Job Hoppers, an era where corporate America has created its own worst enemy.
Job hoppers; many have heard the term and especially those that their CV’s show a lot of movement. What is a “lot” of movement? Most employers and recruiters regard anyone who has stayed with a firm for less than 2-3 years as a “hopper”. What does this translate to in terms of my hiring potential? Well most hiring managers perceive this trend in a resume as a negative.
They tend to see that this person is either not able to hold a job, has been downsized an so indicative of the incumbents worth to their previous firm, or in the case where the incumbent has left the firm on the own recognizance as; disloyal, opportunist, risky, and not possessing the long term potential that most hiring authorities prefer.
Many job seekers are aware of the connotations that accompany a “lot” of movement in their resume and so attempt to hide these details in their résumé, such as instead of giving specific chronological dates of employment (i.e. 06/01/2005 – 01/25/2007) they give their dates in years (i.e. 2005 – 2007). When this is seen on a resume by a recruiter or hiring manager red flags go up! And even if the incumbent manages to get to the formal interview with the potential employer this information will be questioned and will be found out without question. True that there are a number of possibilities as to why your resume reflects a “lot” of movement and could likely be explained away given the chance. But the fact of the matter is that when looking at resumes when this type of movement is seen more often than not your CV is looked over.
To me as a recruiter the desire to hire professionals that have long term tenures with one or two companies is naive on the employer’s part and a problem that was created by the industry. Looking at the situation in its entirety we must consider several key factors as to why professionals leave their employer for another employer. Compensation is largely first in most people’s mind. If I’m worth more than I’m currently receiving and there is no foreseeable increases what option do I have left but to leverage my experience elsewhere. Every year if not quarter the standard of living increases, gas prices increase, healthcare coverage and expenses increase, goods and services etc etc. So in short so should our incomes right? Not exactly.
Compensation is a big factor but not the only one for certain. Many professionals are content with their pay but believe it or not want more responsibility and greater challenges as cliché as that may sound. If a professional is not challenge and finds themselves “bored” inherently their productivity goes down as stimulation decreases. Given the opportunity to do more does prompt a good number of people to seek a new home.
Here the third and namely the reason I find to be the greatest factor is the where employers don’t take into consideration their own industries hiring and firing trends. If Bank A merges with Bank B there is little chance that both companies’ staff will stay in tact. More often than not as units or businesses are bought and sold a healthy number of superlative employees are “let go”. Yes they receive a severance package and good references, but you are still technically “fired” and out of work. When you are “out of work” your leveraging ability is severely handicapped and most professionals do not want to see themselves taking a role for less money. This also creates a sense of desperation though in varying degrees, but never the less when you are out of work you typically-unless independently wealthy- need a JOB! And guess what professionals have gotten wise to the predicament of not having leveraging power while “unemployed”. They end up taking a role with a firm simply to have an income and then continue to look for work elsewhere.
Hiring managers need to take this into consideration when hiring and employee and instead of viewing the incumbent as risk, they must truly probe the candidate’s worth and not simply the years of employment with one company. This situation can be managed if not averted if done properly. The best asset many professionals have in this situation is to go through a recruiter as they act as your advocate to the client and explain away most of the discrepancies in a CV to employer, allowing the incumbent to interview in a manner that is equal to those that may have the tenures preferred.
In the next post I will discuss how to create a Resume/ CV that lowers the resistance factors and allows your skill set to be applied to alternate positions within a firm.
Coming posts:
How can I create the most effective resume/CV to reflect my background?
When is the best time to Leverage your career and myths about bonuses.
Leveraging my salary, how to get more bang from your recruiter.
Monday, July 9, 2007
Friday, July 6, 2007
Terrorist Exploit US postal system to threaten Wall Street
Terrorist Exploit US postal system to threaten Wall Street
Today the report emerged that a series of letters had been sent to 20 small to medium sized new papers all reading the same message threatening the integrity of security in Goldman Sachs. The message intended to obviously disrupt the sanctity of those working in this institution or possibly to upset confidence in the institution. Also this is invoking additional fear into employees atop current terror propaganda and attempts levels in the USA. This letter ensues the Glasgow airport incident where several suspects of Indian decent who were medical practitioners all
Today the report emerged that a series of letters had been sent to 20 small to medium sized new papers all reading the same message threatening the integrity of security in Goldman Sachs. The message intended to obviously disrupt the sanctity of those working in this institution or possibly to upset confidence in the institution. Also this is invoking additional fear into employees atop current terror propaganda and attempts levels in the USA. This letter ensues the Glasgow airport incident where several suspects of Indian decent who were medical practitioners all
conspired to detonate petrol bombs at the airport and succeeded in superficially damaging the exterior of the airport and mainly injuring the assailants after the first two bombs did not detonate. Regardless of potency of the event it permeates the public consciousness.
