Alternative jobs soar in popularity

Hamish Davidson, managing director ofthe recruitment company Veredus, has noticed the change in attitude. The firmreceives70% of its recruitment mandates from public sector and not-for-profit firms. 'We have been approached by hundreds of people with an investment banking background. We are inundated. There are literally hordes of applicants,' he says.

The National Health Service, the Defence Ministry and the Department of Trade and Industry are among the public employers providing work forbankers, oftenon private financeinitiative projects.

It is easy to see why thisseems a goodtimefor job seekers to go public.The pay, at a mere fraction of investment banking packages, is not good.But the public sector is crying out for people.Government figures show91,000 public sector jobs were created in the first six months of 2001 alone.

There were not enough good quality candidates to fill them. A survey by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development found that 89% of UK public sector organisations had difficulties recruiting staff in 2001.Davidson saysthe increase inpublic/private partnerships is creatingmany of the extra jobs.

Redundant bankers do not need to restrict their aspirations to UK public employers.

Other public sector bodies putting a premium on financial sector experience includethe World Bank, the IMF, the European Investment Bank, the European Investment Fund and the European Bank of Reconstruction and Development.

Butanyone pinning their hopes on a swift transition from the City of London to a UK civil service job, or from Frankfurt to Luxembourg (the location of the European Investment Bank), is likely to be disappointed. First, applications to some public sector organisations can lastmany months - even a year - before an appointment is made.

Second, competition for places is often even fiercer than in the private sector. And third, bankersmay not be welcome anyway.

Davidson saysmost applicants with a private sector background do not appreciate how exhaustive the public sector application process is. 'In investment banking, individuals may be used to being headhunted or sending in a short CV,' he says. 'In the public sector, a job will usually be advertised. There is an expectation that an individual will request and read a detailed briefing pack outlining the job. A considerable amount of research must be done in advance.'

Competition is fiercest at international bodies. The World Bank receives an average of 30,000 applicants for every 30 places, a less favourable ratio even than investment banks. Some bodies have few jobs tooffer anywaythe European Investment Fund employs only 55 people and takes on only one MBA applicant or graduate trainee every year.

In the UK, theForeign Office received 1,200 applications for five high-flyer vacancies in 2001.

The Treasury, which once found it hard to attract economists, received 1,000 applications for 20 economist jobs in 2001, up from 500in2000.

There is also a danger thatpublic sector employers might view commercialexperience as a disadvantage. Aspokesperson for one internationalpublic bodysaidexisting employees are sometimes intimidated by new arrivals with extensive private sector experience. Younger recruits are often preferred as a result.

Davidson says applications from individuals with a purely commercial background are often treated withsuspicion. 'If you have always been on a big package, and have never been a school governor or done anything in the community, people will say that you are only interested because things are tough in the private sector.'

For many bankers, job prospects would have to be really bleakto make the public sector look appealing. Pay is oftenpoor. Graduate entrants in some areas of the UK civil service are paid less than 17,000 (€26,500) a year. Somemanagers at theInternational Finance Corporation, an arm of the World Bank, who are only two positions below director, the top of the organisation's hierarchy, earn in the region of $80,000 to $120,000.

Although the payis unlikely to be a motivator in such jobs, anyone not in it for the money is nevertheless likely to be viewed with cynicism. Davidson saysemployers question the commitment of applicants who are financially independent. It is felt that they maywalk out if things go wrong.

Despite all the hurdles, manypeople do make the transition to the public sector. One of the high-flyer vacancies at the Foreign Office during 2001 was filled by a candidate from Merrill Lynch.

Another example is William Pedder, a former director of project andexport finance at Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein, wholast year was appointed chief executive of Invest UK,a bodywhich promotes inward investment.

Henrietta Royle, chief executive of Boost,the City & East London Employment Bond, is an example of someone who has moved to the not-for-profit sector. She was onceacorporate financier at Barclays de Zoete Wedd.

Royle saysthat such a move hasadvantages. The lifestyle is less pressured and there is satisfaction in helping people worse off than yourself. Paradoxically, it can also be a means of gaining excellent investment banking contacts.

Royle spends most of her day persuading bankers to invest in the zero interest bond, which is raising money to create jobs in the East End of London. 'I am networking at a very senior level,' she says.