Ishra Saladin is a Credit Risk Manager with one of Australia’s “Big 4” banks, overseeing the ebb and flow of the global financial markets. Given today’s tumultuous economic environment, this is an extremely important and challenging role, requiring her to safeguard her employer from the worst of the financial crisis and help them grow in the future. It's a job she worked very hard to get to.
Here’s how:
- What is your current position, employer and location. Which university did you attend and what degree did you gain?
I am a Credit Risk Manager at one of the Big Four Banks. I completed a Master of Commerce in Finance at the University of Wollongong on the south coast of NSW.
- Please provide a snapshot of your responsibilities and key activities in your current job.
I oversee the Bank’s entire lending portfolio (globally), and analyse the effects of the sub prime mortgage crisis. I keep abreast of day-to-day business failures/economic events and their direct and indirect effects on the Bank’s Balance Sheet, whilst ensuring risk mitigants are in place to safeguard our security position or else plan turnaround/exit strategies.
- What is unique or what are the special characteristics of the industry / sector you work in?
Retail and Commercial Bank with global exposures across several and varied industries/economies makes risk management a challenging task, but forms the basis to an organization’s survival, especially during an economic downturn.
- What has been your career path since finishing university and have there been important career choices you have had to make?
I was fortunate enough to work on a billion dollar Utility Project in finance right after completing my Masters degree. The nature of the work had a big effect on me, and forced me to realise that in order to get to where I wanted, I needed to utilize my strengths (both personal & professional) to the maximum, which is when I joined the Banking industry.
- How have you achieved career success so far and what sets you apart from others?
I take the time to understand who I am and what I want rather than starting with where I see my career going in 5 years. I focus on my strengths to maximize job satisfaction whilst at the same time maximizing returns to the organization by enjoying what I do and hence doing it to the best of my abilities which always results in outperformance.
- How do you manage work / life balance?
Planning! I constantly remind myself of what’s most important to me and what makes me happy.
- What career advice would you give to other young professionals?
There is no substitute for hard work. Don’t let anyone set your boundaries for you. Believe in yourself and go for it – the sky’s the limit.