The letters read:
Goldman Sachs.
The letters read:
Goldman Sachs.
Hundreds Will Die.
We are Inside.
You CANNOT Stop Us.
Speculation from officials investigating the case conceded this is a real threat meriting investigation but eluded to that there are a variant of possibilities that could explain the intent of the letter such as a disgruntled employee or an investor who may consider themselves to be slighted by the firm.
Regardless of the credibility or reason for the letter will there be ramifications to follow such a letter such as investor confidence, hiring conditions, and overall productivity or the firm?
My personal opinion is absolutely NOT! If one is to examine the letter closely after removing the idle threat you begin to see how ludicrous this letter actual is. #1 Al Qaeda, Hamas, Fatah, and the dozens of other splinter factions operate in a central leadership configuration. Meaning they do not act out any event without clearance from a commanding officer or tribal elder. In addition to this fact none of the known terrorist organization is know to send threatening letters to news agencies or any other institution for that matter. And to further that point why in world would someone alert the authorities to their intended actions? And even if the threat was imminent then what is the point of boasting?
My vote is disgruntled employee, whats yoru take?
Thursday, July 5, 2007
How did you find me? How do recruiters find the candidate they are looking for and how do I get noticed?
How do recruiters find you in the first place if you are not posting your resume/CV online?
Well that’s like asking the magician to see what’s in his bag of tricks. But in all honesty it is most often a result of a diligent recruiter/researcher churning the web and “deep web” for any information pertaining to your professional function or noted accomplishments. Yes it is true that often recruiters have a lengthy database of previous contacts that they use as “leads” when they receive a new position to work on. They typically begin by sourcing those that are currently in the practice space or if they do not have direct contacts they will approach a Head or Manager of a department to elicit professionals that may be interested. Let’s say this approach does not produce the candidate they are seeking, what next?
Typically the recruiter is well versed in the industry they are recruiting from and thus know the ins-and-outs of that professional community. Utilizing this knowledge they can scan the web for likely prospects that fit the mold. One technique is to devise a list of “target” companies – these are typically firms/organizations that the client has suggested they would like to see candidates from- they then go to each company web site and being to peruse company newsletters, conference calls, bios, departmental memos, and SEC fillings, anything that can lead to the “right” candidate. After they have developed a list of names in a firm, they being to phone in through the main number and ask to speak with those individuals. After that it’s up to the tenacity and charisma of the recruiter to build a rapport with the professional and attempt to interest them in the retained opportunity.
Another approach is to reach out to institutions or societies that are related to the specific job function and get registered with their communities. An example would be the CFA Institute (Chartered Financial Analyst), GARP Global Association of Risk Professionals. Here you can find not only resources for the professional seeking employment but a community of registered professionals along with their specialty. Many of these sites listed below contain member databases that provide current employer and an email address to reach them.
CFA Institute - http://www.cfainstitute.org/
GARP- http://www.garp.com/
FENG- http://www.thefeng.org/home.html
FEI- http://www.fei.org/eweb/startpage.aspx?site=_fei
This list is not comprehensive but used as an example of professional association that can enhance your visibility and networking potential.
Ok so your not listed with any professional associate or institute but would like to be seen as a valuable asset to the field what do you do?
Some people will tell you to send your CV out to an executive search firm so that they can have you in their database for present of future opportunities. I will tell you first hand that this is the biggest waste of time possible! Why you might ask, isn’t this how you network? The answer is that most retained recruiters are working on a specific position with a specific skill set, and they can not devote the time to greet and court every professional who is looking for a job. More often than not the resume is deleted or put into a huge drawer never to be found again.
Ok ok, but I still would like to be considered for opportunities in my field as they come up.
Here is where looking for a job or even being a potential candidate for a position can be another full time job unless you do it intelligently. Putting your CV on every job board and applying for every opportunity can be daunting and very time consuming so let the web do the work for you. One great way to get noticed and not solicited is to create a profile on networking sites such as zoominfo.com or linkedin.com. with these two sites -and there are many more- you can build a profile with as much or little information as possible. By simply registering your name, function and email address you are now apart of a vast community that can reach you. And because it’s via email your confidentiality is up to you. If you are not interested to hear from this person, well just delete the email or block it and that’s the end of that. This is little effort and can end up being very rewarding.
If you are reluctant to join these sites there exist other ways of getting yourself noticed and networked professional community. Use everything at your disposal is the answer. You likely attended a university or college that has an alumni network. Reach out to your university or college and make sure your information is up to date.
Check your alumni job boards both academic and professional.
