₦airaland Forum

pDude: Bla bla bla bla bla!!!

Why all of una dey lie give the guy naw? As if I didn't do NYSC.

OP, let me give you a quick breakdown of NYSC: First you will be posted to a state you never imagined you would ever visit (that is if you don't have a friend or relative to runz it for you). Then you will start going from bus park to bus park trying to inquire on how the hell to get there. Thereafter, you will make numerous phone calls and browsing to know all the things you will need to survive camp.

In camp you will experience hardship of unknown proportions (since you claim to be a UK guy) and some of these include filthy bathrooms, inedible camp chow, continuous sweating it out on the parade ground, soldiers that wake you by 5am not caring that you went to bed just 4 hours ago. Also being a UK guy (as you claim) i am sorry for you because you will fill forms manually and queue for allowee. No computerized anything . If you are not sharp, you can be on the queue all day long.

After camp, you will be posted to one hinterland secondary school where even their principal doesn't understand a word of english. Also get ready to start eating local foods that you can never imagine in your wildest imagination. Also stay away from the female indigenes of the place you are posted to. They see NYSC males as a means to an exit from poverty and oblivion in which they live in. You better take a lot of antibiotics and condoms with you because you can't tell the manner of plagues that will befall you. Also beware of female corp members because most of them are looking for husband and once you (as a UK guy) impregnate them, na marriage and UK green card them don get o!


A word is enough for the wise. JUst make the best of your service year and stay safe. Also shine your eyes and get ready to run at the slightest hint of tribal or religious uprising in your location.

So well said. I was in a similar situation and currently serving, I never had to go by public transport though. I spent 7 days in camp before I started feeling sick with an excruciating stomach ache and throwing up an average of 5 times in half an hour...I was able to sleep in intervals for a couple of hours whilst being in the clinic (horrible place where fresh medical students from uni use patients for experiment), I was allowed to go home till the final day of camp when I saw my doctor and was diagnosed with food poisoning. I went back 3 days to the end of camp to finalize my relocation to Lagos but was staying in an hotel till the final day. To cut the long story short.

The pros
1)I quite liked the skill acquisition programs that local graduate took very nonchalantly, they do not know the value of it
2)Opportunity to meet people of whatever kind (Ambitious, future entrepreneurs, politicians, armed robber, party rockers..you name it)
3) Tend to practice bear gryll's advice on survival in a very strange environment e.g using the long drop
4) Enjoy the beautiful views of the landscape (I was at Iseyin, Oyo)

Cons
1) Get food poisoning caused by the market and the camp's food. Their level of hygiene is pretty much the same
2) Sleep in an extremely cramped space with no ventilation with loads of other dudes
3) Get sun baked day in day out in scorching temperatures of well over 30 degree celcius and get a black tan..lol, trust me I wasn't this dark when I came back. Even constant application of sun screen spf 90 did not really help.
4) Queue till eternity to fill and submit forms from the very first day you arrive in camp till the last day. I was lucky I was only there for 7 days
5) Start using strange words like 'mammy', 'allowee', 'double up' 'book of life' e.t.c
6) Wake up very early for military drills, I enjoyed this cause I was hoping to loose a bit of weight ( bmi of 29.1)
7) Nasty bathrooms and toilets, the few WCs we had was servicing over 1500 male bums. So an average of a WC to 500 bums.
Get harassed by guys in uniform who claimed to be soldiers. Drop human rights in the UK and obey the last order else get very embarrassed on camp ground
9) Fetch water in buckets and carry over long distances, thats if you get water. Water shortage is the norm.
10) The cons are endless, I would leave it to other Nlers to continue with the cons

Not quite sure about the condoms though. Yes, there was shagging everywhere but in a very uncomfortable place? that's a huge no no for me. As for my posting, I am currently working in one of the investment banks I have been talking to before leaving the UK. Hope all these helps. Wait one last thing, the girls are quite pretty so that helped as there was something to stare at all day and before you know it the day is gone.

Forgive my typos, too long post and cant be bothered to proofread.

And out of all 365 messages in the Open heaven which has been published for over ten years, only one makes it to nairaland and majority of you lambast this man on this one message; not the one of yesterday neither the one of last month nor the one three years ago. If you guys are really itching for the truth go to the bible and see if what our humble Adeboye preaches is contrary to it.

Yes before I forget, prayers... It has always worked for me

kazala: Banks1@,
Abeg tell us ur strategy. Did U rely on curriculum or schweser?

