The Highs And Lows of Building an IT Career by RHB's Cyrene Kong

Cyrene Kong first wanted a career in the F&B industry when she graduated from secondary school. Her dad, however, didn't think that it was a sustainable career for her. "My dad said over his dead body," laughs Cyrene. "The IT industry was actually picking up at that point in time, so he signed me up [at] a local college and that kick-started my career."

In this episode of Quality Connections, Cyrene, now the Head of Digital Strategy & Innovation at RHB Banking Group in Malaysia, walks us through her career journey.

https://open.spotify.com/episode/3HEK0e1U4pqRKZ1QMSaHnp?si=oJuEcdPtQtOlBXmqvB3BeQ

A multinational regional financial service provider, RHB ranks as the fourth-largest, fully integrated financial services group in Singapore. It also has a significant presence in the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations). So what does a career in a company like this look like? Listen in to learn more.

Go multinational

Obviously, a large multinational financial institution such as RHB is a great place to begin — or even advance! — a career path in the finance industry. Cyrene and her very lean workforce of two have become increasingly significant in the company, especially after experiencing life under a worldwide pandemic.

"The only constant [in our department] is change. And being in strategy, we have to adapt to change and embrace it," Cyrene tells us. She further tells us about her experiences, including what she finds most challenging in her position and where she sees her department moving forward.

Stay professional

Many companies have started to take a more relaxed view of corporate life in recent years, allowing their employees to have a better work-life balance. This is pretty much true for non-traditional roles in finance industries such as PR or IT. But some things don't change — especially job interviews.

You might think that job searching in the IT industry gives you leeway to dress more casually during interviews. But Cyrene says this can actually put off potential employers.

"It shows how much you care about the interview and how much effort you put into it," she points out. Even Zoom/online interviews are not exempt from this. In fact, in most of the interviews Cyrene has conducted over the internet, she has noticed that the candidates make an effort to look professional… from the waist up, at least.

Cyrene also talks about her rookie mistakes (including deleting an entire database accidentally), big learning curves, and experiences she has learnt in her path to becoming RHB's head of Digital Strategy & Innovation.

Listen to our new podcast series and get top tips and advice from Cyrene in episode 3 of the series.

Interested in careers at RHB? Check out our JobStreet listings to find the right fit for you.

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