Also many recruiters use Alumni Job boards to post their jobs, and you can sign up for email alerts to new positions being posted and viola you now have a network of 100s if not 1000s of people in your field. Another alternative is that many firms have alumni sites as well, KPMG, Deloitte, Ernst & Young, Price Waterhouse Coopers, Prudential, Guardian, the list goes on and on. If your not registered with your former companies alumni, do so and again you will have similar results as many recruiters have managed to get themselves registered to post and surf alum profiles.
There are a number of ways to get noticed without attracting unwanted attentions and it is up to you as professional to enhance your career. That dream job is not going to fall from heaven and the idea of working from the mail-room up is basically a fallacy in corporate America. Just think if you are to approach an employer independently your salary potential increase is between 10-15% and if you are recruited your average salary increase goes to about 25-30%. So do the math and take the steps needed to leverage your career.
Well that’s like asking the magician to see what’s in his bag of tricks. But in all honesty it is most often a result of a diligent recruiter/researcher churning the web and “deep web” for any information pertaining to your professional function or noted accomplishments. Yes it is true that often recruiters have a lengthy database of previous contacts that they use as “leads” when they receive a new position to work on. They typically begin by sourcing those that are currently in the practice space or if they do not have direct contacts they will approach a Head or Manager of a department to elicit professionals that may be interested. Let’s say this approach does not produce the candidate they are seeking, what next?
Typically the recruiter is well versed in the industry they are recruiting from and thus know the ins-and-outs of that professional community. Utilizing this knowledge they can scan the web for likely prospects that fit the mold. One technique is to devise a list of “target” companies – these are typically firms/organizations that the client has suggested they would like to see candidates from- they then go to each company web site and being to peruse company newsletters, conference calls, bios, departmental memos, and SEC fillings, anything that can lead to the “right” candidate. After they have developed a list of names in a firm, they being to phone in through the main number and ask to speak with those individuals. After that it’s up to the tenacity and charisma of the recruiter to build a rapport with the professional and attempt to interest them in the retained opportunity.
Another approach is to reach out to institutions or societies that are related to the specific job function and get registered with their communities. An example would be the CFA Institute (Chartered Financial Analyst), GARP Global Association of Risk Professionals. Here you can find not only resources for the professional seeking employment but a community of registered professionals along with their specialty. Many of these sites listed below contain member databases that provide current employer and an email address to reach them.
CFA Institute - http://www.cfainstitute.org/
GARP- http://www.garp.com/
FENG- http://www.thefeng.org/home.html
FEI- http://www.fei.org/eweb/startpage.aspx?site=_fei
This list is not comprehensive but used as an example of professional association that can enhance your visibility and networking potential.
Ok so your not listed with any professional associate or institute but would like to be seen as a valuable asset to the field what do you do?
Some people will tell you to send your CV out to an executive search firm so that they can have you in their database for present of future opportunities. I will tell you first hand that this is the biggest waste of time possible! Why you might ask, isn’t this how you network? The answer is that most retained recruiters are working on a specific position with a specific skill set, and they can not devote the time to greet and court every professional who is looking for a job. More often than not the resume is deleted or put into a huge drawer never to be found again.
Ok ok, but I still would like to be considered for opportunities in my field as they come up.
Here is where looking for a job or even being a potential candidate for a position can be another full time job unless you do it intelligently. Putting your CV on every job board and applying for every opportunity can be daunting and very time consuming so let the web do the work for you. One great way to get noticed and not solicited is to create a profile on networking sites such as zoominfo.com or linkedin.com. with these two sites -and there are many more- you can build a profile with as much or little information as possible. By simply registering your name, function and email address you are now apart of a vast community that can reach you. And because it’s via email your confidentiality is up to you. If you are not interested to hear from this person, well just delete the email or block it and that’s the end of that. This is little effort and can end up being very rewarding.
If you are reluctant to join these sites there exist other ways of getting yourself noticed and networked professional community. Use everything at your disposal is the answer. You likely attended a university or college that has an alumni network. Reach out to your university or college and make sure your information is up to date.
Check your alumni job boards both academic and professional.
Also many recruiters use Alumni Job boards to post their jobs, and you can sign up for email alerts to new positions being posted and viola you now have a network of 100s if not 1000s of people in your field. Another alternative is that many firms have alumni sites as well, KPMG, Deloitte, Ernst & Young, Price Waterhouse Coopers, Prudential, Guardian, the list goes on and on. If your not registered with your former companies alumni, do so and again you will have similar results as many recruiters have managed to get themselves registered to post and surf alum profiles.
There are a number of ways to get noticed without attracting unwanted attentions and it is up to you as professional to enhance your career. That dream job is not going to fall from heaven and the idea of working from the mail-room up is basically a fallacy in corporate America. Just think if you are to approach an employer independently your salary potential increase is between 10-15% and if you are recruited your average salary increase goes to about 25-30%. So do the math and take the steps needed to leverage your career.
Tuesday, July 3, 2007
Retained Executive Search Vs. Contingency Search what is the difference?
Retained Executive Search Vs. Contingency Search what is the difference?
This question is not something that job seekers usually considers when beginning their search and the reason is greatly due to lack of public knowledge of the difference in methodologies, approach, search process, and attention dedicated to the incumbent between Retained and Contingency recruiters. The link below is to an article articulating the differences between Retained and Contingency firms from the Financial Executives International website and gives a very fair and clear understanding of both.
http://www.fei.org/download/Retained.pdf
The following are my personal impressions and insights into the industry as I have worked on both sides contingency and retained. This is not constructed to be divisive or to undermine Contingency recruiter’s service, but to simply act as guide and way to avoid the pitfalls that can come of working with contingency firms.
Many job seekers in the market place have deep seated stigmatism and reservations when choosing to use a search professional to facilitate their job search. Many believe that by using a search professional that the salary package is lower than if they were to pursue the role independently. Many also believe that when working with a search professional that there incumbents interests are secondary to the “fee” that or recruiters interests. There is also a lingering notion that incumbents will not receive the attention or dedication to assisting their job search, as search professionals are only interested in the number of candidates they can get in front of client in order to satisfy their obligations to their client.
These concerns are valid in many cases and have been born out of exceptional professionals receiving sub par treatment from a “Contingency Recruiter”. What is a Contingency Recruiter you might wonder? These are firms that are also considered “vendors” in the Human Resource world. Why vendors you might query? Well the way that a contingency firm works is that you have a large operations department “recruiters” and a large sales team or Account Executives who have secured the opportunity to be one among hundreds of vendors for a particular hiring need or position. With a contingency firm they are not paid until they have hired the candidate and after they have satisfied their guarantee period which is typically a 90 to 120 days after the hire on date. Meaning that if the incumbent fails to perform or is not to the clients liking they are “let go” and the contingency firm receives no payment. This results in a “shotgun” methodology to all positions they recruit for, and that is to get as many people in their door and in front of the client in as short of time as possible. The result is that many of the incumbents using this service feel slighted or that they were not given appropriate chance to interview for the role as they were presented among hundreds of other resumes. And they are 100% right to think this way. There are far more damaging effects of working with a contingency recruiter that will haunt you for the rest of your professional career and explained below as a cautionary guide to working with contingency recruiters. This is not to say that contingency firms do not provide job opportunities or that they may assist an incumbent in their job seeking, but merely to give a full understanding of the service and the forces driving it.
CV/ Resume exposure – when using a contingency search firm your credentials and professional background are basically “spammed” to every client that the account executive sees as being a match for your desired career move. Sounds great right? I’m going to get my resume to every possible person that would be interested in hiring me. Well take a moment to think about this. Have you ever filled out a hiring application and read the section that asks “Have you applied for a position with our firm previously?” Well guess what, whenever a contingency recruiter sends your resume to their client, yep you guessed it you formally applied!! And this is recorded by Human Resources for future reference. Here is the kicker many contingency firms will not tell you who their client is or if they have sent your credentials to their client, nor do many keep track of where they have sent it. This action may have or will prevent you from being considered for a role with a company in the future as you will be considered in a lower standing as you have already applied and been denied an interview.
Personal Attention – Contingency firms operate on the ideology of time is money to the extreme and so are unable to offer personal attention to you as job seeker. More often than not when going through a contingency recruiter you are only useful to them if their client is interested in your candidacy for a role. If not well then any question you may have about; Interviewing, CV/Resume presentation, alternate career options, career advise, etc. This leaves many with a feeling that they are not good enough or –and most often the case- the recruiter did not care about me.
Be weary of the W-2 on a contingency recruiter’s application- Many contingency firms make the incumbent sign lengthy paper work and W-2 prior to ever being seen by a recruiter. And why do you have to give your social security number, date of birth, educational background, and fill out a W-2? There really is not a valid reason other than the one in which the contingency firm ultimately uses that information for. The W-2 is so that you are now an employee of XYZ staffing and if they can’t find you a job right away well they can always hire you as a temporary employee for contract work. But wait I just came here to speak about the role you contacted me for!? Well that is not why you are there, in fact unless that XYZ firm has a specialized need for your skill set they have got you in the door with the hope that they can fit you with “many” jobs. This is not to say that you are qualified for many jobs but an incumbent who may fit more than one opportunity is better than one that is exclusive to a solitary role. In fact if you have been brought in for a specific skill based position once you are no running for that role, forget about them calling you again, remember time is money and if you’re not making them money at that instant well you are negligible.
