internship. I was advised to work on layout of CV and told me to improve my vocabulary. I relished the opportunity of facing a job interview for the first time in my life and felt this type of mock interview will make me industry ready after I finish my graduation.

Task 2- Autumn 2013

Introduction

Nepal SBI Bank Ltd. is a subsidiary of State Bank of India which has 55 percent of ownership and rest is held by a local partner viz. Employee Provident Fund (15%) and general public (30%). In terms of the Technical Services Agreement between SBI and the NSBL, the former provides management support to the bank through its expatriate officers including Managing Director who is also the CEO of the Bank. Central Management Committee (CENMAC) consisting of the Managing Director, Chief Operating Officer, Chief Financial Officer and Chief Credit Officer oversee the overall banking operations in the Bank. The Bank was established in July 1993 & is now having 538 Nepalese employees working in 56 branches, 6 extension counters, 3 Regional Offices & the Corporate Office.

State Bank of India (SBl), with a 200 year history, is the largest commercial bank in India in terms of assets, deposits, profits, branches, customers and employees. The Government of India is the single largest shareholder of this Fortune 500 entity with 61.58% ownership. SBl is ranked 60th in the list of Top 1000 Banks in the world by “The Banker” in July 2012.

 

The origins of State Bank of India date back to 1806 when the Bank of Calcutta (later called the Bank of Bengal) was established. In 1921, the Bank of Bengal and two other banks (Bank of Madras and Bank of Bombay) were amalgamated to form the Imperial Bank of India. In 1955, the Reserve Bank of India acquired the controlling interests of the Imperial Bank of India and SBI was created by an act of Parliament to succeed the Imperial Bank of India.

 

The SBI group, consists of SBl and five associate banks. The group has an extensive network, with over 20000 plus branches in India and another 173 offices in 34 countries across the world. As of 31st March 2012, the group had assets worth USD 359 billion, deposits of USD 278 billion and capital & reserves in excess of USD 20.88 billion. The group commands over 22% share of the domestic Indian banking market.

 

SBl's non- banking subsidiaries / Joint ventures are market leaders in their respective areas and provide wide ranging services, which include life insurance, merchant banking, mutual funds, credit cards, factoring services, security trading and primary dealership, making the SBl Group a truly large financial supermarket and India's financial icon. SBI has arrangements with over 1500 various international / local banks to exchange financial messages through SWIFT in all business centers of the world to facilitate trade related banking business, reinforced by dedicated and highly skilled teams of professionals.

Vision and Mission

To be a state of the art, customer centric, values driven and professionally managed bank; committed to high standards of good corporate governance practices; perpetual enhancement of the wealth of all stakeholders and the society.

Over the years, we have grown larger and stronger - in terms of business, geography and resources. This has been achieved by relying on the fundamentals of customer service of top order. Our achievements have come through quality, consistency and transparency of capital base, sound liquidity, a robust risk management framework coupled with the practice of good corporate governance and above all, the tireless focus on customer satisfaction.
 
The Bank’s mission is to provide one stop solutions to all the banking needs for the customer through a highly motivated professional and efficient human resource pool. Promoting sustainable business growth by providing  High quality customer service, customer care and ensuring efficient use of Information Technology in a cost efficient manner. Meeting the expectations of all stakeholders through transparent, true and fair disclosures and responsive management, practices/principles. Strive to fulfill corporate social responsibility in Nepal with emphasis to growth in business. 

Aspiration

To be the most trusted and preferred banking utility/financial service provider in Nepal. 

Commitment

First in customer satisfaction

Blog Task 1- Autumn 2013

During my 3 months vacation I mostly travelled around country with my family and friends. Likewise, I also spend some time reading novels, finance journals and books which would help aspiring entrepreneur. I also did some research about industry of my choice and did the entire task which was assigned by the college during our vacation.

