To risk managers and analysts

Hi all, I’m a recent grad and i’ve working as a risk analyst for a small bank for about 6 months. I"m actually hoping to work for a bigger international bank when the maket gets better, but i’m not sure whether i have the right transferrable skills to work for a different firm. Could you guys tell me whether I have the right skills to get a job from other banks? -These are the things that i’m doing now. 1) checking the limits for traders 2) checking the P/L 3) Checking the VAR numbers So, to risk managers and analysts from other firms, what are your daily tasks are like?

“Checking” doesn’t seem too much like an analyst role to me. It seems more operations

So what do true risk analysts do? I think i gotta get out of this place ASAP.

Take it easy. It all depends on what you like to do (emphasis is on YOU). Ask yourself the following questions: - Why do you want to be in Risk? - What are the key skillsets needed to be a successful Risk Analyst? (You can look up various Risk Analyst roles advertised by companies at YOUR level to answer this question) - Do you possess the skills or do you want to develop those skills?i.e is it something you want to do long term as a career? - Talk to people at your level or senior level who are in the Risk function and understand how they got there. (Basically network)…another wayt o find out if its something you like… Hope that helps.

bhs Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > So what do true risk analysts do? I think i gotta > get out of this place ASAP. I’m afraid you’re a “true risk analyst” already. Try to add stress testing and programming and - more importantly - networking (with people).

give yourself more credit: You don’t just check for the sake of checking. Risk analysts identify threats (check) and make recommendations to the appropriate people to either hedge or work around the risk. Presummably if you notice something is wrong, you report to the appropriate party right? Most of the time the people recommending the strategies are different from the ones executing them just for added checks/balances. I would say that your fine, don’t worry.

Thanks. I appreciate all the inputs. So what should I do more of to market myself better as a risk analyst?

my advice: use the opportunity you have now to learn everything you can about the business. Don’t just check, monitor trends, why did the P/L change week over week, understand risk factors the bank is exposed to and learn about the banking industry in general.

DoubleDip Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > my advice: use the opportunity you have now to > learn everything you can about the business. > Don’t just check, monitor trends, why did the P/L > change week over week, understand risk factors the > bank is exposed to and learn about the banking > industry in general. +1 I overheard good and sensible advice on that matter the other day: Observe what more experienced traders do. Which calculations are important to them? What risk factors they care about in which market? Maybe keep a notebook on these things, if you are allowed to - do ask before you start. I find that a notebook, a paper one, helps me to keep track of observations. For confidentiality and safety I usually leave my notebook at the site of observation.