Internal Communication- To be absolutely frank there is no communication among contingency search employees. Why not, couldn't’t they assist one another in filling their searches? Sure but then again anyone in the profession on the contingency side is motivated by one thing and one thing alone, lets just say its not the gratifying feeling you get from helping someone land that job they have always wanted! It MONEY! And they way that recruiters are compensated is central to this problem. Let me break it down for you and you will surely see why they do not communicate with one another, and will go out of their way to keep candidates confidential from peer recruiters. Contingency recruiters are typically given a base salary of 30-35,000k and receive a commission structure based on candidates hired. The recruiter works with an account executive and splits the fee with the sales person at about 2-3% for new recruiter and up to 7-10% for seasoned recruiters. At first glance this sounds attractive until you see how the break down actually works. So let’s use the example of a candidate earning $50,000. Ok, typically contingency firms receive 10-20% of the first year’s annual salary. So that comes to 5-10,000k fee on a single applicant. Ok sounds good right… WRONG! The 5-10k is the gross before taxes and before the “house” takes it share. The house usually takes the lion’s share of about 25%. Ok now our 5-10k fee is down to $3,750-$7,500. Ok still looking good for the amount of work that is applied here. Wait, no comes the split of the AE and the recruiter. Well the AE now has to split remaining with the recruiter- remember this is before taxes- and lets use the 7,500 figure for ease, and the AE takes everything but the average of 6% of the remaining fee. Ok so that means the recruiter gets about $450 for his/her efforts. Now taxes come in and you can widdle that number down to about $300-315 for one applicant. Still not too bad for a days work right? Well this is not a days work so to speak it’s about 12-16 days of work on one candidate who is may or may not get the job, and they have to wait out the 90 day guarantee period before they ever see payment. No what if 2 recruiters work on the job… now that number goes down to $150 to $175 based on the fact that they have equal bonus structures. Hmmm there is an inherent conflict of interest here huh!? And here is another factor that will further the lack of communication, if a candidate has been recruited and is not interviewing, that candidate is fair game to all other recruiters in the firm. This causes recruiters to go to great lengths not to share their candidates and stymie communication between members of a firm. Whereas the candidate may have had a wealth of positions to choose from, they are now stuck with what that particular recruiter has.
Ok so why go with a “Retained Search” firm and this answer is addressed in the following points below:
This question is not something that job seekers usually considers when beginning their search and the reason is greatly due to lack of public knowledge of the difference in methodologies, approach, search process, and attention dedicated to the incumbent between Retained and Contingency recruiters. The link below is to an article articulating the differences between Retained and Contingency firms from the Financial Executives International website and gives a very fair and clear understanding of both.
http://www.fei.org/download/Retained.pdf
The following are my personal impressions and insights into the industry as I have worked on both sides contingency and retained. This is not constructed to be divisive or to undermine Contingency recruiter’s service, but to simply act as guide and way to avoid the pitfalls that can come of working with contingency firms.
Many job seekers in the market place have deep seated stigmatism and reservations when choosing to use a search professional to facilitate their job search. Many believe that by using a search professional that the salary package is lower than if they were to pursue the role independently. Many also believe that when working with a search professional that there incumbents interests are secondary to the “fee” that or recruiters interests. There is also a lingering notion that incumbents will not receive the attention or dedication to assisting their job search, as search professionals are only interested in the number of candidates they can get in front of client in order to satisfy their obligations to their client.
These concerns are valid in many cases and have been born out of exceptional professionals receiving sub par treatment from a “Contingency Recruiter”. What is a Contingency Recruiter you might wonder? These are firms that are also considered “vendors” in the Human Resource world. Why vendors you might query? Well the way that a contingency firm works is that you have a large operations department “recruiters” and a large sales team or Account Executives who have secured the opportunity to be one among hundreds of vendors for a particular hiring need or position. With a contingency firm they are not paid until they have hired the candidate and after they have satisfied their guarantee period which is typically a 90 to 120 days after the hire on date. Meaning that if the incumbent fails to perform or is not to the clients liking they are “let go” and the contingency firm receives no payment. This results in a “shotgun” methodology to all positions they recruit for, and that is to get as many people in their door and in front of the client in as short of time as possible. The result is that many of the incumbents using this service feel slighted or that they were not given appropriate chance to interview for the role as they were presented among hundreds of other resumes. And they are 100% right to think this way. There are far more damaging effects of working with a contingency recruiter that will haunt you for the rest of your professional career and explained below as a cautionary guide to working with contingency recruiters. This is not to say that contingency firms do not provide job opportunities or that they may assist an incumbent in their job seeking, but merely to give a full understanding of the service and the forces driving it.
