Anyone have any pointers on the 2 questions below?

Question 1:

How easy (time, expectations, approval process etc) is it for a current HSBC employees to move up the ranks from Band 4 to Band 3 in the Commercial banking business, technology strategy?

Question 2:

I'm currently interviewing for a role with HSBC's tech strategy team. Budgets and approvals for this role have been set at Band 4. My interviewees are Band 2 and 1 employees. They like me as a candidate but see me as too senior for Band 4. From my perspective, while it may be a compromise in salary I see great long term potential in this role- I will be building a team from the ground up in an area which is seeing growth and which I am passionate about.

If we get to a negotiation stage one of 2 things will happen. Either they will be able to upgrade the role to Band 3 or they will need to be convinced that I will be happy in a Band 4 role for now. If the latter I will need to be clear on performance targets, time frames and expectations for a promotion to Band 3 in say 6/12 months.

Anyone have any experience with this, either negotiating a higher band on entry or negotiating a promotion plan? If the latter, I presume the promotion plan will be significantly different to that of a current HSBC employee coming up the ranks? Anyone have any stories they can share?

There is no such thing as a band-promotion, as would be common in consultancy. The job has a band and that’s it.

To move from GCB4 to GCB3 you would need to apply for and obtain a different job; one that has been graded as GCB3. To get that job you, it would need to be advertised internally and you’d need to out-interview all candidates that apply in an open process. You might be able to do this, but a few words of warning.

No one in the bank can give you a GCB4 role with a promise to move you up to GCB3.

6-12 months to move from GCB4 to a GCB 3 role is not something I’ve ever seen achieved. 2 years is doable if you work 60+ hours a week and hit every target and have a sponsor.

GCB4 is a pretty easy performance level, but performance expectations at GCB3 are a big jump up. There will be GCB3s running small countries!

So...you're right - any promotion plan along the lines of "do well and we'll bump you up" would be 100% outside of normal.

It is a bank that offers a great deal of opportunity though...

you don't want to go there, it's and old style corporate environment that tries to play cool to attract millennials

Typically HSBC India has L8 to L3, I have never seen anyone above L3 often here.

GCB8: Assiciate/Analyst. few departments like Investment banking starts from GCB7.

GCB7: Assistant Manager/Senior Analyst

GCB6: Manager. Often, this can also be the entry level in onshore locations like UK

GCB5: Assistant Vice President

GCB4: Vice President

GCB3: Senior Vice President, usually the Department heads.

Apart from these, below are the continuoution of Global bands though not seen often in India.

GCB2: Directs of COO, CFO, CIOs of the group.

GCB1: Reportees of the CEO

GCB0: The Chief Executive.

Source: Adnopsis