What are your key roles and responsibilities in your current positions? What do you like most about your job and what do you find most challenging?
I lead the global Emerging Markets Structured Trading teams at Barclays. We provide innovative financing solutions to clients across Latin America, Central/East Europe, Africa, Middle East, and Asia.
What I like most about this job is versatility. Structured financing business involves designing and implementing products and solutions tailored to client’s bespoke needs. It combines financial product innovation, quantitative analysis, risk management, problem solving skills, and many more.
The challenging part is also navigating complexities, e.g. which often involves varying regulatory hurdles in different countries. We must keep learning and adapting to these complexities throughout the career to stay on top of these varying complexities and generate optimal solutions for clients.
List or describe the top 5+ professional skills that are crucial to your role.
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Problem solving
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Quantitative skills
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Communication and collaboration
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Financial acumen and product knowledge
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Adaptability
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Client Relationship Management
How did your time at Yale shape your career trajectory? For example, what skills and/or experiences did you acquire that have contributed to your career success?
What were the biggest challenges that you faced when transitioning to different workplaces and cultures? What advice and suggestions can you offer to current students to help them prepare for those challenges?
The challenges include cultural shift from academia to professional world, steep learning curve especially at the beginning of transition, and adapting the communication styles when facing different audiences.
The advice I want to offer is to stay open-minded, be willing to unlearn and relearn. And communicate and connect with colleagues and seek feedback from them. Building relationships accelerates the adjustment process.