As I visited different places, it surely helped me to learn many new things. I travelled many remote places of Nepal like Rasuwa, Beni, Baglung and Jiri which helped me to understand people of those areas. It was great to observe and feel new culture, lifestyle and their social functions. Likewise, different books like the monk who sold his Ferrari and Bunch of crazy ideas which I read were very good. These books taught me how to be a successful person, formulas to be happy in life and were based on providing motivation to startup great career. Bunch of crazy ideas was all about simple ideas which can be formulated to initiate new business and was inspirational for aspiring entrepreneur.

I also researched about the industry of my choice, as we were given some task relating to our industry choice during vacation I had to do further research about the industry. I visited Nepal Rastra Banks website and went through financial reports of different banks, likewise I also did a comparative study of commercial banks.

Yes, I looked for jobs that suits my interest or from my industry choice. It was an advert released from one of the commercial bank named Commerz and Trust bank for the post of Junior Assistant.

I completed all the tasks assigned by my module teacher and sent a mail before deadline. I hope she liked my work and would give me positive feedback.

If once again I get summer vacation, I will look out for job or internship in the industry of my choice and make it a productive vacation which can help me to gain more exposure of the market.

Summer Activity: Activity 1

As I had chosen banking industry to establish my career life, I have added 2 new people from same industry into my LinkedIn network. They are Mr. Aamir Khawaja(Director at Bank of Singapore) and Mr. Ahsan Tajir (Head of Relationship Management at United Arab Bank) . After going through their profiles I found that they have immense experience and their dedication and hard work has helped them to secure high level post in their respective banks.

As both of them have rich experience and have made a great contribution in their career life I can also learn many good things and create a good career path. Although I am just a bachelor's student I think I have some competencies which are also possessed by Mr. Tajir and Mr Khawaja. As mentioned in their LinkedIn profile and endorsed as expert by many people they both have strong communication and Interpersonal skills which I can also achieve if I get to work on different companies and deal with different types of people. I had already tested my skills during an internship in Central bank of Nepal so I think it won't be hard to complete this competency. Likewise other competencies that both have had was Team player, I think I have some qualities of team player too, it can be proved by different group assignments which was assigned by college were completed within a deadline and with some creative and innovative ideas. It might take some years to reach in the level where these gentlemen's are now but I certainly posses some competencies which they also posses.

Although there were some competencies which were easy to complete but some can be very hard or impossible to complete. As Mr. Tajir is a "Certified Financial Advisor-(CFA)", I think it would require lot of practice, hard work and good knowledge about finance to get that certificate, I don't think this is impossible but it is definitely harder. Likewise both of them have good networking in the market which is also the result of being dedicated to the same industry for many years, and this might also be hard to complete.

To maintain a successful career life and be someone like these people will require lot of experience, skills and competencies and to get the job that I want I must surely work on my competencies. I am looking forward to gain knowledge about Management Information Systems which is an integral part of not only banking industry but all types of industry. Likewise, I am hoping to take some public speaking classes to improve my presentation skills and develop my public relations. I try to find and read the books which are more focused on strategic planning, entrepreneurship and managerial guidance, which will certainly give me exposure about the real life scenario.

I think the GAP analysis which I just did is really helpful for me to find my strengths and weaknesses and have given a guidance to work on my competencies to build a successful career life.

Reviewing Feedback

	Most significant feedback comments:	What these really mean: (e.g. after listening to the audio feedback and/or after discussing with other students, or after reflecting further on the work and the feedback)
Milan Rai	Thorough research and clear presentation of data.	The selected industry was clearly presented in graphs, charts and pie charts and quantitative data were up to date.
Pratap Ale	Well structured and vibrant presentation and up to date information.	Good research and up to date information provided clear visual information about the banking industry.
Obik Rai	Presentation was easy to understand and good understating about industry.	Data provided about the industry and use of analytical tools shows understanding about the banking industry.

Extent to which I agree with the feedback	Positive:	Critical:
	Things I did which attracted positive feedback:	Things I did which attracted critical feedback:
Milan Rai	Provided up to date quantitative data and represented it in graphs and charts.	Poor time management
Pratap Ale	In depth research and aware of various affairs of industry which enhanced my understanding level.	Nervousness and poor presentation skills.
Obik Rai	Good A4 summary sheet with all the contents and suits to the banking industry	Down in confidence level.

