Equity Research & Asset Management Career Mentor - Mr. Tung Ngo - is one of the brightest and most dedicated Finance & Investment Management mentors of CPI. His principle of guiding students is not only to get dream internships/ jobs but also to build long-term career and competitive advantages in the international job market. His student - Hoa Nguyen scored 8 interviews and landed 2 official summer internship offers in Investment Banking and Corporate Finance at TOP firms in the US last fall, in spite of her disadvantages of poor network and initial lack of technical skills and recruiting strategy, after only 100+ hours of intensively training.
Profile: Mr. Tung Ngo is currently holding Equity Research Analyst/ Asset Management Professional at BlackRock (New York), today the world's largest asset manager with $5.98 trillion in assets under management as of December 2018. With almost 5 years of working experiences in one of the toughest but most fascinating fields in Finance and Investment industry, Mr. Tung hopes to bring in his expertise and insightful knowledge and help driven and hardworking students successful.
HOW DID MR. TUNG NGO GUIDE HIS STUDENT - HOA NGUYEN?
WHAT MOTIVATION MAKES HIM ONE OF THE BEST MENTORS?
WHAT ARE HIS ADVICE FOR VIETNAMESE COLLEGE STUDENTS, WHO DREAM TO GET INTO INVESTMENT CAREER IN THE US?
Q&A with Advisor Tung Ngo:
1. How/ Why did you start your career in Finance & become an expert in Equity Research/ Investment Management?
Not trying to be modest here but I’m definitely not an expert yet with only 4+ years on the job as an equity analyst. Instead, I’m more of a beginner investor who loves finding investment ideas and is fortunate enough to be able to do it full-time in a professional environment.
I started my finance career by going through many trials and errors in college. I began with using my strengths (in quantitative and programming capability) and personality to narrow down a few potential career paths in Computer Science, MIS and Finance. Then, I tried different jobs, took classes and participated in competitions to figure out what suited me the most. I did not know at the beginning but looking back, I realized that each job and competition I took served as a stepping stone for me to get closer to my dream job.
2. What are normally biggest weaknesses / challenges Vietnamese students who want to break into Investment Banking have?
I would say number one is late preparation. They usually start too late so there is simply not enough time for even their interest to grow strong and genuine, not to mention to develop their profile to become a competitive candidate.
The second one would be effective networking. This skill usually takes a lot of practice to master for most people.
3. Why did you join CPI as part of Board of Finance career advisors & mentors?
I joined CPI so I can use my experiences to help hard working, driven students in a more effective way.
4. How different your mentee (Hoa Nguyen) has been before & after 100+ hours training? What qualities you think helped Hoa win in her job search in IB?
After the training, Hoa now has stronger technical skills and knowledge, better job search and networking strategy. Hoa has also improved her story telling skills to convey her motivation, strengths and other qualifications more effectively.
I believe all of the above have helped Hoa in her search for the summer internship. Most importantly, she is smart and persistent, and those are fundamental to her success.
5. How did you identify the best strategy to help your mentee fill the gap between her current capability & recruiting standards in Investment Banking?
Test and interview were the first steps to identify what the mentee needs to improve. I then drafted a detailed curriculum to fill that gap. As the training went on, constant re-evaluation and adjustment were the keys because each mentee would have different working/studying style. However, I always based the training on 1 main principle: to help the student develop a self-sustained routine and process so he/she can continue to work and improve after the training ends.
6. How did you feel when your mentee got 8 interviews and 2 internship offers? :)
I were very happy for her. She deserved the best for all her hard work and effort.
7. Does the training & mentor-mentee relationship ends there?
No. We still talk and I’m always happy to help even after the official training ends.
8. Will it be the same training methodology applied to every student, don’t you think?
My principle of helping student develop his/her own process is the same. The execution may differ as each has different working style so would need to tweak the training method to fit the situation.
9. What are your TOP 3 advices to them, let’s say students in their Freshman/ Sophomore/Junior year?
- Start thinking about your career early, and start discussing it with experienced people.
- If you are into investing, read books, follow the markets, set aside a small amount of money and start investing seriously (not day trading) as soon as possible.
- Talk to CPI consultants!
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