Eco majors are more suitable for research divisions within banks, but in banking, any major is accepted (engineering, psychology etc) as long as the staff has he right attitude to learn on the job.

Most banks don't discriminate your major, altho for certain business units (corporate banking for example) being an accounting and finance grad. is more advantageous as you'll likely be able to read financial statements and compute ratios, understand what window dressing is etc already. Hence less training required for you to do the job.

From my experience (in BNM's case), their Point of View (POV) as a regulator effectively changes the type of work you do. Your role in BNM would like be geared toward policing other banks, studying/tracking macroeconomic factors (again, Eco grads are more suitable here) and drafting policies. It's rarely commercial/business driven, especially at lower level positions at BNM.

I would think that staff packages would be somewhat similar. Banks tend to reward competent staff so if you are a go-getter with a lot of heart and drive, plus technically competent, I recommend you try carving a career in the commercial side of banking.

If you are more academic, prefer a slower pace of life and don't mind the money side so much (as long as your are relatively comfortable) BNM would be a better choice. The number of training, seminars, BNM staff attends a year is astounding.

For commercial banks, making money is more important. Training is limited to furthering your abilities to make more money for the bank. Stress levels are also relatively higher.



This post has been edited by Quasi-Suave: Apr 19 2011, 10:21 AM