Inducing recruiters to pay attention to you is a lot like borrowing money. If you don't ask until you desperately need it, then you're sure to be rejected. So if your current job isn't on the chopping block yet but might get axed next year, now is the time to reach out to people who can open a door to new opportunities. A recent Forbes article offers several tips for attaining... Read more
By Jon Jacobs 19 Sep 2008 - 2 comments
Barclays Capital promised to pay the full accrued bonus amounts and maintain current terms of employment – including severance in case of dismissal – for some 10,000 U.S. employees of Lehman Brothers, if Barclays' proposed purchase of Lehman's U.S. investment bank takes place. Citing documents filed with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New York, Financial News reports that Barclays agreed to pay 100 percent of the accrued bonus pool for transferred... Read more
By Jon Jacobs 19 Sep 2008 - 1 comment
After working on my marketing mix for the last few weeks, it is now time to go out and try to close a sale. How do I close a sale in my job search? A very important rule I learned working with sales professionals is to always remember to ask for the business during a sales meeting. Applying this rule to my job search, it means I must ask a... Read more
By James Weldon 18 Sep 2008 - 0 comments
Another platoon of the newly jobless is set to flood Wall Street in the wake of Lehman's Chaper 11 filing and Merrill's acquisition by Bank of America. Monday's bankruptcy filing by Lehman Brothers Holdings and the surprise deal for Bank of America to acquire Merrill Lynch will each trigger mass layoffs, Wall Street headhunters say. Although it's too soon to estimate how many jobs will be lost in the restructuring of... Read more
By eFinancialCareers News 17 Sep 2008 - 0 comments
Some 10,000 Lehman Brothers employees in investment banking and capital markets businesses got a reprieve when Barclays agreed to buy the insolvent parent company's core assets within North America. UK-based Barclays said Wednesday it agreed to acquire Lehman's North American investment banking and fixed income and equities sales, trading and research operations, along with Lehman's New York headquarters building and two New Jersey data centers. According to Lehman, the definitive agreement... Read more
By Jon Jacobs 17 Sep 2008 - 2 comments
If you're a financial services professional hoping to land a job in a bulge-bracket institution, your prospects just nosedived. And if you've been aiming for a slot in a hedge fund or in one of the many boutique banks that are still hiring, get ready for a flood of new competition. Monday's bankruptcy filing by Lehman Brothers Holdings and the surprise deal for Bank of America to acquire Merrill Lynch will... Read more
By Jon Jacobs 15 Sep 2008 - 7 comments
All the interviews that I had recently seemed to be implicitly composed of two components – a "skills and experience" component and a "soft skills" component. A misstep in either area can cost you the job. According to author Vicky Oliver, the goal of these behavioral interviews is to give the interviewer the opportunity to assess your problem-solving skills, people skills and closure skills. Skills and Experience Component If you have done... Read more
By Rob Gordon 14 Sep 2008 - 1 comment
The fate of the mortgage securities business rests on more than the path taken by home prices and credit spreads. It also rests to a great extent on decisions that will be made in Washington by a post-Bush administration and the Congress. The federal takeover of mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac closed the door on one long-running national policy debate, only to open the door on another that's likely... Read more
By Jon Jacobs 12 Sep 2008 - 0 comments
Even in today’s shrinking economy, some career coaches say liberal arts degrees can still pave the way to a successful career in financial services. Former Merrill Lynch campus recruiting head Connie Thanasoulis told the New York Daily News that the skills obtained in English literature and other arts degrees can be an ideal training ground for finance and management. She points to a job like a research analyst, heavy on writing,... Read more
By Scott Krady 11 Sep 2008 - 0 comments
Lehman Brothers ousted its international banking and global fixed-income division chiefs, and announced a $3.9 billion quarterly loss and another mass layoff. Merrill Lynch, RBS Greenwich Capital and Wachovia joined the lengthening list of institutions hiring recent Bear Stearns alumni for senior roles. JPMorgan ceased dealing in municipal interest-rate swaps. Lehman Brothers replaced the heads of its international and fixed-income businesses, as the firm struggles to raise capital and announced... Read more
By eFinancialCareers News 10 Sep 2008 - 0 comments
