Hey guys,

I know it's way too early to decide as I'm only at the interview stage but do help me decide one over the other. I'm a fresh graduate from a local twinning accounting and finance degree program. Which would be better in terms of exposure and career advancements? Besides how is their salary package like? Bonuses, perks? Please and feel free to include anything that you think may affect my judgment as well yea.

I'm appealing to you guys out there to help me decide and thanks a billion in advance!

KPMG!!!! Private company, good prospect...........

dude obviously KPMG ! its like you are asking to choose a BMW or a proton inspira man !

Good luck !

Bank Negara is not a bad choice....whoeve said KPMG is a best choice , either have no idea or juz simply bull shit

Quite tricky . But I think for career advancement go for KPMG . If you want to stay same position for career lifetime , go for Bank Negara . KPMG I think salary got commision also + can claim petrol , tol . Bank negara also can . Saw many KPMG workers at One Utama though ~ They look quite young with their tag and all ~

This post has been edited by eventsphotoshoot: Dec 9 2010, 11:33 PM

My sister in law work as IT officer in Bank Negara. Basic salary I can say pretty normal. But the perks and bonuses very2 good. Lots of benefits. Buy laptop can claim (got limit), buy magazine can claim, holiday n etc. But career advancements not so good. No cable or your immediate superior don't like you then u will stay at same position.

Since she joined Bank Negara, even got fever also go to Prince Court . Delivering child (normal) cover up to 7K. Housing loan interest also low. If I'm not wrong 2%, but limit not so much if compared to normal banks.

So I think BNM is better and gud luck with your interview

p/s : she got the job coz my father in law got cable inside BNM

That's because it's the nearest place for lunch. Just 5 mins walk away from the office elevator.

Why la angry? Business is all about cables and networking

KPMG is part of the Big4 hence its the place where young hotshots like to flock. But do not be tempt by just the name and glamour, if you are willing to go all out to work (with gung ho & enthusiasm) then by all means please enter KPMG.

If not then I will think Bank Negara will be a better choice, and make no mistake its not easy to get admission too as many would believe as working in elite government body like bank negara, EPF and securities commission is no childs play especially at advance level (Ie : Corporate finance)

Salary - KPMG - RM2.3k-RM2.6k
- BNM - ??

Career progression - KPMG - good prospect, every yr can get promotion, good learning ground in all aspect.
- BNM - may stuck at same position for years.

Benefits - KPMG - Only medical (limited)
- BNM - Covers almost everything for medical, loans,holiday etc

Working hour - KPMG - 24/7. no more off peak now.
- BNM - stable work life balance

I would suggest that you join KPMG for 4-5 yrs to gain experience and then only jump ship to commercial.those with experience in audit firm are highly demanded in the job market.

Hi TS,

KPMG and other audit firms offer you good experience if you want to be in the financial reporting / accounting field. If you leave the audit firm for a finance manager or consultant like position, the experience is very relevant. Other than that, I don't think you will be worse off than BNM. The other perk is if you don't know what you want to do in the future, KPMG and the other firms will give you more options later when you decide. Audit firms also have a high population of young people around your age group and is fast paced. But based on personal experience, audits firms don't pay very well, have crappy benefits, and long hours.

BNM on the other hand, will also depend on which department you end up in and what you'll be doing. Salary is comparable, hours are better, benefits are way and beyond better than audit firms. However, I am inclined to believe that the experience they offer may limit you to the banking and financial industry. This is not a bad thing because this industry is lacking in experts, but if you don't like this field then joining BNM may limit your future jumping prospects.

Even if BNM's pay is lower than KPMG (which I don't think is true), BNM will take care of you from a different aspect in terms of medical for you and your family, loans for house, stable regular hours and they will sponsor your post grad studies as well. If you are going to be married in the next few years or already have family plans in mind, BNM is definitely the better choice.

This post has been edited by CKJMark: Dec 10 2010, 09:25 AM

agree with you, sometime forumer tend to blow w/o supporting facts.

