This question was asked at an interview for a junior-level position at an investment bank. The background It was a third-round interview and the panel seemed to have exhausted their questions. But as the interview drew to a close, the head interviewer said: “As we have five minutes left, could you tell us something remarkable?” How the candidate responded My mind was blank, but before I could stop the words... Read more

Suffice to say, considering the relatively low pass rate, getting through the rigors of all three exams to become a CFA charterholder is not an easy task. But there are many ways you can shoot yourself in the foot. Aside from not putting in the study time – recommended at around 300 hours per level – there are surprisingly common mistakes or assumptions people taking the exam make, which often... 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

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

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

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

The good news: Booming Middle East markets are cushioning investment banks' head counts. The bad news: To keep your job, you might have to move there. For years, bank executives have focused expansion plans on emerging markets. Now, as record oil prices propel Mideast wealth while prospective deal business in Europe and the U.S. slows, the bright spot on management's globe is revealing a dark side for some Western bankers' career... 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

The MBA degree is retaining its value for changing careers or turbo-charging long-term advancement prospects, notwithstanding the recent hiring hiccup and continued uncertainty over job prospects for the class of 2010. Officials at a number of institutions report demand for summer associates is strong, in marked contrast to this time a year ago. "We're seeing more companies, more (interview) schedules, more offers," says Randy Allen, associate dean of the Johnson School,... 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

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

The interview is ticking along nicely, then wham: Your interviewer hits you with an unexpected and seemingly irrelevant problem-solving question. So what to do when the focus suddenly switches from your skills and experience to being asked how many ping-pong balls there are in China? First of all, don’t panic, says Melissa Kuwahara, practice leader for the financial services team at CDS. You aren’t expected to know the exact answer, the... 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

While investment banks hemorrhage jobs, hedge funds continue to hire. But crossing the aisle is no easy task. One William Street Capital Management, a new asset-backed securities hedge fund launched by ex-Lehman securitization chief David Sherr, is one of at least 10 fund startups that plan to raise more than $1 billion each this year, according to Bloomberg. To be sure, the job opportunities within these funds are dwarfed by the more... 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