Soh Siew Choo may hold a management position at DBS today, but she too started from the bottom and worked her way up.
Post-graduation from university, she applied to big tech firms like IBM and Hewlett Packard, but they turned her down.
She then tried her luck with the banks and bagged a job as a programmer. “I did a lot of hardcore development work at the start of my career — for many years — before I slowly progressed to be a manager,” she says.
So how did the Managing Director and Group Head of Consumer Banking and Big Data/AI Technology rise up the ranks?
In this five-part podcast series, brought to you by Workforce Singapore (WSG) and MoneySmart, Siew Choo shares about her journey to the top, as well as advice for those hoping to get hired and/or promoted in the banking industry.
“I started as a programmer, and slowly progressed to a manager of developers, and started to learn about other products within the bank. That’s how I started my career,” she shares.
“In my career, I realised that I couldn’t do it all on my own. In order to make a bigger impact, you need to rely on other people. That’s where the managerial roles came in.”
Read Also: Becoming a Manager: What Employers Look For and Are You Ready?
Listen to the full podcast below: