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

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

A study by The Wall Street Journal indicates the days of an Ivy league degree being the key to success everywhere may be over. But not on Wall Street. Ivy Leaguers remain perched atop the pecking order. Jobs in investment banking, for example, are still dominated by those from elite academic institutions. A Harvard MBA or a degree from Wharton remain the best way to gain entry into firms like Goldman... Read more

You are nearing the end of an interview with a potential employer. It has gone well, in the sense that there were no questions that made you sweat or stutter. At this point, you are suppose to ask the interviewer some questions which bedazzle her with such insightfulness that she will not let you out of the meeting without your signature on an employment offer. But let's for argument's sake assume... Read more

Finding a great job in the financial markets can be challenging in the best of times, but when Wall Street firms announce the kind of headcount reductions we’ve been seeing lately the search becomes down right daunting. And according to a survey eFinancialCareers conducted this month with financial professionals, recruiters may not really help job seekers all that much either. The survey found that while nearly four out of five (78%)... Read more

GMAC Financial Services plans to add more than 200 jobs in Charlotte, N.C. The new slots are expected to include finance, risk management, accounting and corporate administration, at salaries averaging $96,600 a year. Under terms of a state incentive deal, GMAC promised to hire at least 130 people this year and add at least 200 by the end of 2010, the Associated Press reports. It's not clear how many of those... Read more

The expected cost of new regulations being implemented from financial reform was cited at the SIFMA Dodd-Frank impact Analysis conference as one reason banks are reluctant create new jobs. "There's a capital strike going on in corporate America," said Larry Kudlow, economist and host of the CNBC program, "The Kudlow Report." Speaking at the conference, Kudlow went on to say banks are "afraid to take the risk of hiring until... Read more

It's called the "100,000 Jobs Mission," and the goal is to hire 100,000 veterans by 2020, according to JPMorgan Chase, which has partnered with 10 other companies to provide jobs for members of the military who are leaving service. Nate Herman, Executive Director of Military and Veterans Affairs at JPMorgan Chase, says the mission is well underway and that approximately 10 veterans have been hired every day since March. “We... Read more

A long-running U.S. hiring binge by Australia’s Macquarie Group has intensified this month with the addition of senior bankers from Bank of America, Credit Suisse and Barclays Capital. The U.S. contributed just 8 percent of Macquarie’s operating income for the year ended March 31. But that figure is poised to climb due to recent acquisitions and opportunistic hiring in business segments from which the biggest global banks have retreated. "At the... Read more

"Since Obama was elected, we don't have a diversity issue anymore," one HR consultant I know said recently. She was being sarcastic. And, indeed, a number of black professionals continue to face high hurdles as they search for work, even when they have experience with top firms and degrees from top schools. Between January and October 2009 the disparity in joblessness between whites and blacks with college degrees was more severe... Read more

The ranks of Charter Financial Analysts in Canada are growing. More than 9,990 are registered to take the CFA exam in June, up 68 percent from 5,914 in 2006. Bob Johnson, deputy chief executive of the non-profit CFA Institute, says that's a sign of growing interest in the certification by employers, and the greater availability of training at colleges. Moreover, Johnson says, the number of candidates taking the exam for the... Read more

Wall Street analyst Meredith Whitney has made a name for herself with her dire predictions for years. But last month she got the Street's attention when she said that securities firms would shed 80,000 jobs over the next year-and-a-half. Now that Bank of America has announced a slew of cuts in its investment bank, many are wondering whether lower revenues will lead others to follow suit. And, whether Whitney will be... Read more

The idea of taking a pay cut is anathema for all working professionals—especially for finance execs used to handsome compensation packages. But many are finding their paychecks and pocketbooks to be much leaner this year. For those impacted by a slash in pay, unlike before, most are choosing to stay put, says Ken Murray, president of Mercury Partners, an executive search practice for front office finance professionals. He says it’s... Read more

Islamic finance is expanding its reach across sectors ranging from global bond issuance to hedge funds - and even retail banks and home buyers in the U.S. That portends increased job opportunities for individuals able to work with Sharia-compliant finance concepts that bear exotic names such as Sukuk, arboon and ijara. "With the Middle Eastern economy booming, partly thanks to soaring oil wealth, the Islamic financial industry has been expanding at a... Read more

If there is ever a poignant piece of advice that university lecturers and textbooks failed to warn me about upon graduating and entering the workforce, it is the fundamentals of office politics. Not long after finding my feet in my new professional environment, I learned pretty quickly that sometimes it’s the brownnosing and “who you know, not what you know” ticket that guarantees movement up the corporate ladder. I have... Read more

Crain's New York Business argues Wall Street job losses have been exaggerated. Citing recent data from the New York Department of Labor, the newspaper says only 19,000 financial services jobs have disappeared from the Big Apple since August 2008. Sure, three of the five largest investment banks are gone, and Citigroup and AIG are now wards of the state. And yes, there has been severe contraction, including painful job cuts, especially... Read more

You may be tired of hearing that it’s a buyer’s market when it comes to jobs in the financial markets. And these days it’s not only the employers who aren’t responding to job applicants. Recruiters haven’t been on their best behavior either. In fact, candidates are complaining that when it comes to common courtesies, such as returning phone calls and following up with interviewees with advice on why they didn’t... Read more

The current crisis may prove a blessing in disguise for some Bear Stearns employees - even those who worked at its failed hedge funds. The credit-market turmoil engulfing Bear Stearns will continue taking a toll on financial markets, but won't harm many careers, recruiters say. Stung by the collapse of two credit hedge funds it ran, Bear replaced its asset management chief in June and last weekend ousted co-president Warren Spector. But... Read more