hq1984

What's your favorite concertmaster solo and why is it Scheherazade?

Hi Gorick, as an Asian male working in finance, I have some issues with defining my own identity. Often in front office or business school interviews, interviewers will ask about your personal story and what makes you uniquely qualified for a position. Obviously Asians are not under-represented in high finance, even though there are distinct biases and stereotypes for Asians that another candidate profile will not suffer from.

So my question is, how do I craft my story and sell myself without coming across as a privileged kid trying to cash in on his minority representation ticket?

I'm more interested in the 'Asian identity' part of my question. At this point I don't really have an issue with selling my story as a generic qualified candidate while skirting my racial identity. I'm more concerned about how I can incorporate the "overcoming implicit biases/stereotypes as an Asian" into my story given the fact that Asian males are well represented in high finance already. I'm aware that a lot of banks only value diversity as a superficial metric, so I'm happy to not rock the boat too much if that is what's required.

As a fellow Asian-Canadian, I'm hoping you have some unique insight on dealing with this conundrum.