Every interview I've had began with an initial phone screen, where the HR person/internal recruiter wanted to assess basic skills for the job and asked a few internal assessment questions. The skills questions should be a slam-dunk, as they're almost always just an extension of the job requirements. The internal assessment questions, however, can be potentially dangerous. You need take care not to be screened out of the next round... Read more

Just when it seemed the hiring and compensation outlook was about as ugly as could be, things suddenly got much worse. Barclays picking up most of Lehman Brothers' U.S. operation may avert the kind of wholesale layoffs that followed the distress sale of Bear Stearns a few months back. Still, the events of the past week put an exclamation point on the vulnerability of the global finance industry's leading corporate pillars.... Read more

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

I'm a portfolio manager recently let go by the hedge fund group at a bulge bracket investment bank in New York. Like many of my peers, I grew into the role through an apprentice process that included a lot of hard work and the luck of being in the right place at the right time. Indeed, at many points my physical location may have been the most important factor: It... Read more

Just to give some context to this column, I spent the last six years working at a major conglomerate before my job was eliminated in June. For the first four to five years, the company was insanely profitable (better margins than Goldman), but in 2007 the competitive landscape shifted. After six quarters of lagging revenues and budget cuts, the layoffs started. I've had a few people ask if I saw the... Read more

In my previous post, I explained why it's important to create a "Personal Career Vision" before you leap into a job search. Once you've done that, it's time to stop the daily mad rush, reflect on where you've been and where you are now, and assess where it is you want to end up. Step 1: Reflect In our lives, we face certain turning points, where we feel compelled to evaluate our... Read more

Follow the money. That old chestnut is taking a new geographic twist, as financial professionals spanning a wide spectrum of business segments and experience levels pack up and move across the globe to follow the trail of wealth creation. Job creation is proceeding apace in Asia, India, the Middle East and Russia, even while Wall Street hollows out. Up-and-coming financial centers are drawing in what a trader might call the "wings"... Read more

Welcome to the era of opportunistic hiring. Morgan Stanley's dramatic recruiting announcement Thursday thrusts to center stage a practice that - while mentioned from time to time by headhunters since Wall Street's job market began to weaken a year ago - has been all but overshadowed by announcements of a less cheery sort. Even amid wave after wave of asset write-downs and job cuts, some of the hardest-hit institutions have been selectively... Read more

Is Wall Street little better than a conspiracy of thieves, run by and for its employees? That seems to be the guiding thread behind much invective being unleashed in print against certain aspects of the housing legislation soon to become law. "Borrowers who are in trouble on their mortgages have seen their government move slowly - or not all - to help them," wrote Gretchen Morgenson in last Sunday's New York... Read more

If you think you'll be happier in your career simply by switching companies, think again. To be successful and love your work, you'll need more than a job. Before you focus on resume writing, networking, and job hunting, you'll need what I call a "personal career vision" - a tangible blueprint of the direction you want your life to take. What's the value of this? Simple: It helps you gain a... Read more

Last quarter, earnings season was punctuated by the demise of Bear Stearns. This quarter's marquee news revolves around public officials and regulators struggling to stave off another such collapse. Their desperate efforts have ramifications that should not be overlooked by job-seekers. Let's start with the policy initiative that's had the most immediately visible impact on markets: the SEC's crackdown on naked shorting. Beginning Monday, short sellers of stock in 19... Read more

The government's official employment data for the securities industry is belatedly catching up with the entrenched pattern of layoffs on Wall Street and elsewhere. But all evidence indicates the lion's share of headcount reduction remains to come. That somber message will surprise few professionals who lost their jobs to the credit crunch. And while financial institutions continue to hire within favored areas that include Middle East and sovereign wealth fund coverage,... Read more