Notes about any recurring trends in the feedback I am receiving	Things I can do to build on the positive feedback in my future work:	Things I can do to address the critical feedback in my future work:
Milan Rai	Keep on the good research and work on my confidence level.	Better time management.
Pratap Ale	Be passionate about anything that I am about to do.	Work on presentation skills and speech delivery.
Obik Rai	Be updated about all the information that is prevailing in the industry.	Rehearse before presentation which can boost my confidence.

The single most important thing for me to keep doing in my future work on the basis of this feedback:

Enhance my understanding level; be passionate and confident about the respective industry which will prove my suitability.

The single most important thing for me to improve in my future work on the basis of this feedback:

Work on my presentation skills and time management skills.

A4 summary of presentation

Week 7

a) From your personal experience- what was the best presentation you have ever observed? What was it that made it so memorable? What was the presenter's demeanour like? What did it inspire you to do?

What have or can you learn from that experience?

The best presentation I have ever observed was of Mr. Suman Shakya. He gave presentation about entrepreneurship during our warm-up classes. He made that presentation memorable one because he used to link his presentation with real time scenario which would give us clear perception about what he was talking. He had an excellent communication skill, if someone was confused about anything he would try to give answer in a simplest way. He was not thorough with his presentation, he also involved us to do different interesting task so that we could concentrate more on the presentation. One thing that he said was really inspiring- "if you work in an organization you can be successful only after maybe 10 15 years but if you be an entrepreneur you may be successful within a year because entrepreneurship gives us freedom, self satisfaction and obviously good income".

After that presentation I learned how to relate things while giving presentation. I also learned how to develop my presentation skills and not kill audience with boredom. Presentation was about entrepreneurship so I learned how to be a successful entrepreneur and how to think out of the box.

b) Think of any of the feedback that you had received and critically evaluate it.

I once gave a presentation in my college about strategist job, after finishing my presentation I got feedback from lecturer, he said that my presentation was good but I kept repeating same word many times and build my vocabulary skills. As it was my first time presentation I took it in a positive way to improve my presentation skills and I have been working on my vocabulary skills by reading more novels, articles and journals, likewise I would surely not repeat same word many times again in my next presentation.

Week 5

Being a finance student, most of the time I refer to Investopedia, it is a search engine related with financial subject matters. Although it started as an online financial dictionary, as the time passes it offers an abundance of financial content, from articles, dictionary terms, tutorials and video, to frequently asked questions and exam preparation quizzes. Notable is Investopedia's Stock Simulator and FXtrader, where users can register for free and practice their investing skills with $100,000 in virtual cash in either the stock market or fast paced foreign exchange market.

While going through this search engine, I found out that financial services sector is the largest in the world in terms of earnings and comprise the widest range of business. I also found an interesting article published by Harvard University named "The role of the financial services sector in expanding economic opportunity", which is a very good article. This article deals with the reach of financial services companies to the different class of the people. While going through this article I found how microfinance has changed the outlook of the financial services industries and some important facts about microfinance. Microfinance has become an important source of debts for people living under poverty line and the growing awareness has led to growing recognition of two important facts:

• The poor are able to pay(often very high interest rates) for financial services, and
• They present no greater credit risk than the average higher-income borrower. In fact, many microfinance institutions have better repayment rates than traditional commercial financial institutions.

By these shocking facts, it is clear that it is better to provide loan to poor people rather than providing it to higher-income borrower. It will help banks or financial institutions to reduce their bad debts and be secured of where they are investing their money.

In context of Nepal, banking industry is high-risk business but not necessarily high profit industry. It is quite difficult to manage risk and return in banking industry. May it be because of the political instability or due to liquidity crunch it has always been a high risk market. Likewise, internal management system in some of the commercial banks of Nepal is still following traditional management system of government. The pyramid shape organizational structure of some banks caused adverse effect in their business development. Hence, some banks are still lacking modern approach of reaching their customers or existing in the market.

