Building Career Success: Eric Sim's Key Strategies for Young Professionals

About 沈文才Eric Sim

A former investment banker, Eric Sim, CFA, is the founder of the IOL 人生学院 (IOL) with a mission to train professionals to excel in both their careers and personal lives. He is an author with over 2 million followers on LinkedIn, and has been featured by Business Insider, CNBC Make It and SCMP for his career advice and unusual career path with a lot of twists and turns.

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Eric Sim's Career and Expertise:

Mike Sim: How has your experience as a Key Opinion Leader (KOL) influenced the development of IOL’s training programs?

Eric Sim: I am very fortunate to have interacted with many students and young professionals through my sharing on social media, I know the challenges they faced. I designed my training programs to teach what’s not taught in schools, e.g., selling skills and networking skills. I also introduce my learners to my network so that they can learn from each other.

Mike Sim: Can you share how your background in finance and your CFA qualification have shaped your approach to teaching career skills??

Eric Sim: Being an engineering graduate who lacked social skills, I performed poorly when I first joined the banking industry. It was only after 20 years in banking did I realize the importance of career skills for career progression.

Because I was a terrible student, I am a good teacher in teaching social skills.

CFA Institute and its societies around the world, from Indonesia to UAE to Germany, have given me an excellent platform to share my career journey. My next speaking session with CFA Institute is in Chicago in May 2025.

Mike Sim: What were some key turning points in your career that led you to focus on personal and professional development?

Eric Sim: I was passed over for promotions a few times during my career, losing out to colleagues who were better at presenting themselves, and better at building relationships with bosses.

I realized performance alone is not enough to get me promoted.

I need to build a reputation and increase my exposure to senior leaders.

Mike Sim: How do you leverage your portfolio career to enhance the value you provide through IOL’s programs?

Eric Sim: The learning in IOL’s program is multi-dimensional. My students learn from my social media content, training videos, in-person speeches and my book. They also learn from each other. ?        

Career Skills and Training:

Mike Sim: What are the most critical skills you believe young professionals should focus on to succeed in today’s competitive job market?

Eric Sim:

There are three socials they should focus on:

• Develop social skills
• Accumulate social capital
• Expand social network

Mike Sim: How do you help individuals build a strong online presence and thought leadership??

Eric Sim:

The 3Cs (Content, Consistency, Community)

• Write engaging content
• Have consistency in posting frequency and topics
• Build community

Mike Sim: What are the common pitfalls in communication skills that professionals should avoid?

Eric Sim: Some people are too transactional and short-term thinking. I suggest playing the long game. Communications is not just about talking, it is also about understanding what other people really want.        

Challenges and Solutions:

Mike Sim: What challenges do you see young professionals encountering in their career development, and how can they address these challenges??

Eric Sim: Many jobs suck all the energy out of young workers. After work, they are too tired to do anything else except relaxing. I suggest that they be selfish, spend the best 30 min of the day for themselves. It could be going for a walk to reflect or learning some skills. The best time for me is 5:30am to 7am. I use it to read and write my LinkedIn posts before I check work email.? ?

Mike Sim: What are some effective ways to handle failure and setbacks in one’s career?

Eric Sim: Know that failures and setbacks are part of life. Exercise is one the fastest and most effective way to de-stress right away.

Try to take advantage of the failures or setback. I didn’t do well in my first banking job in FX sales as I lacked selling skills, so I quit for further studies. When I graduated with a MSc in Finance, the 1997 Asia financial crisis hit. There were no suitable front-office jobs, so I searched for jobs in middle office. I found one in quantitative risk management.

Although my performance as an FX sales is poor, it is still an experience. I combined it with my knowledge in quantitative finance to become a financial engineer at Citi.?

Career Tips for Audiences:

Mike Sim: What practical tips can you offer to professionals aged 18-28 for building a successful career?

Eric Sim: Work has many ups and downs. Incorporate your interests into your work. When you have some interests at work, it will see you through the tough time.

Build relationships with a few colleagues from departments which have nothing to do with your work. These colleagues can be your mentors or buddies to exchange ideas. ?

Mike Sim: How can young professionals effectively manage their work-life balance while pursuing career growth?

Eric Sim: Try work-life integration instead of work-life balance

Mike Sim: What advice would you give to someone looking to develop strong negotiation and selling skills?

Eric Sim: Understand the seven steps of selling, know needs of the people you are selling to: their stage in life, their personal and family's needs.

Mike Sim: How can individuals improve their networking skills both online and offline?

Eric Sim: Give first without thinking about short-term gain. Learn one skill that is useful to others, e.g., photography or video editing.

Mike Sim: What are the top three actions a young professional should take to enhance their online presence and reputation?

Eric Sim: Showcase your CAT (competency, appeal, trust). Competency is your ability and knowledge; appeal is how interesting you are; trust is your work ethics and integrity.

Trends and career questions:

Mike Sim: What emerging trends in personal and professional development are you most excited about?

Eric Sim: Interactive learning by engaging with AI. For example, you want to know more about my book ”Small Actions”, you can ask any popular AI:

“Do you know Eric Sim, the author?”

“Give me a summary of his book”

“Which concepts are applicable to me?

Mike Sim: What are some innovative methods you use to make training sessions more engaging and impactful?

Eric Sim:

·?????? I use stories to impart key skills

·?????? I create opportunities for learners to engage with my online content after the training. This allows learners to apply their new knowledge

·?????? I build a community to allow learners to network and learn from each other.?

Mike Sim: Any final advice?

Eric Sim:

Start Small, Start Now, Stay Curious

Thank you, Eric, for taking time to share your valuable insights and experiences.

沈玟企Michael

I am one of the billions of LinkedIn members online that post on a regular basis, I interview CEOs, entrepreneurs and talks about entrepreneurship in fund management, follow me and comment so we can have more conversation.

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