UK
Amid the gloom of front-office IT recruitment, a few bright spots remain – commodities, FX and equity derivatives. Some investment banks are taking on teams of people, but can you secure a role if you don’t have the business knowledge?
One head of IT recruitment at a bulge-bracket bank says that as money is being poured into commodities desks, banks are focusing on getting front-office tech support to this area.
“In an ideal world, somebody will have business-specific knowledge, but it’s not essential. As long as somebody can grasp the technical requirements, and has front-office experience, banks will take them on.”
Tech support roles within commodities have been particularly prevalent at Goldman Sachs and Barclays Capital in the UK, say recruiters, whereas UBS and Credit Suisse have been largely absent in any sector.
Stephen Feline, manager at recruiters Kaizen Partnership, says that equity derivatives is another hive of activity, and banks are welcoming technologists from other product areas, provided they have trading floor experience.
Abigail Wauby, manager of the IT division at recruiters Project Partners, says commodities, FX and money markets are all busy, but if you have no previous experience you’ve got no chance.
“Currently, there’s a huge abundance of people on the market with trading floor experience,” she says. “Some, but not all, investment banks are recruiting for FX and commodities in quite large numbers. If you have product knowledge you can move up, but banks won’t take on people from other sectors.”
I’ve written to all the above agencies, citing my extensive knowledge of trading currencies and knowledge of commodities, etc. Not to mention my background in front office IT support. Not one of them has had the decency to reply.
Muppets, one and all…..
Who are you and how can I help?
I’m a Systems / Business Analyst with a good experience of Prime Brokerage on the Business and Technical support side and excellent knowledge of the entire trade life cycle and asset classes.
I have been on the market for more than a month now and my CV has been sent to all the major investment banks, one thing hasnt clicked yet. Banks taking a long time to even give feedback on the CV’s sent whether direct or through agencies.
Too bad, but It looks like the market will take time to recover and so will the job opportunities….
Agency staff are not specialists in the same way as some of the headhunters. They turn up for for work and await instructions from clients. They don’t actually work, hence the lack of response, even if you can trade and have front office experience. They’ll get their base salary whether they get back to you or not.
A bit like journalists!
Also a business / systems analyst – maybe I’m lucky, but I’ve not had trouble getting bites for perm or contract work:
Does your CV sell:
your real-world experience
your transferable skills
demonstrate your practical understanding of trade operations
describe how you’ve ”done the job” (rather than theorised about it)
explain your understanding of trade floor politics and what it takes to get a system making/saving money?
In my opinion, recruiters are looking for value-added: a hire at analyst level, but where the candidate is more than just a role-filler and can deliver beyond the basic spec of the role.
Banks seek value for money – a hire that can bring a bit of energy to a team and make things work. Robots are efficient, but they fail in pressured environments that require a bit of man management.
Maybe your CV needs a bit of tinkering?