Meena Anandalingam, senior accountant, Citigroup finance division, product control.
| Position | STUDENT ONE2ONE - Interview |
Describe an average day in your office.
Working for an investment bank with a global reach, the first thing I have to do is liaise with colleagues in Tokyo and New York. I need to check from a P&L reporting viewpoint if there are any issues that need to be resolved before we start our day. My team members do the traders' daily P&L accounts for new bond issuance. This means that I have to talk to the traders on the trading floor and we follow this up with an analysis of the bond market and work out where they've made their revenue.
So you have a real insight into the core business activity.
Very much so. Working in debt capital markets we can see what is happening in our region: Europe, the Middle East and Africa. We also interact with other areas, such as credit and interest rate derivatives. We can see how the day-to-day trading activities affect the business as a whole.
What is the most challenging part of your job?
Time management. In a global company like this, you have to be aware that everyone relies on everyone else's information. Our team has to meet tight deadlines, so you have to ensure that you fit in the demands from your own department with those of the rest of the company and structure your day so that everyone's requirements are met.
It sounds quite stressful.
It can be very pressurised. But it's something you get used to--and, of course, you improve with experience.
You studied pharmacology at university but then chose a career in accountancy. How did that happen?
A lot of my degree was based on laboratory work, particularly in the two final years, and that didn't really appeal as a career option. But the course had developed my analytical skills and I thought that it would allow me to pursue a role in accountancy. I think that's one of the good things about doing a science degree--the skills are completely transferable.
And what made investment banking so appealing to you?
During my degree I developed a real interest in the financial markets. Citigroup was the ideal place to work because of its track record, the opportunities it was offering and its CIMA training scheme. I liked the idea of being able to work and study for a qualification at the same time. Citigroup's training scheme has got better and better over the four years I've been here, which probably explains why it was voted employer of the year in the 2005 CIMA Financial Management Awards.
What kind of support does the company offer?
Among a lot of other things...
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