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 computer science degree may give you all the technical skills required for a technology career. But when it comes to succeeding in financial IT, you need to be more than just a savvy programmer. "Being a technical provider is just one little part of working in financial services IT," says Natalie Kaminski, CEO of FinCode Solutions, which develops software for financial firms. "In order to provide a quality product... Read more

Many financial companies are struggling to recruit talent to their IT departments as some prospective hires cast a jaundiced eye toward an industry that's been roundly demonized in the past year. Despite the slow job market, financial CIOs tell Bank Systems and Technology that new graduates as well as veterans often pause before considering a move into finance. "With all that went on in the investment banking area and the press... Read more

Are fundamental equity analysts doomed to be replaced by machines? That's the implication of a recent Reuters story by Dane Hamilton. The sources quoted are mainly quantitative investment experts from the hedge fund community, but also include Brad Hintz, an influential financial services analyst at AllianceBernstein who was once Lehman Brothers' CFO. "At an increasing number of Wall Street investment banks, hedge funds and elsewhere, computers are churning out investment analyses culled... Read more

Does the 40-hour work week law cover Wall Street back-office staff who process trades and resolve discrepancies? And legal niceties aside, could paying workers for overtime ever be put into practice in the frenetic and hyper-competitive securities business? Those questions arise from a lawsuit filed this week against Merrill Lynch and its new corporate parent, Bank of America. Plaintiffs Andrea Levine and Ivey Moore are derivatives settlement specialists who joined Merrill... 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

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

Fidelity's agency broker unit, Fidelity Capital Markets, is adding 100 New York slots for traders and support staff for a new trading floor slated for completion in this year's second quarter. The firm is hiring in equities, fixed income, sales, sales trading and prime brokerage and other areas, Fidelity Capital Markets Services President Mark Haggerty told Advanced Trading, an industry Web site. Key decision-makers over the new team are Mathew McConnell, who... 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

Though the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported a 1.2 percent rise in U.S. securities industry employment during the second quarterbig banks simply aren't the best place to look for new spots right now. The reason: They're continuing to retool post-meltdown, says John Mazzei, managing director and head of the financial institutions group for Rand Thompson Consultants. “The large global banks aren’t hiring just yet, as they’re coming to the end of... Read more

Authorities' move to overhaul how derivatives are traded has convinced firms that run futures and options exchanges the future belongs to them, and they're gearing up to hire accordingly. With NYSE Euronext, CME Group and Intercontinental Exchange all neck-and-neck for market share, expect a steady stream of hiring and possibly bidding wars for top talent. “We’ve already been where financial reform is going - on transactions, on clearing, on bringing OTCs into... Read more

Financial services employers are increasingly viewing temporary contract hires as a bridge toward permanent work. Here's how to arrive on dry land by the time your assignment ends. Hiring in financial services is swinging upward in tandem with activity in other sectors of the economy. Yet many employers are hedging bets by choosing to re-staff with contractors rather than restore permanent slots they'd eliminated during the downturn. In financial technology, for... 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

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

Is it worth an IT staffer's time and effort to obtain a Series 7 license from Finra? The answer: Maybe. By doing so, "you're basically looking to move to the equity or investment research side of the house," says Richard Lipstein, managing director of Boyden Global Executive Search. For a back-office person striving to make the leap to a front-office role, he says earning the Series 7 confers more credibility. "The upside... Read more