CV/ Resume exposure – when using a contingency search firm your credentials and professional background are basically “spammed” to every client that the account executive sees as being a match for your desired career move. Sounds great right? I’m going to get my resume to every possible person that would be interested in hiring me. Well take a moment to think about this. Have you ever filled out a hiring application and read the section that asks “Have you applied for a position with our firm previously?” Well guess what, whenever a contingency recruiter sends your resume to their client, yep you guessed it you formally applied!! And this is recorded by Human Resources for future reference. Here is the kicker many contingency firms will not tell you who their client is or if they have sent your credentials to their client, nor do many keep track of where they have sent it. This action may have or will prevent you from being considered for a role with a company in the future as you will be considered in a lower standing as you have already applied and been denied an interview.
Personal Attention – Contingency firms operate on the ideology of time is money to the extreme and so are unable to offer personal attention to you as job seeker. More often than not when going through a contingency recruiter you are only useful to them if their client is interested in your candidacy for a role. If not well then any question you may have about; Interviewing, CV/Resume presentation, alternate career options, career advise, etc. This leaves many with a feeling that they are not good enough or –and most often the case- the recruiter did not care about me.
Be weary of the W-2 on a contingency recruiter’s application- Many contingency firms make the incumbent sign lengthy paper work and W-2 prior to ever being seen by a recruiter. And why do you have to give your social security number, date of birth, educational background, and fill out a W-2? There really is not a valid reason other than the one in which the contingency firm ultimately uses that information for. The W-2 is so that you are now an employee of XYZ staffing and if they can’t find you a job right away well they can always hire you as a temporary employee for contract work. But wait I just came here to speak about the role you contacted me for!? Well that is not why you are there, in fact unless that XYZ firm has a specialized need for your skill set they have got you in the door with the hope that they can fit you with “many” jobs. This is not to say that you are qualified for many jobs but an incumbent who may fit more than one opportunity is better than one that is exclusive to a solitary role. In fact if you have been brought in for a specific skill based position once you are no running for that role, forget about them calling you again, remember time is money and if you’re not making them money at that instant well you are negligible.
Internal Communication- To be absolutely frank there is no communication among contingency search employees. Why not, couldn't’t they assist one another in filling their searches? Sure but then again anyone in the profession on the contingency side is motivated by one thing and one thing alone, lets just say its not the gratifying feeling you get from helping someone land that job they have always wanted! It MONEY! And they way that recruiters are compensated is central to this problem. Let me break it down for you and you will surely see why they do not communicate with one another, and will go out of their way to keep candidates confidential from peer recruiters. Contingency recruiters are typically given a base salary of 30-35,000k and receive a commission structure based on candidates hired. The recruiter works with an account executive and splits the fee with the sales person at about 2-3% for new recruiter and up to 7-10% for seasoned recruiters. At first glance this sounds attractive until you see how the break down actually works. So let’s use the example of a candidate earning $50,000. Ok, typically contingency firms receive 10-20% of the first year’s annual salary. So that comes to 5-10,000k fee on a single applicant. Ok sounds good right… WRONG! The 5-10k is the gross before taxes and before the “house” takes it share. The house usually takes the lion’s share of about 25%. Ok now our 5-10k fee is down to $3,750-$7,500. Ok still looking good for the amount of work that is applied here. Wait, no comes the split of the AE and the recruiter. Well the AE now has to split remaining with the recruiter- remember this is before taxes- and lets use the 7,500 figure for ease, and the AE takes everything but the average of 6% of the remaining fee. Ok so that means the recruiter gets about $450 for his/her efforts. Now taxes come in and you can widdle that number down to about $300-315 for one applicant. Still not too bad for a days work right? Well this is not a days work so to speak it’s about 12-16 days of work on one candidate who is may or may not get the job, and they have to wait out the 90 day guarantee period before they ever see payment. No what if 2 recruiters work on the job… now that number goes down to $150 to $175 based on the fact that they have equal bonus structures. Hmmm there is an inherent conflict of interest here huh!? And here is another factor that will further the lack of communication, if a candidate has been recruited and is not interviewing, that candidate is fair game to all other recruiters in the firm. This causes recruiters to go to great lengths not to share their candidates and stymie communication between members of a firm. Whereas the candidate may have had a wealth of positions to choose from, they are now stuck with what that particular recruiter has.
Ok so why go with a “Retained Search” firm and this answer is addressed in the following points below:
We are retained meaning we are already paid and thus are not soliciting, but have an exclusive opportunity that you can interview for that you would not get anywhere else.