Thanks, st2clem,kazala, omaojo, my strategy was studying, understanding and conceptualizing the syllabus. I.e rather than just learning each subject, I try to understand what the Learning outcome statement were aiming at, looking at its relevance in practise, who does it in practise, ( e.g equity or fixed income analyst, portfolio manager, e.t.c ) and why they do it. This could only happen if you have a passion for the industry rather than the CFA being a quick fix to a higher salary. Don't get me wrong those without passion also make all levels at one sitting but they still have to understand each concept thoroughly to get the 70% to get a guaranteed pass. I also had my tuition from one of the best CFA tuition providers in the world....I think..lol. I also read numerousliterature on finance and its history, all these consolidated my knowledge. I also did put the grueling hours required to study the syllabus.

Before I forget thanks T22, 'confidentiality agreement' LOL.

Yay!!! Passed level 3. Anyone else

What have you guys dabbled into now? Well I agree with all being said I have read a book on LTCM but this one is Inventing money: the story of long term capital management and the legends behind it; its not that these guys were not smart enough that they made a huge bet against the Russian market which was eventually correct but the short time horizon of their position is what killed their fund as they had little or no liquidity to cover huge margin payment and their leverage positions. Lets not forget that warren buffet could have bailed them out (by providing funds for margin payments...I think) but its only God that know why he did not; and in their hay day they were the pride of hedge funds. Its not all doom and gloom for these quants wizards (that's what I call them), the really good ones i mean, as pointed out by this book, More Money than God- Hedge funds and the making of a new elite (a really good read though I think its blasphemous though). They make really good return when they do and also make bad returns too (isn't that the story of life); Word on the street is that soros made over £3bn in a couple of days during the peak of the Greek crises. I think the problem is that these guys can predict mispricing but do not have models to predict when they would correct which is ultimately caused by human behaviour.

I might have waffled though..loool, our geniuses in the house please feel free to correct me.

Amen oooo @st2clem

OMG...150k, well guess I have to start from somewhere but 150k is too disappointing

Cheap labour? Sounds like they pay peanuts. No not heard anything from vetiva, arm or the likes..maybe they think because I am here I am not serious about coming back.

@T22, I have seen it. But it was really weird they calling me to come in the next day. We have managed to postpone it though. So I just started wandering what the pay is like since I have only cared about putting all these in practice. Do you have any idea what I should expect? You can always inbox me.

Hi T22, long time, well I have been studying but had a couple of replies nothing concrete. Only a call for a test at meristem. Still not sure what the test involves. All I can do now is brush up on my modelling skills, till I get anything concrete.

@st2clem, I can say I aced it....I hope..lol contrary to the consensus opinion here in London.

Any one wrote level 3 How was it?

tanimola22: Dude, check your inbox. The email is waiting for you there.

It is a very good thing to be an achiever. Who says being sedulous does not pay?

I had a discussion with a quant chum a couple of hours ago and he said naija companies will fight fiercely for you. Maybe gidigbo or boxing or kung fu, I am not sure . He even believes that no one in naija has the kind of qualifications you have at your age. I am not sure if he is right or wrong, but just keep us posted about your experience.


hahaha

Enjoy-

T22

Gidigbo ke, I am highly flattered by your friend's compliment but i am not sure if i am the only one at this level at my age...lol, there's got to be others like me who have always been studying since secondary school. Sure, as I get updates i would definately keep you posted.

Jarus: Banks,
You've got an impressive CV there. A friend, one year my junior in Ife, was just on CFA2(no ACCA, nothing else except Bsc Econs) when Vetiva snatched him from Merristem. Vetiva were impressed by just CFAn he's also smart though. He was just about settling down in Vetiva when Shell also literally poached him. He's now with Shell. He flunked his CFA3, but no longer in IB, so means less to him.

Another mate, though has more certs(ICAN, ACCA, CIS, CFA3, Bsc Accounting, Msc Ops Research Dundee or Edinburgh, can't recall) is doing well in Rencap.

So, you stand a great chance of doing wonders in Naija's IB industry as I can see you have the passion.

T22, pls give her my email add and let me see if I can get it across to my guys in Vetiva, Meristem and Rencap for onward passage to right quarters in their firms.

