Having made the decision to look for a new job, do you have a plan in place? Hopping onto your chosen jobs board and hitting ‘apply now’ to countless jobs is not advised. Planning the entire process is vital to ensure you make the right connections and find your next career move.

Often it can be difficult to go it alone. Working with a recruitment consultant however can help. Offering a wealth of services to both candidates and clients, the information and guidance they provide is hugely beneficial. Recruitment consultants are instrumental in landing you the right job in the right environment. When making the decision to enlist the services of a recruitment consultant consider these points;

1. We offer inside information with a professional consultative approach – select the right partner for you.

A recruitment consultant is just that, a CONSULTANT. We are more than the middle man between you and the mysterious company we are advertising for. When choosing a recruitment consultant it is important to define what they will bring to the table for you. Depending on the length of the process, you are going to be in regular contact for a number of weeks or months. Recruitment is a complex procedure so align yourself with a trusted partner who will make your move efficient, insightful and practical.

On your initial contact with your chosen recruitment firm / consultant it is advisable to ask the following questions to get a flavour of their knowledge, expertise and willingness to support you. An enthusiastic and proactive recruiter is what you are seeking. Ask;

• How is the market moving?
• How do my current compensation and benefits stack up compared to my competition?
• Am I job hunting in a competitive space?
• How does my profile compete in that space? What do they have that I do not have?
• What gaps do I need to bridge to make me stand out and give me a competitive edge?
• What environment is best suited to me based on my reasons for leaving?
• What companies are hiring?
• What are hiring cycle times like?

Work only with a recruiter who wants to meet you. It is impossible for a recruiter to get behind you without a true understanding of your motivations, interests, capabilities and technical competencies without physically meeting you.

Once you have selected your recruitment partner, and feel they have a client base you’re interested in and a can do professional attitude, you are opening yourself up to a world of inside knowledge and connections.

2. Employer engagement

When you apply for a role directly to an employer online, what happens? Unfortunately, quite often, nothing! Your favourite organisations are favourites for a reason and the droves of applications they receive on a daily basis are phenomenal. If your recruiter is good at their job they are often a trusted business partner for many of the companies you’d like to work for.

The reality is CVs can regularly drown in the sea of applications. If your recruiter knows your capabilities and relevance for roles, they will be able to introduce your profile to a company, before even sending a CV, creating a much more powerful connection than you submitting a CV through a portal or career page. They will ensure your application stands out from the crowd.

After securing an interview through your consultant, this is when they work to the true definition of the word consultant and will act as a true advisor. They know this company well, they have met the hiring manager, even the team, and they’ve also had people interview with the same panel before. Recruiters can strategically assist you in preparation for your interview to help you nail it on the day.  They will prepare you on how to do a successful interview and represent yourself powerfully on the day through interview role play techniques and competency style questioning. They know the company’s style of interview, what sort of skills they like in a candidate and what the hiring manager really wants, outside of what’s on the job spec.  They can help you prepare and highlight the most relevant aspects of your experience and achievements to ensure you impress in person.

3. The deal breaker bit…

So at this point, it’s yours- your dream company wants to offer you the job!! The salary conversation can be tricky to manage on your own, especially if this isn’t the only opportunity on the table. On one side you don’t want to price yourself out or appear to be greedy. On the other side you are thrilled to be offered the job but you would like a little bump up in your package too. It can be risky business with many factors playing a role, and there may be even be a second choice candidate in the wings who will accept the job for less.

Here is where working with a recruitment consultant can be of huge benefit. They will know if there’s competition for the role as well as knowing the client’s constraints on salary and will give you a true reflection of what is available.

And remember….

Working with a volume of recruiters and making volume applications online is ill advised. The Irish market is small and too much duplication or representation of your details does not look good for you. Ultimately your profile is your strength and unique to you so keep a comprehensive track of where it’s going. If you do choose a blend of both direct applications and consultant representation, tread carefully.

In a nutshell, a recruiter can offer you new ideas on how to market yourself, new companies you perhaps hadn’t thought of, interview strategy and above all a successful outcome managed professionally and knowledgeably!

If you’d like any advice on the financial services jobs market in Dublin feel free to reach out to me ciara@executiveconnections.ie I offer all of the above to my candidates so if you are considering a move please get in touch to see if I can be of assistance. You can also the roles I am currently working on here. 

The post 3 reasons why working with a Recruitment Consultant makes more sense than directly applying for your next job. appeared first on Executive Connections.

For many the thoughts of compiling and structuring a CV is a daunting task. Research has shown that your CV can be discarded in a matter of seconds if an employer or recruiter doesn’t immediately read the information they want. Working mainly in the Banking sector, many of my candidates come across the same problems when writing their CV. Questions that I receive regular enquiries about include questions such as: What type of information does my Banking CV need to contain? Should I make sure to keep it less than 2 pages? Do I include every job I’ve had or just those that are relevant?

