THE first Banking Careers Forum, organised on Friday by CamEd Business School with the support of leading banks and Micro Finance Institutions (MFIs), attracted hundreds of students –  the majority of them studying accounting and banking – to participate and find job opportunities in the banking sector.

Casey Barnett, president of CamEd Business School, said the banking sector in Cambodia has grown dramatically in recent years, leading to more competition in the sector and generating job opportunities.

Barnett said the forum’s aim is to prepare the students to work in the banking sector in a competitive climate and to meet the needs of growing companies in Cambodia.

“Our aim is to introduce to you the opportunity and careers in the banking sector,” he told attendees, adding that there are more students interested in studying accounting because every company needs accountants and auditors.

“The banking sector is very good because the banking sector in Cambodia is progressing and competitive,” he said, adding: “Where there is competitiveness, there quality improves and the sector will progress as well.”

Nean Chanthana, deputy governor of  the National Bank of Cambodia, said she considered the forum an important event to provide opportunities for bankers and all financial stakeholders to share information about the sector, particularly with students who need to know about job opportunities.

Banking careers covered professions including cashiers, accounting, auditing, human resource management, marketing and so on, she said, adding that five years ago, the banking sector had about 10,000 job opportunities, but now banking employed about 25,000 people.

“From my own experiences as a central banker, our banking and finance sector has dramatically changed and developed,” she said.

During the forum, in which at least 250 students participated, representatives from major banks such as ACLEDA, ANZ Royal, Canadia, CIMB,  and MFIs such as Sathapana and AMK  pointed out the career opportunities, the requirements for working in banking and the techniques to apply for jobs in the field.

Touch Ngam Youra, head of the Public Relations Office at ACLEDA Training Center, said now ACLEDA employs more than 7,500 people from management to ordinary staff and in 2013, it plans to employ at least 2,000 new staff in Cambodia.

“[The reason] we need more staff [is] because there are more customers to support, so [more] service is needed and we need to upgrade as well,” he said. He added that ACLEDA uses a three-stage process to distribute information about recruitments: posting it on its webpage, displaying it at all the branches and offices and distributing the announcement at the campuses of universities.

“The forum allows students to know a wide range of products at banks, which they need to improve [on] before applying for jobs,” he said.