Three areas where there are currently talent shortages
Yes, hiring is grinding to its annual halt. Yes, Credit Suisse has joined the chorus proclaiming a bad third quarter. Yes, there are more people than ever looking for jobs. But there are also some jobs where there are not enough people to fill them.
These jobs include:
1) Most things relating to accounting in investment banks
If you have always wanted to work in the middle office doing tasks-related-to-accounting, this is your time.
"There is always a talent shortage from a finance perspective," says Simon Lindrea, a director at Michael Page. "You can never get enough good, qualified accountants."
Particular areas of current accountant-related famine include regulatory reporting, everything to do with product control - especially product controllers working with complex products, anyone with strong IFRS skills and technical accounting skills, internal audit, and anyone who can working in planning and analysis, or finance projects.
2) Junior operations jobs in hedge funds
Apparently, there are not enough people to fill junior ops roles in hedge funds.
"Everyone wants someone with two years' experience, be it in operations or the front office" says Barry Seath at Mirage Recruitment, a hedge fund specialist. "The problem is that very few funds were hiring a couple of years' ago and there's only a small number of them to go around."
Operations people in hedge funds are all-rounders, doing everything from settlements, do trade support, and resolving failed trades, says Seath. This makes it difficult for candidates to move people across from banking.
"There's just not a big talent pool of people with two years' experience and strong academics," another hedge fund recruiter adds. "There are lots of people who shouldn't have been hired, were let go, and are trying to get back into the market, but the ones with good academics are hard to find."
3) Would-be private bankers
Private bankers are a perpetual problem. As we mention intermittently, relationship managers are wanted by everywhere from JPMorgan and Barclays Wealth to Credit Suisse.
In the ideal world, private banks would like to hire people who can bring a large book of business. In the real world, they are increasingly settling for training up people with innate charm and a grasp of investment decisions.
Even this, however, is proving challenging.
"Right now, the market is very tight," says the UK head of wealth management at a leading international headhunting firm. "But once bankers realise that their bonuses are a disappointment and start moving on, we're anticipating a flood of potential private bankers early next year."