@TS
What is your career goal, i think u have to understand your career goal before make a decision. Salary for KPMG consultant/advisory entry level should be 2.8k. i heard bank negara exec level pay more then that

I've got friends in KPMG and PWC... also got friends in Bank Negara..
I'd say that though KPMG's a very reputable accounting firm, thats all it is and thats all it will ever be-- just an accounting firm.

And we all know that Accountants get paid peanuts for alot alot of work. something like 2.3k with increments of 100-200 a year. bonuses are crap too.. something like 1-2 months.

however, the experience you will get from working at KPMG will be very valuable. Banks love auditors and accountants from KPMG. your career prospects will be good. just make sure u dont stay with an accounting firm for too long.

Bank negara on the other hand, has so many different departments ... if you get into something good like treasury or something, you will expect fantastic bonuses ... 6-7 months if unlucky, 12months+ if you are lucky. roughly lah ,....do well in your job, and you might get a chance to sit for different exams and licenses.. which will increase your paygrade by 700 like that. again, those are for treasury positions.

I think it is wise to go KPMG and stay for few years then only apply to BNM. Then, you can work your way up to higher position more faster as you will understand more of the corporate world's operations and accounts.

totally agree with you

BNM = safe zone. lots of benefits , and good money/bonuses

others = rewarding only when u made it.

Thanks guys for everything! I guess the choice has pretty much been decided already, BNM it is! One reason why I needed to know is because both the interviews happen to be on the same day same time! If there was way to go about it and present myself in both the interviews I certainly would though. Thanks again. =D

Simple depend u wan work life balance or stressful but steep career prospect.

Former, choose BNM (higher starting salary, benefits etc, but slow growth)
Latter, KPMG (comparatively lower starting package (salary, bonus, benefits, etc etc but higher growth and can safely exceed BNM within 5 yrs, prudently speaking, but then u die faster oso, hehehe...just kiddingon the last part)

So working in BNM leaves you with limited career prospect. Say if I moved out after staying for a couple of years, would the experience that I've gotten from BNM still be valuable and perhaps held highly by future employers? Okay maybe not as much as I would have gotten from KPMG but still, valuable?

The only reason of me wanting to join BNM at this point is really the work-life balance and since there is not much career prospect I would probably move out into something better after gaining all that experience? Is it advisable?

doesn'tmake sense leh.
u mean u wan work life balance wen ur younger and more stress ur older?? hmmm tats is quite opposite of mst ppl's thinking.
Anyway, all expeirences are valueable, its a matter of how much relative to others.

In BNM i think the highest value, would be if u maintain very good connections with ppl inside, sometimes banks/FIs see value in such candidate with valuable connections with BNM and the insight of BNMoperations, but not so much of the experience lar. Alsp whether u bumi also makes a diff.

all that said im dunno wat position ur applying in BNM and wat u'll be doing. KPMG im assuming audit.
So i can only generalised, and also depends what is ur next job. if u joing banking compliance dept/ legal dept, BNM will have more value.

how would u knw if u still got oppurtunity to join bnm after few years ?

This post has been edited by steventan85: Dec 12 2010, 11:05 PM

Abvoiusly NOT BNM...you will vomit blood

Pls justify your statement.

not sure if everybody who commented NO to bnm been working there before?

i would say its not easy to get a job in bnm. bnm have all the benefits which kp does not provide.

kp only the brand. if u choose kp, u should consider pwc or ey then

@tankv22
I Lol-ed at your "Abvoiusly" and please pardon us if we do not take your suggestion seriously

Speak of the devil I actually just a received a call from e&y requesting for me to attend an interview. So say at the end of the day I was offered positions at both the institutions how should I play my cards this time?

By the way in Bank Negara I was offered the interview for the post of Senior Executive (though being a fresh graduate or it could merely be technical error) at Statistical Services Department.

Thanks guys in advance though not to mention I really appreciate the help so far as it did influence my judgement.

If BNM is offering you a job in its statistics department, and you are being offered an auditor or tax position in KPMG/EY, there is no direct relation between both roles and they lead to different careers.

