While the usual attributes such as hard work, diligence and tenacity that are essential ingredients for success in just about any job, there are always more specific variables that will give you the extra edge in your career.

　　Examples

　　Securities Sales

　　As a securities salesperson, you need to go through voluminous amount of investment research publications, newspaper dailies, business magazines, such as Fortune, Business Week, Forbes; pay attention to the on-stream news coming out from Bloomberg, Reuters, CNBC, CNN; digest and analyze how this information might impact your clients?portfolio holdings. Your role here is not merely to regurgitate what has been reported, but to add value and bring insights to your clients. To excel in this profession, one must have the strong desire for knowledge, ability to read, process and organize large amounts of new information and connect it to the needs of your clients.

　　Foreign Exchange

　　In the high stress foreign exchange(FX) markets, to become a successful trader, you need to be attuned to the big picture, such as capital flows, economic news and statistics, political developments. He must be able to perform under very volatile and demanding environments. Millions of dollars can be made or lost from a single trade. We are all aware of the fundamental factors that can potentially affect the FX rates - the key is to figure out what current factors the market is focused on, and how to stay ahead of the market. Before the Euro came on board, most of the currency trades were against the U.S. Dollar(USD). Since the launch of the Euro, there has been a reduction in the trading volume of the USD currency pairs, and a growth in the trading volume of Euro currency pairs. These cross currency trades are major drivers of currency movements in the main USD based currency pairs. Thus FX dealers responsible for a particular USD currency pair have to be familiar and aware of the movements and flows of other cross currency pairs, and the implications on his own positions. A good trader must also have the appetite for risk and balance this with the ability to realize when he or she is wrong and have to cut losses.

　　Private Banking

　　To embark on a career in the private banking business, you must have the ability to network and identify prospective clients. Getting appointments with clients can be a difficult task, as these highly successful people are often busy and also receive calls from your competitors. You must be well prepared with your value propositions and be very precise whenever you have the opportunity to speak with them. Even after having done all the preparation and armed with the best calling card, you will still face rejection. You must learn how to handle this well. Your job is to impress them with your knowledge, and your command of resources within your organization, and gain their trust and confidence. Once both you and the client reach a comfort zone, you must be able to take the relationship further by understanding their needs and suggesting solutions to meet their specific requirements.

　　The other important aspect of private banking is “knowing your clients? You need to be skillful in asking questions in order to first determine if they pass the “smell test?before accepting them as clients. Reputable global financial institutions typically have strict internal policies to safeguard their business reputation. Most of them avoid accepting clients that have suspicious source of wealth, are cronies of political figures, or are regimes that are suspected of public funds embezzlements. A good example was the well-publicized case of Raul Salinas de Gortari, the brother of former President of Mexico, Carlos Salinas de Gortari. Raul De Gortari transferred funds from Citibank Mexico to Citibank New York concentration account(an account that commingles funds from various sources) and subsequently forwarded these funds to private banking accounts with Citibank London and Switzerland, and used them to avoid detection of public funds embezzlement and corruption. This has caused embarrassment to Citibank and tarnished its business reputation, as well as disruption to its business operations during the investigation by federal agencies. Private bankers must also ask insightful questions to assess clients?risk and reward profile, product suitability and perform the necessary due diligence to verify authenticity of the information received.