Salary survey: Fixed income hiring buoyant in sales and trading

Financial services firms have turned mainly to internal candidates to fill junior front-office sales and trading vacancies, as the economic downturn has slowed hiring, according to a UK job market overview by the recruitment firm Robert Walters.

But very high calibre graduates may also be considered for such roles, the report said.

At all levels of seniority, the areas of fixed income and debt stayed quite buoyant over the past year despite the economic downturn, with experienced candidates in demand.

Among the key skills sought by employers are strong academics, languages and some experience related to the given field.

While business degrees are considered when employers are filling junior roles, most institutions are seeking degrees in disciplines such as mathematics, engineering and science, Robert Walters said.

Languages are particularly highly regarded in corporate sales roles.

Robert Walters said it expected sales and trading recruitment levels to pick up over the course of 2002 due to a recovery in the global economy as well as continued activity in the fixed income, debt and credit markets.

The commodities and energy markets would also be strong employers, it says, as would specialist finance areas.

Heads of fixed income and heads of fixed income sales earn salaries between 200,000 and 350,000, the survey showed.

Senior fixed income traders (120,000-250,000) and senior credit traders (150,000-270,000) are next in the range of pay, while a senior sales person can earn between 120,000 and 200,000.