Share Your Work Experience Form
Name: Abdullah Ahmed Muhammad
Organization: Meezan Bank Limited
Designation: Senior Executive Vice President-Group Head of Treasury & Financial Institutions
Work Experience (in years):
Industry: Banking/ Financial Institution
Expertise:
Q. What to expect at the entrant level? (Ups and downs during the early years)
Entrants are expected to be:
1) Street smart
2) Good in basic arithmetic
3) Good in financial modeling, macros, etc. (For financial institutions)
4) Strong in socializing skills
5) Mentally strong in taking pressure (For treasury front office)
Q. Explain the Career progress that is typical to this field? (Growth pattern/ promotion chances/ overseas placements)
Treasury: If BBA: hired at AM-II level (equivalent to OG-II in other banks), promotion every 2 years depending upon performance until VP-I level, after which it takes at least 3 years for subsequent promotions.
If MBA: hired at AM-I level (equivalent to OG-I in other banks), promotion every 2 years depending upon performance until VP-I level, after which it takes at least 3 years for subsequent promotions.
Q. What pre requisite courses need to taken to help students to enter this career path? (Courses/ certifications that help in this field)
Finance major or bi-major in finance and marketing.
Preferably taken Islamic Finance as elective.
Electives for treasury job: Treasury & Funds Management, Security Analysis, International Banking
Electives for Financial Institutions job: Analysis of Financial Statements
Pre-engineering background preferred.
Q. Do employers have a preference for certain individuals? (CGPA or a specialized Bachelors or masters requirement)
Yes, they do. Generally a CGPA of 3 and above is preferred.
For Meezan Bank Ltd., an Islamic banking mindset is preferred.
Q. Who are the industry leaders and trend setters in this field? (Companies that need to be looked out for)
We are the market leader in Islamic Banking, having nearly 50% share of the local Islamic banking industry.
Q. Any advise that you can offer to current students?
Islamic banking is still a growing field in Pakistan, being only 10 years old. Going forward, there are chances every conventional bank will have an Islamic banking window; with the ultimate aim for all banking to shift to this mode in the long-run. Hence, students should target Islamic banking as their preferred job market while studying.