We are retained which means the client we represent respects and values our abilities to identify and network with professionals that they are seeking.We work on high level executive positions and so work with very few candidates as they are experts in their respective fields and qualified for the role.
Each candidate is treated as if they are the only one interviewing for the role.
Salary negotiations are not driven by increasing the fee, our negotiation process is to facilitate your compensation needs, that is to say if we can not get you the salary you require, then you are not going to accept the role, and we have not completed the search.
There is no application process, W-2, or other personal documentation as that is taken care of by the client we represent unless requested by the client.
When going through a retained search firm you are dealing with a search professional that most often than not comes from the field you are in and understand both your needs as a candidate and that of the clients. How could you possibly determine if someone is genuinely qualified unless you were an expert in that field?
Hiring managers already know that you are stronger than a contingency candidate as they know the retained firm presenting you has already screened you extensively and is producing the ideal candidate not a candidate who made it through the HR screening process.
As a candidate you are made fully aware of all movements in the interviewing process regarding your status for consideration, and will act as a resource to facilitate your interview instead of keeping you in the dark in order to keep you strung along.
When working with an executive recruiter our contacts are actual hiring managers not an HR person managing the vendors, the feedback we receive and the insight we have is directly from the person hiring you as opposed to an HR person interpreting your interview performance from notes the hiring manager passed on.
Retained recruiters are well connected to line managers with all of their clients and provide ability to make introduction on your behalf even if the prospective firm does not have an immediate opening. Increasing your connectivity with decision makers and allowing you enhanced mobility in your job search.
Bottom line is Retained is much better than Contingency firms. The average pay increase that incumbents receive when going through an retained executive recruiter is about 30-35%, as opposed to 5-10% with contingency, which in simple math is a no brainer!
And if you have been contacted by a retained search firm it is likely they are very well aware of who and what you are and so will not be wasting your time, but presenting you with an opportunity that no one else has. This not only speaks to your professional prowess and expertise, but that you are recognized as a premium candidate and a person who can leverage their career significantly.
Credit Analyst - Asset Management
New Opportunity, retained search, executive levele
JOB DESCRIPTION
For consideration send CV to Srusche@ccgsearch.com
Position Title: Credit Analyst-Healthcare, Pharmaceutical, & Utility
Location: New York, New York
Compensation: 200k
CLIENT INFO:
We represent the U.S. division of one of the world largest investment management companies. It manages approximately $70 billion assets for investors. It has full range of equity, quantitative equity, fixed income, and hedge fund products. It acts on its core belief of consistently achieving long-term mutual trust based on client satisfaction and continuously strives to provide innovate products and services of highest quality to its clients.
RESPONSIBILITIES:
Our client, an SEC registered investment advisor, is seeking a Credit Analyst-Healthcare, Pharmaceutical, & Utility. Reporting to the VP & Portfolio Manager of Fixed Income, the person will be focused on fundamental credit analysis, and interact with Portfolio Managers, Trading, and Sales. The person will also contribute group idea generation, strategy formulation, and trade execution.
The specific responsibilities include:
· Assist Portfolio Managers with analysis and due diligence on prospective investments, covering global credits in a variety of sectors including: (i) Utility, (ii) Pharmaceutical, and (iii) Healthcare.
· Conduct issuer and security analysis, including public comparables, discounted cash flow analysis, etc. on both broad portfolio bases as well as on individual names.
· Make trade recommendations for cash accounts and synthetic CDOs.
· Maintain various market intelligence databases including new issue and secondary offerings tracking system. Identify potential investment offerings that meet the firm’s investment criteria.
QUALIFICATIONS:
· A minimum of three years of relevant fixed income research experience, preferably with a buy-side firm.
· Strong analytical and modeling skills.
· Strong financial analysis, valuation, and writing skills.
· Experience with relevant industry sectors desirable.
· Proficiency in Yield Book and other relevant models.
· A bachelor’s degree in Finance, Economics, Mathematics, or related field. MBA and /or CFA designation strongly desired.
JOB DESCRIPTION
For consideration send CV to Srusche@ccgsearch.com
Position Title: Credit Analyst-Healthcare, Pharmaceutical, & Utility
Location: New York, New York
Compensation: 200k
CLIENT INFO:
We represent the U.S. division of one of the world largest investment management companies. It manages approximately $70 billion assets for investors. It has full range of equity, quantitative equity, fixed income, and hedge fund products. It acts on its core belief of consistently achieving long-term mutual trust based on client satisfaction and continuously strives to provide innovate products and services of highest quality to its clients.
RESPONSIBILITIES:
Our client, an SEC registered investment advisor, is seeking a Credit Analyst-Healthcare, Pharmaceutical, & Utility. Reporting to the VP & Portfolio Manager of Fixed Income, the person will be focused on fundamental credit analysis, and interact with Portfolio Managers, Trading, and Sales. The person will also contribute group idea generation, strategy formulation, and trade execution.
