A lot has changed since our last career interview. Many people are now working from home and face uncertain times in all aspects of their life. Whilst we should try and stay as productive as possible, this long overdue interview with Sanna Sharif will hopefully give you an insight into the role of a project manager within investment banking – and also her career tips she wish she knew when she first started out!
Sanna Sharif has worked at several of the world’s biggest investment banks and currently works for a private equity firm. However, she started out on the Teach First program where she eventually became a qualified teacher. Find out more about the program, helpful career tips and her career as a project manager below.
1) You’ve worked at quite a few investment banks but lets start with how you joined the Teach First programme. Can you explain what it is and why you decided to do it?
Teach First is a charity whose mission is to provide a fair education for all. It’s a sad fact that children who come from a disadvantaged background are less likely to go on to achieve good GCSE results and therefore move on to higher education. Teach First is a programme to support aspiring teachers and also place them in schools where they’ll be able to most benefit the pupils as well as development of the teacher.
My interest in Teach First started during my final year of university where I was studying computer science at King’s College. I’m very fortunate that I have two older sisters with one having worked in investment banking for a number of years and the other sister pursuing a career in education eventually becoming a headteacher of a top secondary school.
I was very fortunate that I was allowed to get a first-hand view of what both of those careers looked like and I knew I had a dual passion to explore both. So, when I heard about Teach First, I knew that would be the right choice for me to explore this avenue.
2) Can you give a brief description of the roles you’ve done working in investment banks?
After finishing the Teach First graduate programme (if you complete three years, you’ll have the opportunity to gain a Master’s in Leadership) I told my manager at the time that I was happy to stay as a teacher but I did have a passion for banking. I thought that if I was to apply for a role in banking and the opportunity arose to take up a position it would be great timing for me.
Having qualified as a teacher I felt I could now focus and see how I would fare within the investment banking world. I joined the J.P. Morgan graduate program as a developer in the equities technology business and a lot of the focus in my first graduate rotation was on banking regulations and regulatory changes. My second rotation led me to then become a business analyst specifically working on a process to automate trades more efficiently on our derivatives platform.
My third rotation was probably one of my most interesting and was within the private bank of J.P. Morgan. I had the opportunity to shadow a project manager and essentially became a hybrid project manager and business analyst. I stayed on at the firm for one more year after which I joined Goldman Sachs. My role here was a full-time project manager and that was within the regulatory operations area. I worked mainly within the control space to ensure we had timely, accurate and complete controls on our regulatory reporting requirements.
3) So what’s a normal day like in your current role?
At the moment I work for a private equity firm as a consultant project manager and typically start around 8:30am. It normally begins with a review of all my emails that may have come in overnight and then at 9:30am I have a project team meeting where I go through my team’s work progress. This includes listening to what they worked on the day before, what’s coming up today and any concerns or issues – this is an example of an agile meeting, a type of meeting becoming very common in banking.
Post my 9:30am meeting I’d normally have another four or five meetings on average a day. This is all to tackle any kind of analysis that’s required, move projects forward as well as support any of my team members on any issues they may be having with deliveries. Separate to this I will typically have maybe 1 meeting every other day with a senior manager, senior partner or a senior stakeholder of the project. This will include a mini presentation of the progress, issues that are being faced and the next short, medium and long-term milestones (and reasons if they’ve been amended since our last meeting).
I typically finish around 6:00pm but also will be keeping an eye on any emails that are sent in the evenings. When you work for a global company work never halts; I have to keep a look out for any issues that may arise during US hours or perhaps Asia morning. This will allow the next morning’s meetings to go ahead without any surprises.
4) Would you say you have a similar background to the colleagues you’ve worked with in your roles?
I’ve seen people like myself who have done a very technical degree to go on to a technical position but equally I’ve seen people who have done geography or history as a degree and also gone into those positions. What it comes down to is the the fact that your degree teaches you various knowledge-based items but also you learn the skill of being able to pick up, learn and retain information and then be able to articulate that in various ways.
I always give the example that was given to me actually when I was picking my A-level results; I remember my sister opening a magazine and inside was the first British ethnic minority woman to be appointed a CEO of a law firm. Reading more about her background I saw that she studied zoology as a degree. That just really spoke to me about when you’re passionate about something you will achieve your goal.
Your background doesn’t ever mean that you’re locked in for life regarding your career options. It’s your own internal passion that will get you anywhere.
5) A lot of people have an idea about the working culture of investment banks and the types of people working there. How would you describe it and does every place you’ve worked at have a different culture?
The working culture in investment banks that I’ve worked in has been similar albeit not totally the same, however something shared in all places is that the types of people I’ve worked with have always been very diverse.
In terms of colleagues, people are mostly supportive but of course not everybody will always give you all the time, attention and training that you believe you may require. What I found really important though was I was quite fortunate to have a very supportive family who are very accustomed to the kind of working culture in international investment banking.
At work you’ll come across all different types of people, some may be extroverts whilst others are introverts. From a culture perspective, I think what’s really interesting in investment banking is everyone you work with is very exceptional in what they do. This is no surprise as the recruitment process at investment banks is a very thorough process. To really excel and set yourself apart from everybody else is what will make you succeed.
I really do feel like actually 80-90% of your week is doing your day job but 10 to 20% (if not more) is spent on thinking what else what else can I do and bring to this job. This could be picking up extra responsibility or taking the initiative to tackle a problem.
Is there a male dominated environment? Yes, I would say it’s predominantly male driven. I remember countless times I’ve sat there in a room and seen that I am the only woman or I am the only woman of colour. With that being said I’ve never felt that I wasn’t accepted. I truly feel as long as you’re bringing the right qualities that banking is an inclusive culture regardless of your demographic.
