Hello world! I am in a predicament which I’m hoping that some of you knowledgeable AFers may be able to guide me through. I have recently come to London in order to get a better feel for the city and to create some job opportunities. After about a week’s time I am not seeing any real prospects and wondering to what extent and how I may be able to refine and refocus my efforts. I know it takes time, but I am certain that the appropriate advice could greatly improve my efforts. About me: - Level II Candidate (passed Level 1 June ’09) - Worked 1-year as an Assistant Analyst in an Asset Management firm in Paris. Worked directly under 2 fund managers and focused mainly on mid-large European Equities. - Undergraduate degree from good California University (’07); BA in Economics, BA in Communications. - Entrepreneurial streak and very personable I’ve currently been looking into junior analyst / investment management / research analyst / equity broker and other similar type roles. Can anyone suggest other positions or potential opportunities that I might be looking over and should be looking into as well? Also, what would be the best way for someone in my position to make a break into the market here? I feel as though all I need is a foot in the door and then my potential will be recognized. Is it naïve of me to think that or may this be the best way for me to move things forward? Any advice is greatly appreciated. Thanks a lot!
I have no idea, I’m in another country. But. There seems to be some networking event tomorrow, Wednesday… http://www.ecademy.com/module.php?mod=meeting&mid=32018 And some other event the day after… http://www.ecademy.com/module.php?mod=meeting&mid=30683 This neworking calendar is full of these kind of events. Maybe you could check it out?
CFAbstinent Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Hello world! > > I am in a predicament which I’m hoping that some > of you knowledgeable AFers may be able to guide me > through. > > I have recently come to London in order to get a > better feel for the city and to create some job > opportunities. After about a week’s time I am not > seeing any real prospects and wondering to what > extent and how I may be able to refine and refocus > my efforts. I know it takes time, but I am certain > that the appropriate advice could greatly improve > my efforts. > > About me: > > - Level II Candidate (passed Level 1 June ’09) > - Worked 1-year as an Assistant Analyst in an > Asset Management firm in Paris. Worked directly > under 2 fund managers and focused mainly on > mid-large European Equities. > - Undergraduate degree from good California > University (’07); BA in Economics, BA in > Communications. > - Entrepreneurial streak and very personable > > I’ve currently been looking into junior analyst / > investment management / research analyst / equity > broker and other similar type roles. Can anyone > suggest other positions or potential opportunities > that I might be looking over and should be looking > into as well? > > Also, what would be the best way for someone in my > position to make a break into the market here? I > feel as though all I need is a foot in the door > and then my potential will be recognized. Is it > naïve of me to think that or may this be the best > way for me to move things forward? > > Any advice is greatly appreciated. Thanks a lot! Most financial institutions recruit through their graduate programmes whose deadline passed a few months ago. If you don’t mind temping for a while, it may be a good way to start…then maybe apply to graduate programmes or other positions as the open. Just my 2 cents ^^
Have you tried the recruitment consultants? Michael Page etc etc?
CFAbstinent Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Hello world! > > I am in a predicament which I’m hoping that some > of you knowledgeable AFers may be able to guide me > through. > > I have recently come to London in order to get a > better feel for the city and to create some job > opportunities. After about a week’s time I am not > seeing any real prospects and wondering to what > extent and how I may be able to refine and refocus > my efforts. I know it takes time, but I am certain > that the appropriate advice could greatly improve > my efforts. > > About me: > > - Level II Candidate (passed Level 1 June ’09) > - Worked 1-year as an Assistant Analyst in an > Asset Management firm in Paris. Worked directly > under 2 fund managers and focused mainly on > mid-large European Equities. > - Undergraduate degree from good California > University (’07); BA in Economics, BA in > Communications. > - Entrepreneurial streak and very personable > > I’ve currently been looking into junior analyst / > investment management / research analyst / equity > broker and other similar type roles. Can anyone > suggest other positions or potential opportunities > that I might be looking over and should be looking > into as well? > > Also, what would be the best way for someone in my > position to make a break into the market here? I > feel as though all I need is a foot in the door > and then my potential will be recognized. Is it > naïve of me to think that or may this be the best > way for me to move things forward? > > Any advice is greatly appreciated. Thanks a lot! are your a US citizen? if i may ask, how did you make the move to london without a job (i.e visa sponsor through employer)? current highly skilled points system makes it almost impossible for someone to go over unless you have a Masters degree… or a UK-born grandparent. Unless you are on a working holiday visa…which makes it impossible to find ‘serious’ work anyway… and yes like a previous poster has said - try headhunters, they are everywhere.
As the previous poster mentioned, could be really tough if you are a U.S. citizen…it was for me at least. London is very recruiter-oriented for financial services, so I would suggest getting in front of as many recruiters as you can. In London it’s tough. It’s a lot about who you know if you are trying to break in. Just depends on how hungry you are. I’ll tell you what I did when I was in London - I literally walked down Curzon Street (hedge fund alley) and some other streets and wrote down the name of the funds listed on the front of every building. Then I cold-emailed all of them…and guess what, I got two interviews out of it.
dedalus Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > London is very recruiter-oriented for financial > services, so I would suggest getting in front of > as many recruiters as you can. Agreed, the best I have seen for CFA candidates appears to be Robert Walters but I have been wrong before so meet with as many as you can!
Well, I can definitely tell you that I am hungry, I’ve got somewhat of an insatiable appetite. Luckily enough, being a US Citizen doesn’t hurt me much because I have a dual citizenship with the EU. Very good points about going the recruiter/headhunter route. I haven’t been putting much focus on the recruiters but will shift some more resources in that direction. KarenC mentioned Robert Walters for CFA Candidates and I’ll be sure to contact them, are there any others to add to that list? I have a few friends at some of the banks here that have put my CV through to HR for me, but I’m still waiting on those developments. And as for the Graduate Programs, I’ve begun looking into those, but it may be too late at this point as I am looking for something a bit more immediate. Also, I’m looking to jump straight into a Junior Analyst role if possible at this point. @MehdiOchre – Thanks for the info on those networking sessions, they’re a bit too focused but I may be able to find a suitable one in the future. @phils23 – You mentioned temping, but what could be considered “decent” temping work while waiting for a proper role that could add to my CV? @dedalus – Going for a stroll down Curzon (and City) tomorrow morning to get inspired and maybe create some opportunities there. Any advice on sending cold apps? Thanks all for your responses!!
CFAbstinent, I did the exact same thing as you a year and a half ago. The job market is very bad here at the moment, I think it is worse than you imagine if you expect to land a job quickly. If you have a few months to burn, I’m sure you can find something. More realistically, you should probably take a lesser job and then transfer to something better when the opportunity arises. No interviewer more than 2 braincells will think it looks bad if you take the first job you could find, especially knowing that you took a big risk moving here and did so to advance your career. Your number one source for jobs should be checking company websites, as many of the companies only post on their own sites. You can try job search sites but good finance jobs are not frequently posted. Check reed.co.uk, or even better try http://jobs.trovit.com it manages to find more than other sites. Also check Doostang (i’ve never used it but I hear it is good), and efinancialcareers. I hope this helps