Employee Stories

Oliver Greer

Oliver Greer

What did you study at Nottingham? Did you always know you wanted to pursue a career in banking?

I studied Economics and most of the people around me were applying for investment banking so I followed the crowd – even though I didn’t have much idea of what that entailed at the time. Luckily I managed to learn bits and pieces online and through a few other people in my class.

How did your time at university help prepare you for your career?

Probably the direct relevance of coursework is low. But its an important stepping stone between the very structured nature of schoolwork and the more amorphous goals you have to achieve when you start working in a career.

What was your path from graduation to your current role?

I originally went to work in London at BNY Mellon, after a few months my boss introduced my to a buy-side firm in Hong Kong. My interview there was my first time in Asia, I ended up getting the role and staying out here across HK/Shanghai – now for almost 15 years.

Insight into banking careers

What does your current role involve day to day? What do you enjoy about it?

My current role involves linking investors with bond issuers – tradable loans essentially. The global nature of the role means we are often working across time zones, geographies, currencies and languages. It’s a nice combination of something that requires a good degree of technical understanding, investor relationships, as well as creativity in finding new markets and trade ideas.

What is the best thing about working for Standard Chartered?

Standard Chartered is a great bank for those interested in emerging markets in particular. The breadth and depth of our product offering in key markets – across Asia, the Middle East and Africa in particular is basically unmatched. You get access to real experts on the ground and the opportunity to learn a lot.

How has your career developed since joining the Bank?

I joined 5 years ago and eventually moved to running the Global MTN desk. I have found that title and role is less important and the scope of what I’m doing has expanded massively over time – its definitely a place where you can try a lot of stuff.

What’s been the most surprising thing about working in Banking?

As a graduate I thought product understanding and technical knowledge would be key. While these things need to be learned, in general in most roles your ability to build relationships with your clients and solve their problems will be what drives success or failure.

Insight into banking careers

What skills or experiences, outside of your degree, have been most useful in your career to date?

I spent 2 years in China learning Mandarin, as well as taking the CFA and FRM designations. I would say in general learning a second language is a very worthwhile use of your time as the experience itself is valuable and teaches you a lot about your own language and assumptions.

What advice would you give to Nottingham students considering a career at Standard Chartered?

Definitely a good place to work – consider looking at working outside the UK too -> it has been a massively rewarding experience for me.

How can students stand out in their application?

It is hard to avoid being generic when you are responding to 20 very similarly phrased questions. Try to keep it simple and avoid corporate jargon. Talk about what you’re interested in and don’t pretend to have a lot of knowledge of the subject matter as the people you’re speaking to spend all day on it. At the same time try to get in the habit of reading relevant headlines and industry knowledge on interviews you’re going for. You don’t have to fully understand (often the journalist writing it won’t either) but showing interest is generally helpful.

Culture and belonging

How would you describe the culture on your team?

Our team is pretty international with people from different backgrounds and educations – both in terms of geographies and subject matter. Ultimately what matters is the ability to do the job and there can be a lot of totally different people who can get things done in their own way.