Ep 112.1: Confessions of a hawker's son turned MD of UBS (with 2.9 million LinkedIn followers!) | Eric Sim (former Managing Director, UBS) - a podcast by Ling Yah

How does a shy boy with no social skills, who failed his mathematics & went to school smelling of prawns every day... become the Managing Director of UBS?

Just ask Eric Sim.

The truth is:

❌ Eric didn't just fail his maths.

He also failed his English Literature & History papers and had to work at his father's prawn noodle shop before going to school.

❌ He bombed his first job in FX Sales role at DBS Bank.

❌ He failed all his job interviews in London (which he attended wearing a chicken suit!).

But Eric's story doesn't end there.

He:

✅ Figured out how to leverage on his unique background, i.e. as the son of a hawker & bartender, to build a unique personal brand & score his first job;

✅ Found an amazing boss, Prasanna Thombre, who believed in him & gave him all the international opportunities he needed; and

✅ Built relationships that meant that his future jobs were all referred to him.

Eric learned very quickly that you need to do more than just your job to thrive.

And we talked about the cultural nuances of working in different Asian cities (including Ulaanbaatar!), what it meant to be the Managing Director, why he would go to the same restaurant x4 a week!! & how he networks to build the relationships he needs.

Highlights:

• 2.52: Forced to drink oat milk & selling prawn noodles
• 5:27 Carving potatoes was a lie!
• 6:43 Developing an inferiority complex (+ learning everything!)
• 9:16 Sending an unsolicited application to DBS Bank
• 12:35 Restarting his career at Lancaster University
• 14:36 Wearing a chicken suit for interviews at London's financial banks
• 16:15 The Asian Financial Crisis & Prasanna Thombre
• 20:53 Moving to Citi
• 23:41 Working in Shanghai & witnessing the liberalisation of China's financial sector
• 24:52 Chinese business culture
• 25:55 Cigarettes
• 28:09 The importance of being friends with all the chefs
• 30:31 Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
• 31:38 Why Eric keeps getting referrals for jobs
• 32:33 Why Citi was Eric's dream job
• 35:09 Did the wealthy look down at Eric?
• 37:11 Why being a hawker's son helped Eric as a banker
• 40:14 Meeting Hawker Chan
• 42:53 Becoming Managing Director at UBS (investment banking)
• 44:30 Was Eric a successful MD?

📍Show notes: www.sothisismywhy.com/112 

💌 Weekly STIMY Newsletter that deconstructs how you build a portfolio career to prepare yourself for the future of work: https://sothisismywhy.ck.page/acd5bd1062

P/S: Part 2 of Eric's episode comes out this WEDNESDAY! And we talked about why Eric left his high-flying role as Managing Director, how he built a 2.9 million LinkedIn follower count, the importance of personal branding & building a second career, and his journey as a published author in Asia and specifically, China.

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