Moving up in the world of finance

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Category: Shares

Published on Friday, 22 July 2011 11:40

Written by Will Peters

Finance professionals thinking of moving roles or hiring people might be surprised at what’s happening in the jobs market at present, says Richard Morris. 

Have you been biding your time, taking a ‘wait and see’ approach to your next career move? 

Many have, it seems, but now they’re once again mobile. Eighteen months ago we hardly saw anyone looking for a new finance role who was already employed. That’s now changed dramatically and today we’re seeing a big upswing in employed candidates actively looking for a new role. This, and other factors, means that job searches are taking longer to conclude. 

Even very good people are finding it takes them six or seven months from first declaring an interest in moving to actually landing a new role. In the mid-tier, £80-150k finance management salary bracket, the average defined search assignment cycle now takes about three and a half months, whereas it used to be about six weeks. That’s something to think about if you’re looking to change roles or looking to hire support in your finance team. 

For candidates, another is that many employers have become much more risk averse. It’s hardly surprising. Those who’ve managed to hang onto their jobs during the economic turmoil of the last few years haven’t done so by sticking their heads above the parapet and spending hard-won budgets indiscriminately. 

How does this risk aversion manifest itself? 

First, we have found that candidate briefs have become considerably more proscriptive and rigid in terms of the must-have skills and experiences demanded. Second, decision making is taking longer and more people are becoming involved (shared risk?). Sometimes, this goes well beyond the reasonable. I heard recently of one candidate (not one of ours I should add) who pulled out after being asked back for a 15th round of interviews. 

A third way that risk aversion shows itself is through heightened emphasis on sector experience. So if you want to work for a US-based, high-tech multinational, you won’t stand much chance unless you currently or have recently worked for one. The same applies to retail and other vertical sectors. Personality and cultural ‘fit’ are still important but are less so. 

So, in the light of all this, what’s the best advice for navigating your way through this new hiring environment? Those seeking a new role should: 

Be aware of the market conditions and work with these 

Make themselves as easily available as possible. If an interview opportunity arises they should do everything possible to attend

Think carefully about their achievements and accentuate the examples of how they’ve added tangible value in past roles on their CVs

Confirm the interview process and the number of stages at the offset 

Meanwhile, those seeking to hire a new finance professional should:

Take advice from a recruitment consultancy they trust about the optimum level of interview rounds

Not forget that recruitment is a competitive process. Competitors could be more switched on to the recruitment process and be more agile

Review closely the ‘must-haves’ on their candidate specifications. Reducing the number of these might open up a wider choice of good people  

Outline the recruitment process at the offset and have a firm plan about the number of stages and the approximate length of time the process should take

Condense the number of visits required – i.e. on a single visit the candidate should see more than one of the people they need to