After all this time, a decent well-known firm finally decides they want to hire me. Seemed like a great position, good fit with my background, great ways to grow, nice people, great boss. Something I could really see myself doing well and contributing positively from the get-go. Interviews went unbelievably smoothly. But then, oops, the company just implemented a hiring freeze. If the process had finished two weeks earlier, it would probably have gone through. I fear that they will just find someone internally and put them in the position so they don’t have to lay that person off from their current job. I understand the need for companies to take care of their own, but it seemed so so close this time. I’m very bummed. It’s a nice feeling to be wanted, and have that confirmed by the hiring manager, so it doesn’t hurt quite as much as previous rejections. But I am so tired of walking around with my hat in hand these days; one wonders if it will ever happen. This was something that seemed so well suited to me; I don’t know how long I’ll have to wait for another chance like that. Oh well. Back to the drawing board. Thanks for letting me vent.
On the bright side atleast you know that you did well …I would count this as a Victory and keep @ it . You have defintiely gotten a lot further than some of us here .
No. The fact that you almost had an offer shows that you did very very well in this market. I would definitely stay in touch with the firm as the situation can change again. Best of luck.
Anybody who has been through this before, how long this kind of hiring freeze will last?
Can’t comment on a “hiring freeze” but the major banks are all hanging on by the skin of their teeth right now and will be for all of 2008.
Good Job BChadwick. AssetMgrWannabe - good question? Somebody must know the correlation between bear markets & financial services employment. I used to service the advertising industry and there were always hiring/freeze cycles that everybody talked about.
Thanks for the support. It helps. And I also want to clarify that I’m just cursing fate; I thought the people at the company were great and I really can’t blame them for any of this. The manager said that there was a small chance that things might get turned around soon but that he wasn’t all that optimistic that it would happen, and that I certainly shouldn’t pass up other opportunities that might come up in the meantime. So I keep my fingers crossed, but have to be realistic.
Sorry to hear that Bruce… Keep your head up!
bchadwick…keep it up!!! I am in your situation too. Can’t even tell you how many times I got bumped by an “internal candidate” (fake or real).
bchadwick – hang in there…not much you can do right now, hiring situation is quite bleak…but i will say that if you think you’d rather have a lesser salary, maybe offer to work for less? not sure if this will work, but worth a try. by the way, where are you working now?
Still doing independent consulting; I need to broaden my client base, but I’ve been taking my “marketing time” and using it for applying to full-time jobs. I’ve been helping a market maker in housing futures develop materials to explain how they will be useful if they become more liquid. I’ve also been doing stuff on carbon trading and use of carbon in investment portfolios, which is a growing area (especially in the UK, though I’m US based now). It’s interesting, but it is also very very niche. I have some projects there that I need to get back onto. Seems that there is more interest in me as a strategist than an analyst, especially in the HNW area, which is fine with me. This is nice because as a strategist, I can still pursue some of my interests in global macro investing. If I were a stock picker, I think it would be harder to do strategy and stock picking, but strategy is usually a little more top-down, which mixes better with macro stuff.
(oops, double post…)
Sorry to hear about your plight.
bchadwick – As I’m sure you know, the reason there are internal hires is because it doesn’t create much additional expense for the company to relocate someone within the firm. However, hiring someone from the outside is an additional cost, because chances are if they were to hire you, they wouldn’t simultaneously sack someone else within the firm. I can sympathize with the challenging situation, and hopefully there will be a way to right the ship later on. However, I still think it’s worth asking them if there can be a period where they can pay you less, at least if you think you’d rather be employed by them for less salary than to not be employed at all. I don’t think most banks are prepared to do this but you never know till you ask.
Well, we hadn’t got to the salary negotiation stage. They said they were going to make a decision at a particular point, and when I called to check in, they indicated that they wanted to go with me from their interview candidates and were trying to put an offer together. Shortly after, they said that there was a problem with the hiring chill. I did indicate that I’d be happy to discuss with them any and all options that might make it more feasible, including working on a consultant basis until a more long-term position appeared feasible, but I guess that didn’t do the trick. There’s also no certainty that they’ve gone or will go with an internal candidate. I just know that organizations that are in a freeze or downsizing mode have high incentives to fill new demand by shifting around staff that might otherwise find themselves on the chopping block. Also, at one point I was competing with an internal candidate, and evidently I passed that hurdle initially. If they don’t go with an internal candidate, I suppose there’s a good chance they’ll check back with me when skies look bluer, which would be nice. I could even handle the waiting, if that’s what they do, but the uncertainty definitely eats away at you. Of course, this industry is always full of uncertainty, so one had better get used to it. 
Again, the people I worked with were very good and up-front about things… I knew from the start that this might happen, but we all thought we had gotten in under the wire… alas, it turns out, no.
I got stiffed too. I understand that feeling. My wife got laid off recently too but she got an offer within a week. I am trying to say that there are still openings out there.
there is always the good old reliable craigslist job postings!!