I think the first question you need to answer is what do you want to do with your career and what you want to be in 5yr, 10 yrs time. Then choose the job that takes you there.

i would prefer BNM because it benefits....
serius, my father work there but as security guard la...
he always encourage me study hard and try the interview at BNM...

some benefit that i interested are:
1. salary (but other also got high salary)
2. rest house (around malaysia include 5 start hotel)
3. car loan got no interest at all (for exec and above)

there are others but can't remember since i already got job other place...

Yea very true. I hope a little soul-searching at this point wouldn't be too late.

Right now bank negara seems to be the most appealing one taking into consideration the work-life balance, benefits etc. which I believe e&y is not so generous in. But the experience firms like e&y have to offer compensate that lack. I hope this is not a no pain no gain scenario. I wish that working in bank negara also provides valuable experience as well.

if this is a poll thread...i would give my poll to BNM...you may consider further study CFA in future while working in BNM.

I would say if you are not sure what you want to do, you should join an audit firm if your intention is to be an accountant or manager in the future. They will offer you experience that will improve your market value in the next 3-5 years if you choose to join an MNC. The experience is very generic in the sense that they teach you "how to do" things and keep you abreast with the changes in the profession.

If you join BNM, I am 80% sure the lifestyle is better (less stress, better hours, better benefits, and decent pay). BNM does not limit your future entirely, depending on what you do. But it could limit the industry your experience is relevant to. Your experience will be a fair bit more specialised than what you would pick up at an accounting firm. I don't foresee you joining a telco or manufacturing or O&G company in the future after years of service in BNM. But if you like what you do, and BNM offers you the mobility to move around different departments, you could have a good future in the financial industry compliance teams. You should speak to the BNM people and find out more about your progression structure and consider how that experience helps you in the future.

With all that being said, you are just entering the job market and this is not a life-and-death situation. If you don't like what you do, there is nothing to stop you from changing jobs as its still early in your career. You only lose out 1-2 years time in progression which isn't that big a deal in the long term.

Thank you so much CKJMark! Thanks for the insight and your input on this as it really made me ponder on the RIGHT things!

I work in Bank Negara and I also dealt with KPMG consultants.

My personal opinion:
Some of the KPMG consultants are quite inexperienced and they send the newbies to clients workplace to learn on the job.

If you want to learn more, work in a structured environment and to experience governance better work for Bank Negara for at least 3 years and then work at KPMG. BNM is also a more forgiving environment than KPMG.

One of my friend worked for the Bank for 5 years and moved to BDO Consulting.

Since he got experience, can do presentation, reports and audits, he moved quite fast in BDO. Now owns a BMW, a condo and goes vacationing in UK to watch MU twice a year.

Me? I make RM240K here :-)

if i were you...i would choose work in BNM provided that i would be staying in Malaysia..

if you plan to move to oversea, you may decide to work in KPMG such a BIG 4..in future, u may try to apply internal transfer..

i would recommend kpmg .. good benefits as well. just super pressure. but u got big explosure.

The theory is simple, really:

If you wanna go up the executive ladder, go KPMG.

If you wanna chill and less stress (les peak time), go Bank Negara

Go Bank Negara, its a no-brainer.

Most BNM folk I know are doing "well".

If you are malay go for BNM

go for bnm lah.kpmg very pressure and pay also not very good and not reputable as pwc.

you can notice that the staff turnover in KPMG is quite high if compare with BNM.

Rather than us giving you suggestions, I think you should ask yourself what you want and what you are willing to do for it?

In KPMG, its hard work and yes you learn a lot, but sometimes you also spend a lot of time doing repetitive work (especially during audits). The brand definitely helps you in your career, and if you finish your three years with CPA/ICAEW/ICAA/MICPA or whatever qualification, you can go to any other company without much difficulty.

That being said...you may not be able to get this opportunity to enter BNM again. I don't know how often opportunities in BNM come but I do know that if you work in BNM, and hopefully you get into the "money" departments like Treasury, Investment, Trade Financing, Corporate Finance, Money Markets, Statistics (The one that sets BLR and stuff), chances are you are set for life. Hell, you may even make it into World Bank, UBS, Credit Suisse or some other big banks out there.