As the marketing manager of my own job search, the more I go out networking and promoting myself, the more I realize that my profile positioning is at the core of everything that I do. How do I improve my product positioning - one of the four "P's" in my marketing mix? How do I improve the way I am perceived by prospective employers and by people I network with? What... Read more
By James Weldon 10 Sep 2008 - 3 comments
As a candidate in a competitive job market, it is critical to distinguish your brand from that of your competition. I’ve known many managers and executives who cringe at the word, “marketing.” You have to get past this, and be a strong, passionate advocate for your personal brand and how it is positioned in the market. For each person you meet with, it is critical to understand what their needs... Read more
By Rob Gordon 08 Sep 2008 - 0 comments
Lehman Brothers replaced the heads of its international and fixed-income businesses, as the firm struggles to raise capital and is expected to announce next week a quarterly loss and its fourth mass layoff of 2008. The latest appointments "are likely to trigger further management changes," according to the Financial Times. Lehman named Riccardo Banchetti and Christian Meissner as co-chief executives of Europe and the Middle East. They replace Jeremy M. Isaacs, who... Read more
By Jon Jacobs 08 Sep 2008 - 1 comment
An eFC user recently asked, "Can someone tell when the market will shift?" Unfortunately, our best answer at this point is, "Don't hold your breath." Banks will begin reporting third-quarter results next week, and there is wide consensus they won't be pretty. Continued profit deterioration augurs further downscaling of 2008 bonus expectations. Worse, important indicators of banks' future profits are weakening at the same time - pushing prospects of a recovery... Read more
By Jon Jacobs 05 Sep 2008 - 0 comments
In the last couple of weeks, I've challenged myself to create more structure around my search process by developing tools to increase the odds of a positive response from prospective employers or anyone I'm networking with. It's been helpful to think about myself as if I was a marketing manager responsible for a consumer good. My tool kit resembles the "marketing mix" - or the four Ps of marketing: my... Read more
By James Weldon 03 Sep 2008 - 2 comments
Boston draws job seekers from outside the region, even in times of economic uncertainty. Many of the people who want to move to the region already have ties to it and seek to return to where they went to college or grew up. On top of that, the perception is New England financial firms are weathering the current turmoil better than their counterparts on Wall Street. Further adding to the area's appeal... Read more
By Jonathan Berr 03 Sep 2008 - 0 comments
After speaking with a number of people about job search techniques, my observation is there doesn't seem to be a clear understanding of how to work with recruiters. Some traps seem easy to fall into: I have read a number of 'how to work with recruiters' articles and yet still made mistakes during this current job search. Retained Recruiters I have little first-hand knowledge in this area as I have only talked... Read more
By Rob Gordon 01 Sep 2008 - 3 comments
Recently, two sports stories caught my eye by showcasing opposite poles of an issue many financial services professionals grapple with every day: the perceived relationship between job performance and age. One story involves allegations that some of China's star female gymnasts overstated their ages to skirt a long-standing Olympic ban on athletes younger than 16. Toronto Globe and Mail reporter Rebecca Dube made that the jumping-off point for an article about... Read more
By Jon Jacobs 29 Aug 2008 - 7 comments
Is your resume grammatically correct? For many job seekers, writing a flawless resume is difficult enough, yet nothing is more important. If it contains grammatical errors, reviewers may surmise you're uneducated, lack good communication skills or attention to detail. Creating a grammatically correct resume requires knowledge of basic grammar, proofreading skills and familiarity with the nuances of resume composition. Not everything you learned in English 101 applies to resumes. "The... Read more
By Leslie Stevens-Huffman 28 Aug 2008 - 3 comments
Review panel concludes that Canadian central bank's low salaries hurt research quality. Prospective buyers of Lehman funds division fret about cost to retain staff. UBS reorganization may shift bonus money from investment bankers toward wealth managers. *** Canada's central bank would have to boost starting pay for economists by 16 - 22 percent to realize its stated objective of fielding a "second-to-none" research department, according to a report by a panel of... Read more
By eFinancialCareers News 27 Aug 2008 - 0 comments