The specific responsibilities include:
· Assist Portfolio Managers with analysis and due diligence on prospective investments, covering global credits in a variety of sectors including: (i) Utility, (ii) Pharmaceutical, and (iii) Healthcare.
· Conduct issuer and security analysis, including public comparables, discounted cash flow analysis, etc. on both broad portfolio bases as well as on individual names.
· Make trade recommendations for cash accounts and synthetic CDOs.
· Maintain various market intelligence databases including new issue and secondary offerings tracking system. Identify potential investment offerings that meet the firm’s investment criteria.
QUALIFICATIONS:
· A minimum of three years of relevant fixed income research experience, preferably with a buy-side firm.
· Strong analytical and modeling skills.
· Strong financial analysis, valuation, and writing skills.
· Experience with relevant industry sectors desirable.
· Proficiency in Yield Book and other relevant models.
· A bachelor’s degree in Finance, Economics, Mathematics, or related field. MBA and /or CFA designation strongly desired.
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
New Opportunites on the Market
POSITION BRIEF
Position Title: CMBS Quantitative Analyst – Risk Management
Location: New York, New York
Qualified Applicant may submit their CV to : Srusche@ccgsearch.com for consideration
Client Info:
We represent one of the top international investment banks in the world. It maintains a dominant position globally in Fixed Income, Equity, Asset Management, and Investment Banking arenas. It backs its presence with more than $1 billion in capital and more than 1,000 employees in New York.
Responsibilities:
The Risk Quant Group is responsible for developing efficient and robust risk reporting processes. The continuing expansion and growing complexity of the firm’s commercial mortgage business has resulted in the need for an experienced CMBS Quantitative Analyst with specific expertise in securitized products and credit derivatives. Reporting to the Head of Risk Quant Group, he /she will be responsible for the following:
Developing and refining CMBS risk and valuation models such as VaR and stress tests for the measurement of the market and credit risk. This will involve designing and implementing tests to identify risk factors for relevant trading portfolios and building models to capture the economic and statistical characters of the risk factors;
Reviewing and validating all analytic models used in trading and risk management to ensure that model risks are correctly identified, assessed and captured;
Maintaining and updating the documentation of methodologies used to measure market risk, potential credit exposure and model validation;
Working closely with risk managers, business units and product controllers to provide required quantitative supports; and
Assisting in the formulation of the risk model related policies.
QUALIFICATIONS
The successful candidate will possess the following:
Strong quantitative background;
Masters or higher degree in a quantitative discipline is strongly desired;
Experience with MBS, CMBS and ABS market products preferred;
Proactive and results oriented with strong communication and project management skills;
At least 5 years experience in risk management, trading or portfolio management;
Extensive knowledge of financial products and their valuation methodology; and
Good quantitative modeling skills including programming and coding skills.
Position Title: CMBS Quantitative Analyst – Risk Management
Location: New York, New York
Qualified Applicant may submit their CV to : Srusche@ccgsearch.com for consideration
Client Info:
We represent one of the top international investment banks in the world. It maintains a dominant position globally in Fixed Income, Equity, Asset Management, and Investment Banking arenas. It backs its presence with more than $1 billion in capital and more than 1,000 employees in New York.
Responsibilities:
The Risk Quant Group is responsible for developing efficient and robust risk reporting processes. The continuing expansion and growing complexity of the firm’s commercial mortgage business has resulted in the need for an experienced CMBS Quantitative Analyst with specific expertise in securitized products and credit derivatives. Reporting to the Head of Risk Quant Group, he /she will be responsible for the following:
Developing and refining CMBS risk and valuation models such as VaR and stress tests for the measurement of the market and credit risk. This will involve designing and implementing tests to identify risk factors for relevant trading portfolios and building models to capture the economic and statistical characters of the risk factors;
Reviewing and validating all analytic models used in trading and risk management to ensure that model risks are correctly identified, assessed and captured;
Maintaining and updating the documentation of methodologies used to measure market risk, potential credit exposure and model validation;
Working closely with risk managers, business units and product controllers to provide required quantitative supports; and
Assisting in the formulation of the risk model related policies.
QUALIFICATIONS
The successful candidate will possess the following:
Strong quantitative background;
Masters or higher degree in a quantitative discipline is strongly desired;
Experience with MBS, CMBS and ABS market products preferred;
Proactive and results oriented with strong communication and project management skills;
At least 5 years experience in risk management, trading or portfolio management;
Extensive knowledge of financial products and their valuation methodology; and
Good quantitative modeling skills including programming and coding skills.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
