Riding the recession?

Manchester University careers service have developed a series of articles on their blog relating to finding jobs in a recession. There are several resources online about this topic including articles on this blog, the UCL Recession Blog and now Manchester’s contribution. 

Employers still recruiting on campus!

Employers still recruiting on campus so don’t panic or opt out

The media headlines are concentrating on pockets of bad news, giving an unbalanced view of the whole graduate labour market. RHUL graduates have always moved on to many different careers and the Careers Service is still receiving phone calls from employers targeting RHUL graduates.

 

Downturns are times for organisations and individuals to think creatively. Maybe your first choice of employer has filled all their vacancies, but there are a lot of other employers out there. Graduates often pick employers for the glamour factor. Maybe now is a time to research a little more deeply and discover an equally rewarding Plan B. What you need is accurate information of what employers are doing and thinking now and the best way of doing that is to talk to them directly. From February onwards 13 employers have booked to give presentation slots on campus. And there are lots of alumni returning to campus to give you the benefit of their experience. Alumni events are scheduled for Modern Languages, Politics and Geography finishing with the Creative Careers Event for any discipline. For full details see the programme on www.rhul.ac.uk/careers

 

Another way to improve your chances is to hone your job hunting skills. Employers tell us they are receiving more applications but many of them are weak: unfocused and lacking in evidence. Good, targeted applications still stand out. How to raise your game? The Careers Service provides a whole range of coaching resources – seminars, CV and interview guides and individual feedback. We look forward to seeing you in the Careers Centre in the Horton Building. We’re here to support you – whatever the market.

 Liz Wilkinson, Head of College Careers Service.

Alternatives to Investment Banking

There are other options!

The recession is continuing to be a concern to many undergraduates. Stories of job losses across the banking sector can be frustrating for those wanting a career in that field. Whilst the City is by no means closed, it might be time to widen your search and consider other related roles or alternative ways of using and developing your skills.

A recent survey suggested that, despite the recession, many international students still wish to take advantage of Post-Study Work and find a job in the UK after graduation.

On Thursday, 20 November  (5.00pm – 6.00pm), MBA Careers Adviser Hilary Moor and I will be facilitating a session on “Alternatives to Investment Banking“. You can sign up for this in the careers centre.  This should be a really useful session for anybody considering a career in banking.  There will be opportunities for students to ask questions and to understand how the current market might affect them. Please note that this session will only run once so if you want to attend you need to register through the careers centre first.

Has my future been credit crunched? Middle-East

This is the second of the short series on how the recession is affecting graduate prospects around the world. The first considered opportunities for international students who wished to work in the UK.  Please do leave comments and share your experiences or concerns.

Dubai

Middle-East and North Africa (MENA)

The Middle-East has, so far, largely escaped the turbulence of markets around the world. Investment is increasing and employment prospects remain high.  The increased price of oil has ramifications across many sectors including legal, finance, logistics, engineering, property and of course the job market. For example, it is expected that last year’s near 8% growth in employment in UAE will continue to grow despite the forecast elsewhere. Omar Bouhadiba, executive vice-president of Mashreqbank said “Times are good for everyone in this part of the world.”

But even in the Middle-East things aren’t quite as good as they have been. It has become more of an employer’s market – that is when the number of vacancies is significantly less than the number of applicants. Employers and their representatives can become more selective.

Banking and Finance:

Wide-scale job losses that are occurring in other parts of the world are having limited effect on MENA. Equity markets in in Dubai, Doha and Saudi Arabia have certainly been hit but not at the same dramatic level that has occurred in other countries However the closure of Lehman Brothers globally has resulted in short term temporary job losses. The expected job cuts at HSBC will concentrate on the UK and US offices and should have little effect in the Middle East.  Banks that are suffering in their own domestic markets are turning to the Middle East to generate increased revenues.

Consultancy is still a strong profession. PWC, Ernst & Young, KPMG and Deloitte are all advertising positions in the middle-east. There may be a possibility of working in the UK with one of these firms before moving overseas but candidates have found that, by applying to their home regions first, their chances of success improve.

The Gulf Times have reported that the Royal Bank of Scotland has already incorporated ABN AMRO’s operations in the Gulf and is looking to expand into other key business areas.  It will also develop it’s first Islamic product range. Such expansion will be phased and suggests employment scope for new graduates in key fields such as wealth management and investment banking.

International students should also be aware of the increased interest in the Gulf region shown by Russian banks. Billionaire Mikhail Prokhorov’s Onexim Group has bought half of Renaissance Capital and intends to move into the Middle-East market to exploit the current financial crises.

The financial sector is connected by the vital web of information services. With growth within the sector there is growth within information service providers. Bloomberg have a consistent recruitment for Arabic speakers to be based around the world but particularly in MENA.  For other IT, Microsoft are actively recruiting in North Africa and Kadi Arabia have several positions based in Egypt.

