Making the switch from Credit Risk Management to Front Office Banking

One of the most frequent questions I am asked is:

“How did you move from Credit Risk Management (CRM) or any other function to Coverage (front office/ Sales/ Relationship Management) within the Bank?”

As a preamble and before I explain the path that I took, I would recommend to spend time to develop yourself in other areas before moving to Coverage. My time in CRM gave me the foundations and base to build upon.

By understanding the market, credit and liquidity risk of our solutions and clients, I was able to inherit a deep understanding of our business, the ecosystem in which we operate and the link between our clients, their businesses and our solutions.

This was the ideal training that I could leverage to help me grow and make a difference once I moved to Coverage.

Although I would not isolate CRM as the only training ground, I would certainly recommend it as one of the strongest. I have seen colleagues also successfully move from other areas such as Operations and Legal.

Now if you are looking to make the switch, here are some key points that helped me:

1.???? Deliver on your current responsibilities: you will be judged on how you have delivered vs. your existing responsibilities. I was taught by a trader whilst I was an intern, if you cannot even get the photocopying right, how will you ever be trusted with anything more. It is difficult to invest in you based on what you can do, if what you have done is not of the highest quality

2.???? Find as many interaction points as possible based in your current role: we would send credit line analysis to the Coverage team on a frequent bases. I would then follow-up with each RM individually to have as much face time with them whilst also adding value by helping to explain the data. This was mutually beneficial and within the scope of my duties at the time??

3.????Be visible: outside of my standard duties, I took on two Chair positions which provided me with internal visibility and connectivity. There are many ways to be visible and have access to colleagues outside of your standard network within the Bank. Try joining different committees, volunteering programmes and apply for additional teaching sessions

4.????Network: in addition to the more structured connectivity point mentioned above, schedule meetings, ask questions and be genuinely curious

5.????Increase your scope in your own time (consider it as an investment): find areas where you can add value to the front office outside of your current scope of duties. It could be as simple as using your knowledge and expertise to write frequent research reports on a particular areas or particular of clients or volunteer to take on additional work (this would need to be approved by your current management and you would need to go above and beyond to deliver vs. your current responsibilities). The more you do, the more you will naturally be integrated into front office activities

6.????Know what value you bring: it is important to understand your own value proposition. For me, it was the knowledge and expertise I could bring to the front office to size and qualify the credit risk, market risk and liquidity requirements for each client or prospect and to translate the requirements into a credit document. I suggest to work on your value proposition as you need to know what you can bring in order to convince others

7.????Be prepared to restart: I helped to build and manage the CRM desk in London and although that was extremely relevant in terms of helping me to create a value proposition, I had to accept that I had many new skills to learn which would take time if I was ever going to be effective in a front office role. I joined as Sales Support and benefited from shadowing and supporting extremely experienced sales colleagues. Regardless of my experience in other areas, given it is a new area, I needed to accept that it was not going to be a sideward or upward move

8.????Don’t give-up: If it is really what you want to do, then do not let time or set-backs stop you from trying. Tenacity is one of the most important skill sets to work in Coverage, therefore it is only right to demonstrate such persistence to get into Coverage in the first place.

9.????Find the right sponsor: probably one of the most important points and you will need to deliver on the previous points for someone at the table, credible and influential to fight your corner when you are not in the room. Carla Harris explains it brilliantly here including how to get a sponsor (performance and relationship currency).

How to find the person who can help you get ahead at work: https://youtu.be/gpE_W50OTUc

If you have made the same move, what additional points would you add?

Happy to hear your thoughts or questions.

#careerdevelopment #newyearsresolution