You can call it a mid-career switch as the banking industry is totally new to me.
Having no prior experience in financial products and operations, my greatest bet is in customer service, which I've been involved in all along. With my exposure in marketing and operations, I guess it should be easy for me to grasp and fit in quickly in the area of business process improvement and customer excellence. My education in finance should equip me with the knowledge to understand the banking terms as I build them on the job.
Looking through the positions available, the ones that I found suitable are in the call center and sales, which I've no interest in. And I guess my chances of getting called up for an interview will be slim based on their job requirements.
Other than that, I was prepared to start from the bottom and take a cut in my salary.
So instead of waiting for the ideal job to come by, I devised a plan.
I selected the bank that I want to work for - not for the beautiful office or the prestige brand. I chose the one where I wanted to learn from the leader. I did a lot of research into the various aspects of the business. From the credit card, websites, customer services, branches and operations. I developed a business proposal and sent it to the CEO. I sincerely wants to contribute to make a difference.
Soon, I was called up for an interview.
At the interview, there were two ladies. One from the HR department and another I couldn't recall from where. They did the usual interview asking the usual questions. One question was which department and area of work would I be interested and able to contribute.
Two weeks after the interview, I received a rejection letter from the bank.
The reason was they do not have any position for me in the department that they think I should be in.
This whole episode came back to me this morning.
As I think about this, I realized that what they are looking for and what I am looking for are not the same.
They are looking for someone to fill a vacancy which they do not have at that time. While I am looking for a vacancy that has never existed in the company. One that needs to be created.
Probably they think that I do not have the relevant skills and experiences and do not see me fitting into the culture. Probably they think that I'm too naive and weird to be writing a proposal to the CEO to ask for a job.
And as I think more about it, I begin to relate it to a book I read recently about Talent.
Is it easier to find someone to fill a position or is it easier to find someone who wants to make a difference?
Of course, I do not think of myself as a talent. Everyone is and can be a talent if you sincerely wants to make a difference.