eFinancialCareers

Is the Chartered Financial Analyst program a victim of its own success, awarding so many charters that its market value is diluted? In a word, no. Several eFC readers responded to our past stories about the CFA designation by asserting the charter is no longer viewed as a mark of distinction by finance industry professionals. So, we put the question directly to a number of financial-career professionals. None voiced any reservations... Read more

A recent story showcasing recruiters' complaints about "crazy" candidates seems to have hit a nerve among many of our users. Several comments draw a link between overeager job-seekers - who recruiters may view as pests - and uncommunicative recruiters whom sincere and well-behaved job-seekers may label rude and unprofessional. The question of whether recruiters should be more responsive to candidates who've been eliminated from a client's interview process (and those job-seekers... Read more

We met with Bob Johnson, a managing director at the CFA Institute, the organization behind the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) Charter, the world’s most gargantuan financial services qualification. Over 100,000 sit the three levels of the qualification annually, in locations as far afield as Dublin and Shanghai. Johnson promotes the Charter as a great way of kick starting a financial services career. - Read to the bottom to see whether recruiters... Read more

The longer this recession goes on, the more transitioning professionals will stumble into the "overqualified" pit. Too much of a good thing is wonderful, said Mae West. But that's not how hiring managers see it. Relevant work experience, advanced degrees and credentials - while prerequisites for many finance jobs - can disqualify as well as qualify. If a candidate previously held a role at a higher level than the one she's... Read more

Picture this: You’ve just lost your job and you’re scouring the job boards, looking for something - anything - that matches your professional qualifications and experience. Suddenly, you spot a position that looks too good to be true. The job title is perfect, the responsibilities are right up your alley, and the firm is… Oh, wait a minute. It's your former employer; the one that just handed you a pink... Read more

What'll it be - a graduate degree in finance or a CFA charter? A growing number of universities have set out to provide the tools to acquire both. Around the world, some 41 educational institutions have signed on to a partnership program that the CFA Institute initiated in April 2006. The schools embed in their graduate curricula at least 70 percent of the "body of knowledge" that forms the basis of... Read more

Sometimes, the toughest question in a job interview is, “Do you have any questions?” Vicky Oliver found out the hard way. The author of 301 Smart Answers to Tough Interview Questions recalls interviewing for a position at Vogue early in her own career. When the hiring manager asked if she had any questions, Oliver replied, "Just one: When do I start?" That flippant reply cost her the job, she says. Now, she... Read more

Kerry Jordan, CFA, has been out of work since January 2008, despite 14 years of experience at FBR Capital Markets, Bank of America, and NASDAQ. You'd think her work in new business development, strategic planning, risk management and raising capital would have left her well-positioned to land a new job quickly. But here's the rub: "Everyone is in retrenchment mode and the few positions that do become available are filled... Read more

Even as the finance industry writhes amid recession and restructuring, some jobless professionals are having trouble adjusting their expectations to the new reality. A column in Sunday's Philadelphia Inquirer details the saga of one Byron Wilson, a former investment advisor, insurance company vice president and Big Four CPA. In 2007, Wilson left a steady job to build his own investment advisory business at Smith Barney, leaving little time to build a... Read more

Cantor Fitzgerald & Co. has hiring plans. According to Investment Dealers' Digest, the New York-based company plans to hire 100 people for its fixed-income business alone this year. Already, the firm's hired 20 specialists for a developing high-yield bond business, and is bringing on as many as 25 investment bankers, along with sales and trading professionals. "The talent pool out there is very deep right now and the opportunity to grow... Read more

From London, Sarah Butcher writes: With more and more people pursuing fewer and fewer jobs, recruiters say some candidates are exhibiting strange and unusual behaviors in an attempt to catch their attention. These apparently include: Sending in their CV for every single job going: “These are the serial appliers,” says Recruiter A. “They apply for everything we advertise across every function.” Repeatedly sending in their CV for the same job: “If someone sees... Read more

Hopefully, you'll never need this step-by-step guide to surviving a layoff. But if you do, following these steps will put you on your way to a new opportunity. 1. Negotiate a Good Deal It may be possible to negotiate at least some terms of your layoff. Employers often budget substantial funds for such purposes, but exiting employees don't realize they can negotiate or they are too traumatized to ask. As soon as... Read more

If your career path meandered at any point, you won't get far with Aaron Patzer, the Web entrepreneur who built Mint.com and who now heads the personal finance group at Intuit, which acquired his company this month. When hiring, "I look for someone who has made conscious, rational, well-reasoned decisions from high school through college to internships to your first job to now," Patzer told Fortune magazine. "If you've floundered,... Read more

The proportion of new MBA holders worldwide who received a job offer before graduation climbed for a fifth straight year, edging up to 53 percent from 52 percent in 2006. Demand is up dramatically since 2003, according to the Graduate Management Admission Council. In that year, just 36 percent of new MBAs had a job offer by the time they were awarded the degree. The average respondent to this year's GMAC Global... Read more

This is a good time for financial professionals who are fluent in Chinese, Japanese or other Asian languages. Why? Consider: Big Japanese banks may pump billions of dollars into struggling Wall Street firms, says the Times of London. The trade deficit with China continues to break records and Chinese markets attract U.S. investors worried about volatile stocks. South Korea's economy continues to be strong, as is Taiwan's. Though there are openings... Read more

First came asset write-downs. Then came bailouts. Now, the U.S. government is taking a large, voting equity stake in Citigroup. The chain of events pulling significant pillars of the financial industry from shareholder to government control is coming to look increasingly inexorable. But what does nationalizing a bank do to the careers and compensation outlooks of professionals who work there? Constrained upside will drive producers and senior executives to seek... Read more

Nomura Holdings reportedly aims to add 300 more employees in the U.S. by March, on top of the 300 additional staffers it has hired thus far in 2009. That would boost U.S. headcount at Japan's largest investment bank to 1,200, or double where it stood at the start of this year. "We want to make sure that we have got sufficient business and people (in the U.S.) so that we... Read more

Independent headhunters and investment bank HR staffers say they can't find good candidates fast enough. So, you'd think recruiters would be pointedly charming in their efforts to woo financial professionals. An episode from across the pond suggests this isn't always the case. An e-mail exchange between a Tim Seymour of UK recruiter Seymour Chase and James Kennedy of the recruitment firm Robert Half reveals the less attractive side of the recruitment... Read more

A job-seeker's dilemma: You know the name of an opening's hiring manager, but have had no prior contact with him. Should you pick up the phone and simply hope the decision-maker takes your call? While opinions differ, the weight of evidence favors those who answer in the negative. A friend reports cold-calling hiring managers after answering job postings he says matched up 95 percent with his background and experience. Most of... Read more

If you get into a lot of arguments with your boss and don't enjoy your job, the problem may be that you're a self-serving narcissist rather than someone with a bad work situation. Sound harsh? Read on. New research shows that employees who think they're entitled to preferential treatment are more prone to get into workplace conflicts and less likely to enjoy their job. Also, the numbers of the entitlement-minded... Read more