Although we don't care about politics but politics will somehow care about us or affect our daily lives. Trade unions inside an organization gives pressure to the management to select their supporters as an employee which can prohibit selection of  independent graduates like us. Likewise, too much of liquidity crunch can lead to bankruptcy which will lower the rate of employment opportunities. Internal and external environmental forces could also affect our entrance to these industries. Internal forces like traditional management system, pyramid shaped organization structure and existence of trade unions and external forces like rules and regulations of government, change in market interest rates, inflation rates and political instability could affect our entrance. 

There will always be some factors which can affect our career whether in positive or negative way, it is better  if we prepare ourselves to tackle these factors and move on with our careers. 

Week 3: My career Industry

Being a finance student and having a management background, I have always aimed of being an entrepreneur or be a financial analyst else work in a financial services industry. As banking or financial institution sector is regarded as one the reputed sector and comprise of most of the financial studies, I want to pursue my career in banking sector.  With the thought of pursuing career in this sector, I did intern in Central Bank of Nepal which helped me to know more about the banking market. Likewise, financial services market in Nepal is increasing everyday and there are many opportunities in this market so career in this industry would be a best choice.

There are several categories of financial service providers active in formal and informal sectors in Nepal. Apart from the commercial banks, the financial system has outgrown to including development banks, microfinance development banks, finance companies, nongovernment micro-credit institutions, and non-government cooperative societies. Likewise there are many financial consultant firms operating in the market.

The initiation of formal banking system in Nepal commenced with the establishment of Nepal Bank Limited (NBL) in 1937, the first Nepalese commercial bank. The country's central Bank, Nepal Rastra Bank (NRB) was established in 1956. A decade after the establishment of NRB, Rastriya Banijya Bank (RBB), a commercial bank under the ownership of the Government of Nepal was established.  After declaring free economy and privatization policy, the government of Nepal encouraged the foreign banks for joint venture in Nepal and for the first foreign joint venture bank was set up as Nepal Arab Bank Ltd (now called as NABIL Bank Ltd). Following this, two foreign joint venture banks, Nepal Indosuez Bank Ltd (now called as Nepal Investment Bank) and Nepal Grindlays Bank Ltd (now called as Standard Chartered Bank Nepal Ltd.) was established. The banks

Today there are 32 commercial banks, 89 development banks, 76 finance companies, 22 micro finance development banks, 16 cooperatives and 37 nongovernmental cooperatives societies. This is one of the biggest industries in Nepal and comprise of US$ 15.2 billion. Two public banks, Nepal Bank and Rastriya Banijya Bank still dominate the market with a combined market share of 32.95 percent in deposits and 31.92 percent in loans. These two combined with the third largest commercial bank, Himalayan Bank with a 9.74 deposit market share and a 9.44 credit market share constitute almost half of the banking sector. In aggregate, the three largest banks possess 50.36 percent of total assets of all commercial banks.

The Banking sector of Nepal is facing its ultimate test amidst political instability, liquidity crisis, and unfavorable policies of the regulating body, sluggish economy and various other macro and micro economic factors. By strengthening the regulatory/supervisory system and improving the implementation of new standards on quality and quantity of capital and liquidity and risk management, opportunities can be created for the banking sector such as branch outreach to rural areas, developing hydro power and tourism etc. Though there are a lot of challenges in the banking sector, many opportunities still exist which are yet to be exploited to their potential for the benefit of the Nepalis.

Week 2: Career Anchor Test

Career Anchor Test:

The purpose of this questionnaire is to stimulate the thoughts about areas of competence, motives, and values. This questionnaire alone will not reveal career anchors because it is too easy to bias answers. However, it will activate thinking and prepare for the discussion with coach. 

Based on my career anchor test, my competencies are:

5) Lifestyle:

These people want and need to integrate their personal and family concerns into their career. They look for an integration of work/play/social life. People who anchor in lifestyle also value their autonomy and have in many cases also a high concern for independence.

4) Entrepreneurial Creativity, Security/Stability, Service dedication to a cause:

• Entrepreneurial Creativity:

This anchor is characterized by the overarching need to build or create something that is entirely your own product. People with this anchor find that none of the other anchors completely matches with their key motives and values, but that there is a degree of overlap with several of the anchors, ie. Autonomy, managerial competency, freedom to exercise special talents, and a desire to build wealth for security.

