Image supplied: Cheryl Ng
B. International Business (First Class Honours) 2014
Cheryl Ng is currently Assistant Vice-President at DBS Bank in Singapore. She first joined DBS as a Management Associate in May 2015. While at CBE, Cheryl worked as a tutor and Student Ambassador. In terms of extra-curricular activities, Cheryl was a Co-Founder of the ANU Swimming Club, (where she also acted as the Treasurer and Sponsorship and Social Officer) and a volunteer at Calvary Hospital. Cheryl completed three internships in Singapore (Morpho, Société Générale, Air Parts Centre) before completing her undergraduate studies at ANU.
Cheryl’s Honours research has been published in the Journal of Vocational Behavior (an A* ranked journal in the Australian Business Deans Council Journal list). The paper is entitled “Distressed and drained: Consequences of intimate partner aggression and the buffering role of supervisor support”
Cheryl’s responses to questions from CBE students
What is expected of a successful, top performing employee in your company?
I would say 3 key things:
- Humility to continuously learn from others and work with others. Knowing how to work in a team is essential to success as we cannot do everything on our own.
- Finding meaning in your role. Knowing how you fit into the larger organisational context helps you to shape your contributions, so that you are not too narrow-focused and can articulate the purpose and what you're doing clearly.
- Focus on improving yourself. There is always something to learn and improve. If you feel too comfortable in your role, you are probably plateauing - and that's not good. You want to always feel a slight discomfort in your role, and that's a good indicator you are stretching yourself to take on challenges. When you grow, you will naturally be moving forward in your career (e.g. acquiring new skills, managing more senior ranks, taking on larger scale projects).
How do you approach different people in networking events?
With curiosity, a smile, and a willingness to listen more than I speak. I always approach people with trying to understand what they do, why they do what they do. Generally, you'll find that people are comfortable talking about themselves more than any other topics. Once you get them comfortable, it opens the doors to other conversations.