Legal Services

The high oil revenues and continued investment in MENA have provided increased opportunities for Private Equity lawyers as well as oil and gas commercial solicitors. For those working in the energy sector the rewards can be considerably higher than for solicitors working in financial services. The Dubai Corporate Counsel Group indicate that the top level solicitors in the energy sector earn $400,000 p.a. compared to $270,000 in the financial sector. England and Welsh legal qualifications lead to earnings second only to those with USA qualifications. Scotland has its own legal system and those qualified in Scotland may need further training and qualifications before working in the Middle-East.

Law firms that are currently expanding in the Middle-East include Latham & Watkins, Norton Rose, Clifford Chance and Dewey & LeBoeuf. Positions are advertised locally but are often available through international recruitment companies. Legalweek.com has a range of positions on offer and some useful links to recruitment companies.

Real Estate

Property continues to be big business in the middle east. A study by Jones Lang LaSalle researched opinions from over 350 developers and property investment businesses with over 50% of respondents believing that the middle-East market will outperform other regions over the next two years. However there should be a note of caution. Funding for real-estate investments is being limited by banks and that will effect the market.

Roles are varied and include requirements for marketing and sales executives, architectural, engineering and surveying professions, financial and acquisitions consultants. A range of roles can be viewed here

Where can I start looking?

My favourite jobs sites are Naukri and GulfTalent because they are so easily searched by region and profession.  UAEGraduate is a useful if somewhat less intuitive site for jobs. Less specific jobs websites like Total Jobs sometimes have useful vacancy information for graduates – well worth a look.

Some agencies (from GulfTalent)

• ABC Consultants
• Alchemy Recruitment
• Alltek Limited
• Architect and Designer Rec…
• Aspire Resourcing
• Baker Regent
• Beresford Blake Thomas (BBT)
• Budge Recruitment
• CapioME
• Carter Murray
• Catalyst Search & Selection
• Catenon Worldwide Executiv…
• Command Recruitment Group
• Davidson Scott Mitchell (D…
• Duneden
• Executive Profiles
• Executive Solutions
• Expat Careers International
• First Point Group
• Fischer HRM
• Focus Direct
• Genesis Associates
• Gulf Connexions
• Hays
• Horizon International
• Huxley Associates
• IBS Management Consultants
• IQ Selection
• Intuit Management Consulta…
• Kawas Consulting
• LPC Recruitment Services
• Leaders
• Logistics Recruitment
• MRL Financial
• Ma Foi Management Consulta…
• Manpower Professional
• Mattinson Wright
• NOW Careers Middle East
• Oldbury Howard
• Orion Group
• Parc Group
• Pathway Resourcing
• People Source
• Quantum Search
• Redstone Associates
• Richardson Management Cons…
• Select Appointments
• Select Human Resources
• Skill Set Consulting (SSC)
• Talent2
• Team One Dubai

The next article in this series will cover graduate prospects in India.

Publication due w/c 10 November

Has my future been credit crunched?

 

Storm clouds over the City

For many students and graduates this is a time of significant uncertainty. The newspapers are full of gloomy headlines and the effect of the financial crises is clearly global.  In this short series we will try to explore how the credit crunch might affect your career prospects when you go back home. We will consider graduate prospects in the USA, South America, Australia, Middle-East, Africa, China and India.

So what does a bank closing mean for you? What is getting a job in a recession like?  We cannot cover everywhere with this short series but please do post comments and your experiences no matter where you are from. Your experiences can be very valuable for other people and might dispel some of the myths of the current job market. You might also find this article from the BBC about the last recession in the UK (not career specific). This series is not going to concentrate on just careers in the financial sector but the current turmoil has ramifications across each economy.

For those who aren’t sure of what the Credit crunch is (or are too afraid to ask!) there are some basic guides here and here. Or ask an economics student. Essentially it is a sudden loss of the availability of credit and banks start to worry about liquidity. Credit becomes more expensive and institutions struggle to finance their business.

Careers in the UK

The introduction of the 2 year Post-Study Work immigration status gives international students the opportunity to work in the UK and gain valuable experience. However you must be realistic. Applying for the visa does not guarantee you a job. All it does is allow you to join the Home and EU candidates in applying. You must keep your expectations moderate.

Also bear in mind that at the moment there are few experts. The pace of change in the economy is causing uncertainties. Employers recruiting this week may not be recruiting next. Some employers may keep recruitment at a very low level until they are sure of their requirements. Please also note that the information below was correct at time of writing but may become obsolete quickly.

I wanted a job in banking but there’s no point now.

With that attitude, perhaps. It is certainly easy to think that and the media keeps telling us about job losses in the City and banks cutting staff. Clearly there are some jobs that are going to be harder to get into than others – no change there then. And yes, if you want to be involved in Short Selling then this probably isn’t your time.

