Mariya Patel (2020) read Human, Social and Political Sciences at St John’s College and, following an internship at HSBC, she changed her plan to pursue a career as a lawyer and is now a Global Markets Analyst for the bank where she discovered any trepidation about a possible clash of cultures was unfounded.
When Mariya Patel arrived at St John’s College from the highly competitive Brampton Manor Academy in East London, she had a clear plan: complete her degree, take a conversion course and pursue a career in law. Hard work and determination had always guided her – lessons she learned early at Brampton, and her focus never wavered. But less than a year into her Human, Social and Political Sciences (HSPS) degree, her interests began to shift. Politics and international relations fascinated her, and when a friend suggested she apply for a Spring Insight Week at a bank to see if there was room for her new-found interest, she became curious about career paths beyond law.
And despite fears that being a woman who wore the hijab would be a barrier to success in finance, she found that those concerns were outdated. “I decided I had nothing to lose,” says Mariya. “I applied to a couple of Spring Weeks: one at Credit Suisse and another at HSBC. I discovered that there are paths into finance beyond the traditional STEM route. I had a particular interest in markets because they hinge on global events and in my degree I was learning about geopolitics. The modules that I had chosen were US foreign policy and the politics of the Middle East. I realised there was a natural overlap between the macro aspect of trading and the degree that I studied. After the Spring Weeks I scrapped the law route.”
During the long vacation, Mariya secured a 10-week internship at HSBC. She split her time between two desks on the trading floor. “I was already certain that markets would be the area that I would most enjoy,” she says. “Then I had to decide whether I wanted to join a sales deal or a trading desk. I decided I would enjoy sales a lot more as it was more client-facing than the trading side. I rotated on two desks, one being solution sales which provided real money and bank clients access to liquidity across fixed income products, often in the form of bespoke, integrated solutions. My second desk was an FX desk dealing with the hedging needs of corporate clients.
“Throughout the internship, there was a ‘market wrap’ every week where we would discuss significant macro events and provide trade ideas, a bit like a supervision. I was later praised for my performance in the market wraps, and also the final presentation of the internship was named the best of the year. I had been sceptical as to whether I would thrive in a sales and trading role because a large part of my cohort during the internship had STEM degrees. A significant proportion studied engineering and it triggered preconceived notions I had prior to my Spring Week. However, I realised that studying politics made me more aware of how to perceive the world and how various cogs interact with each other on an international lens. The proof was in my performance in the market wraps.”
Since graduation, Mariya has been working for HSBC on a fixed income desk trading listed futures and options alongside two colleagues, both of whom studied engineering. “A STEM degree is a more typical route into trading,” she explains, “because there are technical aspects to the underlying products. But being able to analyse global politics has been a huge advantage. A large part of trading comes down to expressing a view,” says Mariya. “For instance, a hot topic has been how the UK budget will impact the gilt market. Being able to ascertain what the impact will be if the Chancellor hikes taxes and getting ahead of the curve in that scenario, makes a huge difference. I think HSPS gives you a knack for critiquing every headline, it trains you to see things from a perspective most people overlook. That’s where the real profit potential comes in: if you spot insights in a headline that others miss, like how you get those high marks in your exams, you can create real value for clients.”
Although Mariya has always felt confident about her career choice, she did wonder what it would be like going into such a male-dominated industry. “As much as the industry has evolved, I’d still say a significant proportion of the trading floor are men, which can affect you subconsciously,” says Mariya. “I have to be even more confident in myself, especially coming from a diverse background. I wear the hijab and it’s a really important religious expression for me, but I’m the only one out of 300 people on the floor who wears the hijab. When I first joined, my mum asked, ‘Are you going to take your hijab off to fit in and feel more comfortable?’ And I responded with, ‘No – it’s the opposite. It actually empowers me. I can’t imagine myself working here without the hijab. If anything, I’d feel less confident’.”
In fact, the most challenging area has been navigating after-work culture but everyone has been “understanding” she says. “Where I struggled most was balancing religious values with the social aspect of working a corporate job, particularly in environments where I would not otherwise find myself. And starting out, I had to figure out what my boundaries were and decide where do I feel comfortable, and how far do I go? I do meet up with colleagues and clients after work, but I say no to alcohol. That’s a non-negotiable for me. It’s about understanding your personal boundaries and staying true to yourself.”
Mariya says her next steps are to deepen her knowledge of derivatives and, ultimately, to work at a hedge fund. She credits her time at St John’s for the success she’s achieved so far: “Beyond making lifelong friends, the skills I developed during my undergraduate degree, and particularly from supervisions, are ones I use every day in my career.”