Hello Jarus,
Thanks for the compliment. Its a him by the way. I really appreciate your kind gesture

Chambers2
Many thanks. I have a passion for the industry that's why I am only looking towards IB and asset management. If I wanted accounting firm I would have tried to secure an offer from the internship I had. Accounting is just not challenging enough for me, I want something highly return driven like generating alpha or securing deals...

tanimola22: I have seen it and responded to you. I like the many A1s on your CV. Very few people will resist you.

Meanwhile, can we add some more catchy things to your CV? If you want, I can spare 1.5 hours of my busy time to offer you some more ideas that worked for people I know. I love anything brilliant

T22.

Thanks just got your reply. I promise to respect your privacy and keep all this confidential...am already bounded by that with these professional bodies (LOL). I wouldn't mind. Please feel free to add any catchy thing you think would help. Am still learning anyway.

tanimola22: Hi, I was an analyst at a boutique investment firm in Lagos. That's how I got to know a few things about these places and people, not too much sha.

Sure, ARM is one of the above average places to be in naija if you are interested in buy-side finance. They also have some of the finest brains in the industry. But I tell you, you are an excellent candidate for your age whether in the US or UK (I assume you graduated at age 21 or 22 or 23 or 24). You have everything going on well for you.

Send me an email at tanimola22 at yahoo dot com. There is this chick/guy there that should be interested in your impressive profile for NYSC. I reckon that anything other than NYSC would be a long shot.

T22

Sure inboxing you within the hour.Many thanks

tanimola22: I strongly advise you to perform your national service at ARM. Someone with your same achievements + NYSC discharge certificate will always be preferred to you.

ARM is always happy to take NYSC people, especially very highly qualified people like you. There is nothing they want that you don't have. Package your application well and send it to them. Very, very few newbie graduates are as qualified as you are. In no time, you will become an assistant portfolio manager and later a portfolio manager. I just give you less than 15 years.

ARM will be jocund to have you around. If fact, they may incentivize you to stay, after the completion of your NYSC. Just try not to voice how far you have gone to your new colleagues there, except in very exceptional cases. Many of them are dreaming to be like you. I have seen what a couple of them have, and so I understand my points.

I wish you all the best omo oba!

T22

Thanks tanimola22 really appreciate...could you please tell me a bit about yourself and how should i send the application to ARM..via email or cold call? I would also be chuffed to bits to be at ARM but at times I think the email I send are discarded.

tanimola22: This one http://www.naijahotjobs (dot) com/f36/investment-research-analysts-associates-124024/. I saw it on that job board. Send to ARM too.http://arm.com.ng/images/stories/AYTP.pdf. I hope your qualifications won't terrify all these recruiters sha.

Have you served?

Thanks. No I haven't served...hope that won't be too much of a problem

tanimola22: 2.1 accounting, ACCA chartered accountant, almost CFA certified, you alone. hehehe, I have always known that the world has become so crazily competitive. Imagine someone like you not having a job yet. Keep up the fighting spirit man.

Meanwhile, are you specifically interested in our banks? I believe with your background you should get something anywhere in the world. I mean, many professionals can only dream of the level you have attained academically and even professionally.

Did you try Standard Chartered Bank? Have you tried RenCap and ARM? Have you also tried one naija firm that is currently accepting CVs? Which ones have you tried? Please let us know.

Thanks for the reply. I have applied for a grad position at Rencap, they said they ate still processing my application, sent my CV's to most banks, Ibtc, chapel Denham, meristem, greenfield, e.t.c. I do not know the one that's currently accepting CVs if you could please tell me which one is. I only started job hunting this month as I was waiting for this period when I would be writing my final CFA exam. I am choosing to come back home because of the unlocked potential Africa especially naija possesses that why it was in the news this week on FT of j.p Morgan wanting to open a branch in lagos.

Hi all,
Very interesting and informative thread I must say. I am here to seek advice on how to break into these I-banks and asset managers in Nigeria. I graduated march 2012 from a U.K uni with a degree in accounting (2.1), finished my ACCA Feb 2010 and writing the level 3 exam of the CFA this June here in London (very confident of passing), passed them all at first attempts.
I have just sent my cv with cover letters to the emails of the career website provided by these banks, I have been called to attend a recruitment fair in London but am sceptical if our banks would be there. Could anyone please advice me on what to do cause I have run out of options on how to break in.
Yeah I forgot...I have done six month internship in an accounting firm in london and I am less than 24 yrs old (thought it might be useful)

Many thanks.