MiFID: only for the experienced
Half of all financial institutions are still not compliant with MiFID. But job opportunities for IT professionals with MiFID skills are thin on the ground.
Demand for MiFID skills has remained consistent over the last six months, according to James Parker, manager of technology contracts with recruiter Robert Walters. "Most of our clients believe they can meet the minimum requirements of MiFID using the resources they already have, so the volume of job opportunities is light," he says.
Where employers are seeking MiFID skills, they are demanding extensive experience. "Where people have been involved in one documentation project and have limited experience, they're just not getting interviews," Parker adds.
However, the introduction of MiFID has created job opportunities in other areas. "People aren't looking for MiFID skills, but they are looking for skills around the technologies that will enable them to comply with MiFID," says Simon Walker, managing director of IT recruitment firm Project Partners.
For example, MiFID will require financial organisations to retain massive amounts of data securely, so many banks are recruiting heavily around data warehousing and data infrastructure, says Walker. Good data warehousing programme managers with relevant financial sector experience can earn between 70k and 85k - around 6% up on last year's figures.
Walker's also seen a substantial increase in recruitment for tactical development teams. "These are people who will enhance systems as banks try to avoid MiFID-related fines," he says. "People with good C# and .NET experience, plus three years' financial experience, can achieve up to 90k in a permanent position on one of those teams, or 850 a day as a contractor. But the experience has to be there."