But banks are still recruiting. Merrill Lynch is currently advertising graduate roles in sales, trading and structuring, IT and capital markets. Barclays Capital and UBS are actively looking to hire analysts although there are suggestions that positions might be deferred for a year (i.e. successful applicants will not start work until Autumn 2009). The situation will continue to change and each company will evaluate its own requirements and yes there will be fewer jobs than before but that does not mean the sector shouldn’t be considered. Perhaps think about different roles within banking. There is a perception that smaller investment banks such as Jeffries, Houlihan Lokey and Gleacher Shacklock recruit only from the top Oxbridge colleges. The reality is that yes, some employers do tend to recruit only from a select University background. However by looking through staff profiles on these bank websites you often see greater diversity than you would expect. They are always worth trying but just be aware that they may not have policies on recruiting international graduates.

Banking? Maybe I meant the “City”.

Often people confuse banking with the “City”. The City has many different types of institutions within it. So what happens during a financial downturn like we are facing now? In fact, who “benefits” from a financial downturn? The big one surely must be in financial regulation. The UK’s Financial Services Authority is currently recruiting through its graduate schemes – Graduate Development, Legal Development, Management Accountancy and Actuarial Development.

Consultancy / Professional Services

Professional Services are involved in much of the mergers and acquisitions currently taking place. PWC have not decreased their graduate intake this year and in some business areas may look to increase opportunities. Both PWC and E&Y have a strong on-campus presence this year. With many of these organisations the roles available may be different from before but that just reflects the current market. For example, Ernst & Young are very keen to encourage applicants to their non accountancy roles and are running a session on campus to discussion those career options. For those still interested in accountancy, there may well be options to work with some of the mid-sized City firms such as Moore Stephens and CRA.

Other roles in the City include insurers Lloyds of London who are continuing to recruit for their graduate programme. And of course, all of these organisations rely on the efficient exchange of information. Thomson Reuters have been recruiting in journalism, finance and IT. Their competitor, Bloomberg, are also advertising roles for graduates.

Are you surprised?

If you think about it, there is logic to these companies continuing to recruit at graduate level. Graduates are cheap. Yes the salaries may be excellent graduate salaries (and they often are) but compare that salary to that of somebody in middle or upper management and it doesn’t take long to see where cost savings can be made.

So things are not as desperate as you might think. There are still career prospects in the financial sector but we have to accept that the roles and priorities have changed for the moment. Competition for jobs in the City is always high and the current situation could increase that.

There are several useful online resources that can help you find out more about different business environments. Efinancialcareers tries to keep up to date with events in the City. The Telegraph newspaper has an awkward online version of its finance careers guide and Careers Tagged is a new resource with substantial information about a range of career options.

Ways in

The conventional route into the City is through a graduate training scheme. However these can be costly for employers and, in the current market, they have limited opportunities. There are often other routes in and you should consider if they are appropriate for you.

Get Qualified First!

It may be possible for some graduates to secure positions in accountancy by undertaking the qualifications first. This can be a costly experience and there may be issues with immigration visas. The different qualification routes have varying requirements so it is worth looking at the ACA, ACCA , CIMA and AAT. You can dramatically increase your employability by undertaking these qualifications with the potential to enter City firms at a level higher than most graduate entry.

Internships

Some banks are not currently recruiting because they have offered positions to last year’s interns. Whilst this should not be your expectation there is little doubt that interning can boost your potential. Interns are favoured by regulators and companies because they can try out prospective employees without having to commit to recruiting them. There are internships at many City firms despite the financial crises. Even small Investment Banks like Gleacher Shacklock and Greenhill have a number of internship opportunities. However you must be applying now for internships in summer 2009. Internships are advertised on company websites and careers websites.

Speculative Applications

A speculative application is where you send a CV and letter to a company in case they may have a suitable job. It can be more effective than you think. Sometimes companies are reluctant to advertise vacancies online because they may get hundreds of applications for one job. Speculative applications are often kept on file and referred to. To make this work your CV and letter must be extremely effective, targeted to a specific job in a specific company. You can take advantage of market intelligence to increase your chance of success. If it looks as though a company is going to pursue a new business area then perhaps you can market yourself as being a useful part of that process. Some companies do not accept speculative applications and state it on their websites. You should respect that.

So, not as bad as you thought?

If you are thinking about a career in the City, be it in a bank, regulator or wherever, you need to be clever – not just academically but also in how you go about developing your own skills and making yourself slightly more employable than the many others who might be interested in the same job.  The key task whilst at University is to build up your knowledge of the sector beyond your academic requirements. Many organisations recruit from most degree backgrounds so you don’t have to be an economist to apply. But they all expect you to know something about what they do. What do the different roles mean? What makes one company different from its competitor? You need in-depth knowledge and, quite frankly, if you had to read the links above to find out about the credit crunch, things aren’t looking good!

The next article in this series will cover MENA.

Due for publication w/c November 3 2008

 

Home sweet home?

Stories about impending recessions in the US and Europe are regular occurences nowadays. The BBC recently reported a significant drop in employment figures in the UK. With a recession looming, the UK job market may look less attractive to international students. Many international students are interested in gaining work experience in the UK after their studies. Does the economic climate change that?