If you wanna be rich, it's better to be in BNM where you get to learn about the policies and maybe you can learn some tips and tricks about investment there.

many ppl join KPMG but after 1year they realise its the biggest mistake in their life. audit firm in msia = modern day slavery.

nowadays everywhere also same ... modern slave

there is no point learnt lots, you work to make much money. BNM will give you money and connection.

work smarter than harder.

agreed

yea..grab the chance offered or else you will miss it just like me T.T

Lol.That's why the turnover is high.
But many firms are revising the pay too due to high turnover.

This post has been edited by JasonT: Jan 28 2011, 01:19 AM

Pls go Bank Negara. Dun waste ur time in audit firm. u are good enuf to enter bank negara, u dun have to develop 'additional exposure' in the audit firm anymore. concentrate on ur banking career.

BNM - its not easy to be in. And once u in, after few years ur value will be very high for any bank u wanna go.

stay in BNM earn 5.8k straight away once u hav ur professional..

i see a pretty diverse opinions. Most of the forumers on pg1 would suggest KPMG. When I got down to page 3, it's all about BNM

Anyway I have a friend who works in BNM for pretty long. We don't talk much about work but I hear that she gets really good bonus each year. One of the best that she'd ever had was around 6 months and although things weren't good the following year, she still had 4 months bonus. Besides BNM is near to KTM station so taking public transport would save the trouble of going through traffic jam every morning.

Have several college mates working in KPMG. Not too sure how good (or bad?) but everyone tells me the same thing: no life. One of them left after 1 year+

Without being there myself (i'm not from Finance/ Accounting anyway) can't really give any insight into either of them but those were comments/ stuffs I know.

^

it is no brainer question la..

duno what happen to TS, but i hope he entered BNM. im tryin my luck applyin for BNM but the stupid website for application is broken.

Bank Negara, no doubt about it.

Corporate Finance at the Central Bank and financial regulator?

I started with RM1.5k in KPMG and now earning more than RM140k per annum and FYI, I am still partying in Zouk and occassionally you can see me hanging out at Tom, d*** or Harry in TTDI (so not too old yet!! ). And I have been travelling to countries like New Zealand, Hong Kong, Singapore, Mauritania (North West Africa) and now currently writing this from Pyongyang, DPRK!! All free travelling due to my work with KP. It's all about the question of short term pain and long term gain.

It's not that impressive in case you didn't realise it. Based on your starting salary, you are probably in your mid 30s to 40s. 140k is just average.

Going into audit for salary is probably one of the worst reasons ever. There are jobs that pay way better, isn't that much harder to enter, and has shorter hours.

Avoid KPMG, E&Y, PWC. Unless you are oversea based.

It's already an understatement and I never said it's impressive. Anyhow, if you average out the hours in audit, it's short as ppl tend to forget about the offpeak seasons...

Bank Negara hands down. Got a few friends working there. Fresh grads start as Senior Executive. Very good pay and benefits and they'll give you a lot of trainings...all in 4 star hotels and above. Definitely better work-life balance compared to audit firms (applicable to the ones bases in malaysia).

nowdays there are no offpeak seasons. u still have to work ur socks off at any time of the year.

how old are you?

first of all, how old are u?..secondly, how long did u spent in the firm to get to tat stage?..if u spend 20 years in it, u are probably the partner dy and my guess is tat u r of quite an age dy..and the fact tat u mention tat u are hanging out with or in young people's place also indirectly indicates ur "era"... no offence bro.. dun take it personal.

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Added on January 7, 2012, 11:13 pmwhat off peak?.. never heard of tat..

This post has been edited by fastreader: Jan 7 2012, 11:13 PM

Obviously he was born in year 1975.

wow. youhave an eye for details sinc eyou cna tell he's born in 1975 just by his username. Lol..

anyway, rm140k at age 36 aint that awesome.

I'm not sure what field is he in but yeah, RM12K per month at 37 considered average.

definitely not a partner

Wow..so how much is the right pay for a 37 yr old to be considered successful? Btw how much do u earn now and whats ur age? No offense but I have slight intolerance for people who like to brag.

