According to an article posted on efinancial careers by Paul Clarke, headhunters and recruiters in the financial industries are performing really well for this year.
After a second quarter characterised by poor investment banking performance, swiftly followed by some redundancies, now might not be the best time to state how well you're doing.
However, with City firms able to release their pent-up desire for recruitment in the first half of 2010, some of the financial sector's leading headhunters have seen fee income jump by a rather impressive 30% this year, according to the Times.
The likes of Russell Reynolds, Korn/Ferry, Heidrick & Struggles and Egon Zehnder have all enjoyed a solid first half of this year. Heidrick & Struggles, in particular, has pointed to an 80% increase in billing within its financial services division, with big investment banks providing the bulk of activity.
Still, any recovery comes off the back of what was a torrid year for the recruitment industry, with a raft of closures, mergers and acquisitions in the sector throughout 2009 and most firms being forced to pare back staff numbers. Heidrick & Struggles for instance, still only employs 343 consultants globally compared to 380 at this point in 2009. But, as the recent bout of poaching among banking-focused firms shows, many have an appetite to recruit again.
Still, after the latest crop of downbeat quarterly reports, and subsequent job cuts at both BarCap and Credit Suisse last week, pessimism has already returned the recruitment market and there's now talk of an investment banking hiring freezegoing forward.
"We envisage robust growth for financial services going forward, but not at the same pace," said Jim Hinds, London managing partner at Russell Reynolds.
Source: eFC Editors -->Tags: Asset Management, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Managing Director
Thursday, August 19, 2010
Sunday, August 1, 2010
Personal Brand Tips from a Headhunter
Following article appeared on recruitment-agency.eu by Chris Slay. The articles talks about what common mistakes to avoid while building your professional brand.
1. Manners Maketh Man or Woman
If you use Social Media or write a blog, you should assume that headhunters will read your updates and your posts to gain an insight into your personal brand. A Microsoft study in December 2009 found that 79% of hiring managers and job recruiters review online information about job applicants before making a hiring decision. Of those, 70% said that they have rejected candidates based on information that they found online. Top reasons listed?
1. Concerns about lifestyle,
2. Inappropriate comments,
3. Unsuitable photos and videos.
These are permanent records and whilst they will become stale overtime they may come back to haunt you into the future. You should assume that anything that you put on line could be read by a future employer. Don’t rely on privacy settings – they are anything but foolproof.
We’ve all done it of course but avoid anything illegal ( this ‘isms – sex, race and age) criticism of a boss, a fellow employee or client, information about an interviewer and so on – it is in your own interest to do so!
Avoid the late night use of forums after a few beers, they can kill your brand.
2. Spamming
Bombarding social media networks with half-done profiles accomplishes nothing except to annoy the exact people you want to impress: prospective employers trying to find out more about on you. It is just like a CV, work on it, save it off line. Go back, edit it until you are satisfied it represents your personal brand to your greatest advantage and only then publish it on line.
Blanketing social media sites is a waste of time and energy choose the ones that will work for you. It is better to do 2 well than 20 badly.
Linkedin members with complete profiles are 40 times more likely to receive opportunities through LinkedIn but this means getting involved and working at the relationships and carefully promoting your personal brand.
LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter are the three most popular social networking sites for human resources managers to use for recruiting. For Headhunters Linkedin is number one.
3. Every brand needs promoting
If nobody knows of your existence success is unlikely.
If nobody knows what you are trying to achieve it could be tricky.
Having established your personal brand and posted it on line you need to polish it from time to time.
Join some related groups – make some sensible comments, show your expertise, but don’t force the situation and avoid doing it when tired or emotionally challenged!
You have a personal brand statement depicting who you are, what you do, and what audience you serve, discretely indicate how you can benefit others through the quality of your contributions.
Very often a comment will lead a Headhunter to look at a profile and the ball will start to role.
4. Less is more
Choose connections wisely; only add people you actually know or with whom you've done business. It is much more of a quality game than a quantity game. A Headhunter may choose to contact one of your connections to ask about you; make sure that person is someone you know and trust.
In today’s world we are all bombarded by auto responders and this is like throwing a grain of sand into the ocean. Personalise the response and include an offer to help them, but mean it and do it if asked. Don't risk your brand perception.
5. Relationships
Many jobs are never posted.
Higher-level jobs are not posted as often as lower-level jobs online. Personal networking may be needed to uncover these higher-level positions, which may be filled by Headhunters.
It is for you to choose your representative but I’d go for the one with the personal brand that most closely matches the criteria you choose to set. Meanwhile build your brand strengths and avoid careless talk.
1. Manners Maketh Man or Woman
If you use Social Media or write a blog, you should assume that headhunters will read your updates and your posts to gain an insight into your personal brand. A Microsoft study in December 2009 found that 79% of hiring managers and job recruiters review online information about job applicants before making a hiring decision. Of those, 70% said that they have rejected candidates based on information that they found online. Top reasons listed?
1. Concerns about lifestyle,
2. Inappropriate comments,
3. Unsuitable photos and videos.
These are permanent records and whilst they will become stale overtime they may come back to haunt you into the future. You should assume that anything that you put on line could be read by a future employer. Don’t rely on privacy settings – they are anything but foolproof.
We’ve all done it of course but avoid anything illegal ( this ‘isms – sex, race and age) criticism of a boss, a fellow employee or client, information about an interviewer and so on – it is in your own interest to do so!
Avoid the late night use of forums after a few beers, they can kill your brand.
2. Spamming
Bombarding social media networks with half-done profiles accomplishes nothing except to annoy the exact people you want to impress: prospective employers trying to find out more about on you. It is just like a CV, work on it, save it off line. Go back, edit it until you are satisfied it represents your personal brand to your greatest advantage and only then publish it on line.
Blanketing social media sites is a waste of time and energy choose the ones that will work for you. It is better to do 2 well than 20 badly.
Linkedin members with complete profiles are 40 times more likely to receive opportunities through LinkedIn but this means getting involved and working at the relationships and carefully promoting your personal brand.
LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter are the three most popular social networking sites for human resources managers to use for recruiting. For Headhunters Linkedin is number one.
3. Every brand needs promoting
If nobody knows of your existence success is unlikely.
If nobody knows what you are trying to achieve it could be tricky.
Having established your personal brand and posted it on line you need to polish it from time to time.
Join some related groups – make some sensible comments, show your expertise, but don’t force the situation and avoid doing it when tired or emotionally challenged!
You have a personal brand statement depicting who you are, what you do, and what audience you serve, discretely indicate how you can benefit others through the quality of your contributions.
Very often a comment will lead a Headhunter to look at a profile and the ball will start to role.
4. Less is more
Choose connections wisely; only add people you actually know or with whom you've done business. It is much more of a quality game than a quantity game. A Headhunter may choose to contact one of your connections to ask about you; make sure that person is someone you know and trust.
In today’s world we are all bombarded by auto responders and this is like throwing a grain of sand into the ocean. Personalise the response and include an offer to help them, but mean it and do it if asked. Don't risk your brand perception.
5. Relationships
Many jobs are never posted.
Higher-level jobs are not posted as often as lower-level jobs online. Personal networking may be needed to uncover these higher-level positions, which may be filled by Headhunters.
It is for you to choose your representative but I’d go for the one with the personal brand that most closely matches the criteria you choose to set. Meanwhile build your brand strengths and avoid careless talk.
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