As one of the top 5 fastest-growing companies in the Greater Bay Area, Hong Kong; Privé Technologies aims to drive the industry with its innovative solutions. Let’s hear it from Rakesh Selvaraj on his real lessons from working in a global fintech company.
Lazy Doesn’t Cut It
We pride on leading a healthy lifestyle here – and I’ve always known that staying fit and healthy is key, but struggled to stick to my routine when I started here. I gave myself excuses that I’m busy and saw myself slacking off in that department.
But conversing with my colleagues (shoutout to Jane, Jovin, and Qiuyan) has made me realise that I’m just being lazy – and that doesn’t cut it. The trick is to set a routine when it comes to picking up a healthy lifestyle; so I started to set aside time in the morning to go to the gym.
It also helps that we have plank sessions in the office to combat the post-lunch food coma as we strive to be healthier as a team. As with everything else in life, it boils down to how badly you want it.
First Taste of Finance
I’ve always wanted to learn more about wealth management, investing and personal finance. Unfortunately, I never got around to reading up on anything related or even following up on them – until now.
Working at a Fintech company pushes you to be familiar with financial concepts and topics, presenting research opportunities and educating myself about personal finance and the basics of investing. A total score when you’re killing 2 birds with one stone.
Meanwhile, writing articles for WealthUp has also helped me gain a lot of knowledge about the finance industry, to know the thought leaders of the industries and what I can learn from them.
Don’t Just Think It, Speak It
Many times, I have been questioned on the reasons behind my actions and found myself explaining the thought process that brought me to my current position. It may not seem significant but articulating my decision-making process made me more aware of my work. When analysis is your life from 9-5, you will:
- Learn importance of understanding the reason behind an action
- Be questioned numerous times about why you were doing what you were doing in the manner you did – shedding light to why I came to the final decision or proposal
- Find you get more prepared to reason your way of work, giving confidence to your mentors and colleagues
Leaders Who Listen
Lucky for me it was also the festive season recently – which meant we had office parties! Sure we had a lot of fun, but I also learnt a lot from the leaders of the company. For instance, our CEO, Charles Wong was completely down-to-earth and I was pleasantly surprised to see that he was willing to spend time having a discussion with me, and even bounced off the visionary ideas he had.
It was also a completely different experience between the offline and online meetings for when he was in town. While the online standups helped us on a daily basis, it was the face-to-face meetings that truly inspired me to go further.