There is a wealth of information out there on how to structure your CV. Most of the information is generic and it can be hard to apply the information available to your specific industry. In light of this, I have put together a detailed list of what you should include in your Banking CV when making your next move within the Banking sector.

I am in direct contact with some of the biggest banking institutions on a daily basis. Some of them receive in excess of hundreds of CVs per day so how do you make yours stand out from the crowd? Here are the key points I always recommend my candidates to include in order to have the best chance at success.

1. Go back to Basics

Most important are your day-to-day tasks. What do you do from the moment you hit your desk until you leave? Be extremely clear in your approach when explaining what exactly you do. Be mindful when listing these to firstly include the tasks that are most relevant to the role you are applying for.

2. Demonstrate your Development

Equally important are any promotions of extra responsibilities you’ve taken on as you have progressed in your role. Employers are keen to hire people who go above and beyond and will be an integral member of their team. If you have had a number of promotions within a short period of time mention them as well as the timeframe they occurred in.

3. Doing things better?

What really makes you stand out is project work or process improvements you’ve led or been involved in. Clearly outline these with direct focus on your role within these projects. Many of our Banking clients have requirements for candidates with proven Project Management skills. Showing examples of processes which you have been involved in streamlining is very attractive for employers.

4. Explain the gaps

Ensure you list all roles you’ve had and discuss any gaps in employment with your recruiter to ensure you cover these too. Gaps in your CV are generally not a problem once you can explain them. Do not try and hide them as often people are caught out and it doesn’t reflect well on them. If you have a valid reason for a gap in your CV such as time away travelling be open and up front, employers are totally open to this.

Don’t allow for any doubt at first glance. If you’ve been away travelling, lucky you!! Most likely you’ll have some odd, short term jobs on your CV. It is important to list these, remember the banking world is highly regulated and background checks and on-boarding processes are detailed and thorough. My advice is to outline the timeline of your travels, acknowledge you had a number of temporary contracts and bullet point each one listing the dates you worked there, the company name and your job title. This is clear, concise and avoids any confusion at a later stage too when you’ve landed yourself an offer!

5. Technical Skills

Make sure to include your systems experience. From a training perspective your experience of certain systems can make you more attractive than your competitors in the market and this is worth highlighting upfront. Internal or in-house systems are worth mentioning too, often they are easily comparable to counterpart systems in your industry so these are worth mentioning too.

6. Tailored CVs

It’s perfectly fine to have a few versions of your CV. Some experience might be more relevant for one role than another and in order to make yourself stand out sometimes you’ll need to reformat you profile to highlight your more relevant experience for the job. I also advise rewriting introductory paragraphs to showcase what parts of the job specification you have experience or knowledge of. Don’t forget you need to grab attention in the first few lines at a minimum.

If you’d like to chat through your CV, get some advice on how you should prepare your profile and find out what my investment banking clients look for in a Banking CV, contact me at ciara@executiveconnections.ie or you can call me on 01-6618740. You can also view the opportunities I am currently working on here. 

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Why the sudden surge?

Open your Twitter feed, a news site or listen to a jobs announcement and Fintech is guaranteed to be mentioned in some form. Fintech – or financial technology almost feels like a natural progression, given the success of the already thriving Irish Financial Services and Technology sectors. These two successful industries have now collided, merging to create new companies, products, ways of doing business and endless opportunities.

The industry has been described as booming with the government supporting Fintech strongly in its IFS 2020 (A Strategy for Ireland’s International Financial Services Sector 2015-2020). The Irish Venture Capital Association reports investment of €520 billion in Fintech start-ups in 2015, making it a record year for investment.

As more innovative Fintech start-ups start to pop up throughout the city and those already established continue to scale, Dublin has an excellent opportunity to cash in on this growth. Many of our clients, established financial institutions also see Fintech as their next opportunity. These global Financial Services providers are seeking competitive advantage by adopting Fintech services for their clients. In an effort not to be left behind, they are investing heavily in technology, creating new products, services and in turn career opportunities for talented individuals.

An increasing volume of Fintech companies means increasing numbers of people working within the sector. The number of Fintech career opportunities are growing at a rapid rate due to a couple of key factors:

• The start-up scene is full of hungry entrepreneurs ready to make their mark.
• A commitment from the Irish government to provide funding and pump investment into the sector shows that they recognise the potential to boost Ireland’s reputation as an internationally recognised Fintech hub.
• Both the large global and indigenous financial institutions are tracking both the opportunity and challenge provided by Fintech companies. The international trend has seen increased M&A activity as they seek to acquire competence in this sector and/or set up innovation labs internally in an effort to launch their own Fintech services & platforms independently or in collaboration with partners.