  

• Security/Stability:

People anchored in security tend to do what is required of them by their employers in order to maintain job security, a decent income, and a stable future in the form of a good retirement program, benefits, etc. These people will, more than others, accept the organization’s definition of their career and will have to trust the organization to do the right thing by them.

• Service dedication to a cause:

The people in this group feel the need not only to maintain an adequate income, but to do something meaningful in a larger context. They are actively service oriented and interested in careers that provide solutions in areas such as product safety, overpopulation, discrepancy between rich and poor and the environment.

  

3) Technical Function:

The primary concern in this area is the actual technical or functional content of the work being done. The self-image of people in this group is tied up with their feeling of competence in the particular area they are in. They are therefore not interested in management per se, though they will accept management responsibility within their technical or functional area of

expertise. But it is the area of work that really turns them on and career growth means continued advancement within that work area only.

2) Autonomy/Freedom, General Management Competence:

• Autonomy/Freedom:

The key motives for this anchor are freedom from organizational constraints in order to pursue professional or technical/functional competency. Organizational life is experienced as too restrictive, irrational and/or intrusive into one’s personal life. There is a need to be on your own, setting your own pace, schedule, lifestyle and work habits. There is little conflict about missed opportunities for promotion and little sense of guilt or failure about not aspiring higher.

• General Management Competence:

The anchor is a combination of three competencies: Analytical Competence: the ability to identify, analyze and solve problems under conditions of incomplete information and uncertainty. Interpersonal competence: the ability to influence, supervise and lead people at all levels of the organization toward the more effective achievement of organizational goals. Emotional competence: the capacity to be stimulated by emotional and interpersonal crises rather than exhausted or debilitated by them, the capacity to bear high levels of responsibility without becoming paralyzed, and the ability to exercise power without guilt or shame.

1) Pure Challenge:

People in this group define their careers success by overcoming impossible odds, solving the unsolvable problem, winning out over the competitors.

                                                                    

                                                              Scale: 1= least important, 5= most importance

Conclusion:

After taking career anchor test, I found my competencies and weaknesses which would affect me in my career. I hope this test will help me to get better on my weaknesses and motivate me to work on it. This test could be important to succeed in life.

Week 1: Introduction, Personal SWOT Analysis

Introduction :

Hello! My name is Kshitij Gautam and I am currently a student here at Islington College. This is my final year here and I have loved every semester so far. I am pursuing bachelor's degree with finance specialization in this college. Before coming here, I completed my high school studies from Golden gate International College as a management student. As being a management student since the beginning of my student life, i have aimed of becoming an entrepreneur or be a financial analyst in the near future.

Here on campus I have been very active and involved in various programs organized by the college. Some of which include volunteering in graduation ceremony and career fest. Off campus, I have gained experience being an intern in Central Bank of Nepal, where I worked in Internal Debt Department. Although it was a 2 month internship it helped me a lot to understand about the organization setting and market.

I am very excited about writing blogs for the first time in my life and hope to gain  more knowledge and skills in coming days. 

Thank you!

SWOT Analysis:

Strengths:

• Can multitask and manage multiple assignments at one time.
• Strong interpersonal skills. I can relate to people very easily and understand them.
• Very analytical. I can solve problems and propose multiple solutions.
• Fully committed on what i do.
• I don't accept failure too fast. I try until i am tired.
• Attention to details.

Weaknesses:

• I am a bit shy when speaking in front of very large crowds of people.
• Get distracted by too many things.
• My technical skills relating with finance. For e.g. data analytical packages and software.

Opportunities:

• Gain experience of dealing with people.
• Get experience of the world of work.
•  Work in a team.
• Continue to learn and expand my abilities with technology by  taking training courses and workshop.

Threats:

• The current economy and job market make it more difficult for recent college graduates to find entry level job opportunities. I will continue to gain knowledge and experiences so that I will be a valuable asset to a company .