^

GDP of malaysia is just US$8k/yr = RM25k/yr. RM12K/mth is not an average la..debbys is a troll..

I have friends in IT line, earning RM16K at 35 years old, some already RM10K at age around 29.

Perhaps different line, different salary range. Take no offense please.

Your friends share their P&C information over a teh tarik or something?

My general feeling is that friends who tend to freely tell their salaries... usually don't tell the truth. A lot of peer pressure around the mamak table.

lol age 37 earn 12k considered average meh , then need how much , 20k ? 30k ? crazy lol

usually if u earn lots u will share with people la..i earn lots as frsh grad so i no shame tell ppl. if i earn peanuts, I say my salary is confidential

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Added on January 9, 2012, 12:11 am1:1000 consider average ma?

This post has been edited by Materazzi: Jan 9 2012, 12:11 AM

wow $12k. Give me $3k i happy already

Earning more than RM100k/year is definitely NOT average. Don't think just because 2 out of 200 people you know earn that much, while all the others don't disclose their earnings, means that is average.

Besides, they could be lying. I know liars are a dime a dozen in m'sia.

You watch too much of movies lah.
I only can tell you my statements stand valid, can't tell you much due to protect their P&C in the internet.

how much u earn now? then I'll know u average or not

Does it have anything to do with the validity of my statement?

I'll stick to the comfort of statistical probability, thanks.

Whether is rm140k at age of 37 average or not depends on how u define the population. If put int he context of the whole population of Malaysian, it can be said as way off the chart, definitely above average if not rare.

But, if u define the statistical population as those with degrees and above, I would hazard a guess that it's uncommon, though not average.

But, put as this thread is about whetehr should TS choose Bank Negara or KPMG and enter as an officer/exec level, we should define the the context of population as those with the capabilities to enter these and firms of the same level (namely MNC, big 4, GLC), namely those with professional qualifications and/or thos ewith second upper degree and above.

In this context, gaining a total compensation of 140k ringgit at 37, which is after 14 years of working, can be said as average.

P/S: This is in no way meant to degrade anyone. I just wanna point out so as to let TS ppl make a proper choice. There are mor epeople who are in audit than Bank Negara, and since audit is a good career after all, it wont be suprising to see there are more posting here saying audit is a better choice, etc etc and this might clouds other young aspiring graduates' judgement in choosing their career path. Not ot sya one is better than the other, but I just want to point out that compensation given by audit firms are just on par with other firms, not too great, not too lil

This post has been edited by Knight_2008: Jan 9 2012, 10:22 PM

Your approach is good as you pursue the facts. But it somehow becomes an unpleasant reply to someone who actually unable to post up the persons' pay slip.

I am not here to argue, just to share the fact. You don't have to believe if you don't want to, but what I said stand valid. Let those who believe me, believe.

This post has been edited by debbieyss: Jan 9 2012, 11:30 PM

opps..looks like we are going the way of statistics to prove the AVERAGE SALARY ...back to the question, KPMG or Bank Negara.

If you are fresh graduates then advise you to choice KPMG.
You will encounter different type of working experience over there .. of course the working hour will be very long .....i believes that u will face a longer working hour.
As for Bank Negara, I'm not sure, well, government company i think it will be more relax compare to KPMG.
my 2 cent opinion

wrong answer, the younger the better if you join the state owned.. in gov, the seniority considered more than your skills

lol. you have no idea how sought after u are if you have experience in bank negara, especially in dept such as the eocnomics dept.

u must be crazy to choose KPMG over BNM. to enter BNM is like 9000times harder than to enter KPMG. KPMG is just an audit firm who squeezes fresh grads with cheap salary but stil make dem feel dat their job is exclusive. same goes to other Audit firms. trust me, having BNM in ur resume does carry weight compared to KPMG.

dats true. but after 2012, especially in gomen service, its all bout performance and no more auto promotion based on seniority. dun really kno bout BNM though

agree. BNM carries extremely heavy weight on ur resume.

people nowadays crazy la..audit firms what I could say is like a maid in white collar. ur job is like servant. believe it or not..