Hiring Trends

Our list of Fintech clients is beginning to grow and as we speak to more and more candidates whose aim it is to enter the Fintech space, here are our insights as to what it takes to be successful in the area.

What are Fintech employers looking for?

• Of course it goes without saying that to enter this exciting industry employers will be looking for top talent. Those who challenge the norm and are ready to make a lasting impact on the development of the industry in Ireland will be of main interest to employers.
• Those who are visionary in their work and excited to be a part of the evolution of Fintech will also be attractive to employers.
• Many Fintech companies are scaling rapidly, and with no solid structural environment in these start-ups someone who can work without ambiguity will thrive in this sector. It is likely that project scope will change, with changing priorities and objectives being the norm. Employers are seeking candidates that can adapt in these situations, adjusting to inevitable changes in this fast paced environment.
• As it is a relatively new space, finding large amounts of people with extensive Fintech experience may not be a reality. Therefore those who can display a broad level of knowledge in the area are more likely to be hired. Furthermore those who demonstrate a passion for Fintech and are ambitious will have a distinct advantage in securing employment.
• When it comes to education and skills, candidates are required to be highly technical. In reality many of the start-ups are tech companies moving into the financial services space. Employees will need to be methodical and analytical in their work, almost scientific in their approach such is the complexity of the sector.

With an effect on Banking, Asset Management, Payments, Insurance, Trading and more, we are excited to see how the industry matures and are delighted to be directly involved, working with the best talent Dublin and beyond has to offer.

Are you ready for a career move in to a brand new and exciting industry? Is Fintech where you see your career soaring to the next level? If yes, we would love to hear from you. Call Aisling on 01-6618740 or see more of our Fintech roles here.

The post What does it take to build a successful Fintech career? appeared first on Executive Connections.

Ok, so at this point we’re probably all tired of hearing about Brexit and speculating its impending implications. The future of Canary Wharf in particular has been plunged into uncertainty, with the international banks still nursing a major migraine following last week’s referendum result. One thing is for sure however… we here in Ireland need to make the best of this bad bargain.

While all is yet to be confirmed, many of our friends across the pond have already begun to make plans around relocating some of their major functions. London’s Financial Services industry, like many others in Europe has always laid on the foundations of a flexible and free flowing travel band across the European continent. Removing this element was always going to be detrimental to its future.

Word on the street has it that big banks are most interested in three major financial hubs across Europe, Paris, Frankfurt and most importantly for us DUBLIN! The jobs market in Financial Services in Ireland has been nicely buoyant for the last 12-18 months. Many of the leading international banks are already at home here in well established, large operations. Following on from last week, Dublin could find itself home to more and more job opportunities and much sooner than we once thought. As a result of this we need to plan ahead where possible. Remember, the early bird catches the worm!

You may not be currently looking for a new job, but we are all candidates in this fast moving market. Not opening yourself to checking out new opportunities in your industry could be a huge setback in your career development plan. Now is the time to start thinking about what you want in your next step.

Below are some key tips to getting yourself and your profile in ship shape before our new neighbours arrive.

Planning

• What do you want? What is your next step? What is most important to you in your job and what do you want for sure in your next one?
• Be specific and realistic. We would all like a car allowance for a Ferrari and space to park it in but there are some more basic factors that are to be considered. Maybe its location, work / life balance, clearer reporting lines or a more collaborative environment. Write these down and discuss them with your recruiter later
• What companies are you interested in? Take a look at the international banks in London and which ones are most likely to move to Dublin – what do you know about them? Who do you know that works for them and can they give you more insight? Try and be as informed as possible.

Action

• LinkedIn is a good place to start and will help you gain more insight into how your market is performing and what movements your peers have been making of late.
• Update your profile fully, list your skills and experience, make sure you have a photograph and your employers are listed.
• Network – get out there and connect with the thought leaders in your space. Who is sharing the content you’re interested in?
• Do a full review of your CV and update it in detail. Don’t worry about the length of your CV, your recruiter will assist you with trimming and formatting where necessary.

Proactivity 

• Keep your finger on the pulse of your industry, your peers and competitors. Combine this with your recruiter’s inside knowledge and expertise and you’ll be ahead of the game as new opportunities reach our shores.
• I always remind candidate to be protective of your profile. You are individual in both your skillset and requirements. Bulk applying directly to employers is not the right approach to maximising from Brexit. Meet with your recruiter, plan your approach with them, leverage off their industry knowledge and direct insight into their clients plans for growth and you’ll be ready to hit the ground running when the right opportunities arise for you.

Executive Connections have specialised in Banking and Finance recruitment for over 25 years in Ireland and internationally. We have long standing relationships with many of the companies who will be affected by Brexit and our expert teams can assist you with all of the above, in preparation for a wealth of opportunity that this monumental event may produce.