I’ve been lucky enough to be part of the Goldman Sachs recruitment process and I was really encouraged to find what was most important to the bank was to find the best person for the job, full stop.
6) From experience have you found that the banking culture allows an atmosphere where you can practice religion easily?
Concerning my religion, I feel that since the moment I’ve graduated to my current job whether it was setting up a classroom for Friday prayers or at J.P. Morgan/Goldman Sachs, the buildings has always provided a space for prayer whether it was a quiet room or a designated prayer room. Additionally, the food being served at my workplaces all had clear Halal labels and ensured it was apparent if any alcohol was involved as well as avoided any cross-contamination.
At Goldman Sachs most of my colleagues took part in a sponsored fast for a day which was called The Fast and the Curious! This was a great feeling as even though people had their own lives and busy work schedules, they took time out (in fact the entire day) to learn about my religion. They would donate their lunch money to a charity, in fact it was a Sikh homeless charity shelter called SWAT. I highly recommend you check out their work, their website can be found here.
During Ramadan I’ve always been encouraged to take any vacation days off if needed and also be able to have flexible working to work from home as required.
I really do think I’ve been very fortunate even to this day at my new workplace. I can easily book a meeting room and shut the blinds if required just so I pray undisturbed. So from my experience it’s definitely been very much supported in terms of being able to practice my religion.
7) You mentioned flexible working. Have you seen a general change in the working environment when it comes to this?
Again, I think I’ve been very fortunate that in my role in project management working from home (wfh) has always been possible. Although I don’t feel wfh is always the right thing to do depending on what stage of the project I’m on, I’ve never felt worried about asking my manager if I ever need to wfh for personal reasons.
There are times where you’re expected to be in the office especially around heavy workloads which comes in peaks and troughs. During these times the team all pull together to get the work done so you never feel too overwhelmed. It’s these moments that taught me the most about how I work under pressure and how do I manage my time. After busy periods it’s perfectly acceptable to ask for days off just to recuperate.
I read somewhere on LinkedIn that if you can’t trust somebody to work from home you shouldn’t have had them in the first place – I totally agree with that sentiment. But unfortunately, I find when I wfh I take less breaks so it’s definitely changed my view on how I feel about wfh.
Everyone is different when it comes to their work style and you need to find what works best for you. That being said, having face time is important because there’s something different around interaction of verbal and written communication in person as opposed to purely online.
8) Is there something which surprised you about working in banking?
I think what’s really interesting about working in banking is just how many different roles there are. When I was researching banking I was hearing that you are either a banker or in back office – like those are the only two options! It is so much more than that!
The majority of my career has been spent working in the regulatory landscape and the reforms that have gone on since the credit crisis in 2008. These roles really showed me the control and the ownership and accountability structure in investment banks. It’s definitely not all about numbers as some may think. There’s so much more than that and there really is a role for everybody depending on what your passion and interests are.
9) Professionally you’re probably a different person now than when you first started. With hindsight, what do you wish you’d known before you started working?
I wish I had known the importance and ease of speaking up. Whilst I was on one of my graduate rotations, I had a manager called Mark James, I remember him saying to me that “when you’re invited into a meeting, you’ve been invited to have a voice”. Ever since then if I have an idea or a thought – I just ask the question. It really is as simple as that.
“when you’re invited into a meeting, you’ve been invited to have a voice”
I sometimes felt I didn’t have the confidence to question early on in my career but after understanding what my manager said I’ve never looked back. The majority of the time you ask the questions that everyone else is thinking of but don’t ask. This really stands you out in a meeting.
10) What habits and traits do you believe have allowed you to be successful?
I think one trait that’s allowed me to be successful is just remember why you are going to work every day. A lot of people talk about the Sunday feeling but I’ve been lucky that I’ve never really got that feeling. I always think of the opportunities to grow professionally and personally that my work brings instead of just working to get paid at the end of the month.
I also early on decided to pinpoint what was really important to me. My number one priority is my family, my husband, my parents and my siblings. I think about what example I want to show to the younger generation and how do I want for them to be treated when they move into the workplace. I want to carry myself so that my parents will know when I leave for work, I’m leaving in the way they had hoped and raised me as. I think it’s really important to think about your character and how you hold yourself. I’ve always worked hard (sometimes working till 2am) and that’s something you will have to do, but I’ve stayed firm and explained to others what has a priority in my life.
Lastly, it sounds really simple but just to be kind. Everyone has their own struggles and we spend more of our time at work than we do at home so understanding other people and their priorities is equally important.
11) What tips would you give someone starting out in the industry?
I think if I had to give somebody advice starting out in the industry is analyse where you want to be in a year’s time. Write down where you want to be in a year’s time and also have an outline of 3-year, 5-year and 10-year plans and keep revisiting that continuously.
Put yourself out there to speak to people and look to shadow as many people in different rolls you can find. Don’t ever think to not be interested in talking to anyone because you believe you’ll never work in that area. You’ll be amazed at how many people I speak to are working in departments or divisions that they did not envisage when they first started working.
To find out as much as possible you really do need to network because although I’m guilty of not necessarily being actively networking, it’s really important to find out what is out there.
Finally, you have to try and make things happen yourself. You may think there’s an amazing role out there but I could never do that – you have to be your own number one supporter when it comes to this. You have to believe you want it bad enough to give what it takes to succeed. When people see you put in the effort they will then back you as well.
If you don’t back yourself in this race of life then why would anybody else? So look at what’s out there in this big world, go after it and be your own number one supporter.
Final Four
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