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

After months on the unemployment rolls, job seekers have been dumbing down their resumes in order to snare lower-level positions. This often results in tense job interviews as wary employers try to snuff out overqualified candidates. They don't want someone taking a junior position, then bolting for greener pastures when the economy improves. Now comes a study from the University of Houston that suggests overqualified employees are actually less productive... 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

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

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

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

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

On average, financial services candidates currently need to interview for 2.5 roles before receiving an offer. At least that's the assertion of recruiter Marks Sattin, whose research suggests that five interviews generally elicit two or three job offers. "Obviously, this has to be put into context; if you're not at all suitable for the role, candidates could apply for hundreds of positions and their success rate will be limited," says Tim Hedger,... Read more

Douglas Bisio, president Greenwich Fund Services, a hedge fund administration firm based in Greenwich, Conn., says those born between 1979 and 1995 are plagued with qualities that are tough to stomach. Click to Watch Bisio, who graduated from college in 1995, sees an immense disconnect between his contemporaries and younger colleagues. "Today people don't have the patience to learn what it takes to really be successful in a job," he said to eFC... 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

Things are looking up if you don’t have a degree, but aspire to joining the army of sharp-suited professionals working London’s Square Mile. Recruiters say investment banks are increasingly opening their doors to non-graduates. Naturally, you can’t leave school or college and become a top corporate financier or derivatives structurer, but you can work in the back office. Mike Hartwell, managing director of operations-focused search firm Hartwell Buck says, “The recruitment... 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