Click here to view a list of current opportunities I am working on or contact me to discuss you next career move. Call me today on 01-6618740.

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Principal Recruitment Consultant on our Banking & Finance Team, Keith Walsh writes on focusing on what’s really important to you when considering a career move.

I love helping people find their DREAM job. Even though I am still relatively young in my own career I have been blessed to gain experience working with the top professionals in the best companies in the country. Most of my experience has been particular to the Banking industry but the same foundation can be applied to any industry, market and to anyone looking to find the right job.

There are a lot of things to consider when looking for your next career move: CVs, market trends, recruitment agencies, interviews, commute, money and potential career growth to name a few.

Before you start your job search you need to make sure you have a clear goal in mind. What is your motivation for a new job?

When I talk to candidates there are often 4 main motivators on why they are seeking a new job:

1. Career Growth

If you feel like the position you are in has limited career growth you need to ask yourself ‘why?’. If you feel comfortable with your boss – bring it up in a one-on-one. You want to make sure you lay all your cards on the table and let senior management know you would like additional responsibilities or challenges. Yes, this can be intimidating but what is the worst they can say? “Sorry, we don’t have anything!” If that is the case, you are back right where you started – now you just know for sure!

What kind of career growth are you looking for – leadership, management, experience in different areas, training or new qualifications?

Once you establish the kind of career growth you are seeking you can seek those opportunities in your new job, ask about career growth in an interview and set expectations with your next opportunity.

2. Commute

Specifically within a largely populated and congested area, commute is important. Some candidates I speak to are completely fine driving over an hour each way, others only want a 10-15 minute commute. If you are driving so far that it is affecting your work life balance a shorter commute could help you financially and allow more time with family each day! Knowing what an acceptable commute is for you will allow you to start with a specific territory to search in.

3. Environment- Culture

Have you ever worked somewhere you didn’t like the culture? This could be anything from the people you work with, the office politics, or the work life balance. For example, one candidate I recently placed, in one of their previous jobs really enjoyed the people, the job, the clients, the career growth opportunities, and money but… they had to work 60+ hours a week. In the end, it wasn’t worth it to them. It was hard for them to leave, but at the end of the day work life balance was more important to that candidate. In their new role this candidate now has all of the benefits of their previous role but with a better work life balance.  Set expectations from the beginning on what is acceptable. Personally I don’t have a problem working overtime when needed. However, I have to set boundaries – if it is a good manager – they will understand.

4. Salary

Compensation is usually a touchy subject but one that you must be clear with to begin with. First you need to understand what you need to make as an individual or as a family to maintain your standard of living. You need to consider the TOTAL package including: annual salary, bonus options, stock options, health care benefits and annual leave. Also, remember that when making a move to a new job you may need to take a little bit of a hit because you may be losing any seniority you may have built at your current job. When you are asking about bonuses remember to ask how often they are paid out, this will give you an idea on the likelihood of you getting that. Benefits are probably one of the most important things to review prior to accepting a new job. Don’t be afraid to ask for the benefits when you start the interview process as you will need to know benefit costs when negotiating salary. If the benefits are great then you may be a little more flexible with your annual salary.

Just remember – What is most important to you?

I always recommend candidates to rate their top three motivations. After you have identified your top three motivations then you can start looking at opportunities. If an opportunity doesn’t have any of the top three then it probably isn’t going to be the right fit. Remember, you are looking for a new career—not just any JOB.

Do you agree? What are your top motivations when looking at new opportunities?

Keith is currently working on roles within the Banking & Finance sector. To view Keith’s current opportunities click here. If you would like career advice, are considering a job move or would simply like to talk about the current hiring market call Keith now on 01-6618740.

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A career in finance is a great choice; it’s rewarding, challenging, often well paid, provides variety, finance professionals are needed the world over and businesses can’t turnover without them. But how do you get your first finance job? What questions should you be asking yourself and what questions will potential employers be asking you?

Joanna’s top tips to consider when choosing your first role

While careers are flexible journeys that you can shape to suit your ambitions and strengths, you need to choose your first steps carefully. Taking your first role in a specific industry will mean that you gain experience in just one area and a move into a different sector may prove challenging.

Form a long-term plan and work out the steps to achieve it. Remember that it’s easier to move around within a chosen industry or specialty than to make big career changes, which can reflect poorly on your CV – employers want to see consistency and passion for a chosen career path.

Do plenty of research: talk to people working in different industries and specialisms; contrast and compare lists of your interests, strengths and needs; and talk to tutors and recruitment experts who can help point you in the right direction.

If you have any queries on the current job market or are seeking a new career opportunity in the Finance space contact our Accountancy & Finance team today on 01-6618740.

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