I know the job market is bad right now, especially in the financial services sector. But there are a bunch of qualified candidates on this forum. So can you post here if you’ve received a job offer in the last couple of months? I just want to see if it’s even feasible to find a new job right now. Please share which method you used to find this new job (i.e. Internet sites like Career Builder, head hunters, referrals, etc.). Thanks!
Yes. I tried a lot of things. Results will vary but here is what worked for me: Head hunters: Useless – I went through about 6 in different cities and none were able to produce even one viable lead. Free job websites: Useless – Never heard back from any of the opportunities I applied to. I think they must get gang banged by applicants. Referrals / networking: Moderately useful – I got a few interviews from this. My network is not that big, so if you have a great network, this could be your best bet. CFAI joblines: Very useful – I got about half a dozen offers through these sites. It wasn’t easy, but it seemed to work better than anything else, especially after I passed L3. I think the market is pretty bad right now, especially at the largest shops. Smaller shops are still hiring though, especially on the buyside. Sell-side seems to be pretty frozen up at the moment from what I have been able to see. Personally, I think it will be significantly better in ~12 months or so.
If you want a job in this economy, head over to Asia or the Middle East. No money here. The US is entering third world status.
I am on the final round for a corporate credit analyst role in a big IB…let hope!
pimp, how much do you know about hong kong? is it possible for a white guy who doesn’t speak chinese and doesn’t have an MBA to get a job there? i would like to work on the buyside here in the states (bay area) for 4-5 years and then move to hong kong with my finacee, who is chinese. thanks.
Thanks for your input, guys. Strangedays, can I ask how you attained your interview with an IB? Did you apply online, a referral or another method?
i have had a job offer in investment strategy. turned it down. i got a call from out of the blue from someone in DC. they were referred to me by an acquaintence. the job is in DC and its got a heavy doze of keeping track of legilslature. interesting but not for me at this time. i am talking to some other folks. my job is very different from the regualr AF’er. i must say though that the more i look around myself the more i realize how lucky i am to have a decent job that doesnt make me work more than 40-45 hours weeks.
I found a posting on our local CFA society page about a month back…and I start monday. There are some out there, not tons, but no reason to not keep looking and trying.
I don’t mean to sound like a dick, but the chances of anyone getting an I-banking job are almost non-existent. Lehman is about to fail, there are no deals being done, debt capital markets and trading aren’t bringing in the same revenue and even losing money…the industry is going to be a lot smaller going forward. Best thing you can do is network with people and improve your skills because it looks like 20,000 people with more experience and skills will soon be asking the same questions you are.
Bromion Is there a way to get a list of the smaller buy-side shops that you were talking about?
Who wants to work in Ibanking anyway? We’re taking the CFA to manage portfolios 
I think this thread is going sideways, so let me clarify. I just want to know if anyone is getting hired in this market. And if so, please let me know what methods you used to obtain the interviews. I just want to hear your job search experiences as a whole in this economy, not strictly in I-Banking. What seems to work and what doesn’t work? Thanks!
aval Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Bromion > Is there a way to get a list of the smaller > buy-side shops that you were talking about? Probably, but I don’t have one. To be clear, what I was trying to say is that most of the postings I see are for smaller firms. I did see some postings for BBs, but a lot of BBs are in hiring freezes at the moment. My friend just got frozen out at Goldman after 3 interviews. I got frozen at Citi a while back. Lehman probably isn’t doing a lot of hiring (thank god I turned down an offer from them about 3 months ago) 
I did get offers from Wells and BoA, but turned those down (not sure if those count as BBs). I have found that smaller firms, especially those on the buyside, don’t have that problem and are still hiring. Actually, I am not sure a list would even be helpful to you. Sending cold resumes or cold calling looking for jobs didn’t do jack for me. I must have contacted 20-25 firms and had zero positive responses. For someone else, maybe it would work. But I would try to hone in on quality job postings on the CFAI website (it’s like $40 to get a 3 month subscription) and there are thousands of jobs.
Bromion, thanks.
Go back to basics: tighten up the resume and cover letter for the position you are applying for, network, send thank you notes/emails, be enthusiastic about the job, etc. I think there is hiring, it is just selective. I had 4 interviews with 11 total people, a couple lunches, and countless emails before my offer rolled thru…
I would add too that firms seem to be even more selective than normal, as tvPM indicated. I interviewed EIGHT times with the hedge fund I am going to before I finally got the offer. Yep, eight interviews. It took more than 20 hours. On the plus side, I know exactly what I am getting into.
My company is always hiring-particularly in an environment like this (value shop)…20 bil buyside shop. Try looking outside the major financial centers and look for buyside shops elsewhere. Denver, Portland, Rochester, Houston, etc etc.
jbisback Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > My company is always hiring-particularly in an > environment like this (value shop)…20 bil > buyside shop. Try looking outside the major > financial centers and look for buyside shops > elsewhere. Denver, Portland, Rochester, Houston, > etc etc. Do you work for Fisher? Portland is a nice city to live in. I agree that it is easier outside of NYC right now. That is often not the case, but so many people in NYC have been laid off that it is hyper-competitive.
bromion Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Yes. I tried a lot of things. Results will vary > but here is what worked for me: > > Head hunters: Useless – I went through about 6 in > different cities and none were able to produce > even one viable lead. > > Free job websites: Useless – Never heard back > from any of the opportunities I applied to. I > think they must get gang banged by applicants. > > Referrals / networking: Moderately useful – I got > a few interviews from this. My network is not that > big, so if you have a great network, this could be > your best bet. > > CFAI joblines: Very useful – I got about half a > dozen offers through these sites. It wasn’t easy, > but it seemed to work better than anything else, > especially after I passed L3. > > I think the market is pretty bad right now, > especially at the largest shops. Smaller shops are > still hiring though, especially on the buyside. > Sell-side seems to be pretty frozen up at the > moment from what I have been able to see. > Personally, I think it will be significantly > better in ~12 months or so. bromion, does it cover jobs in other regions (London, Hong Kong)? Thanks
theKing Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > bromion, does it cover jobs in other regions > (London, Hong Kong)? > > Thanks Yes, it is world wide and you can filter based on your geographic preferences. I don’t know much about getting hired in those areas though. I did briefly look at HK but most of the listings seemed to want Mandarin. efinancialcareers.com is pretty decent too, although a lot of the listings are through head hunters. On CFAI, there were some head hunter listings, but a lot of them went straight to the company, which I prefer (seems to work much better).