 Candidates seeking good positions in the
Finance industry need to understand the value of establishing good long term
relationships with specialist recruitment companies. By taking the time to work
on their CV's and discussing their requirements and aspirations with
professional recruiters they will stand a much better chance of finding the
roles they are looking for. Indeed, when both parties spend more time on fully
understanding their mutual needs and requirements the more mature the
relationship will become.
Banking
and Finance has changed enormously over the years and for this reason it is
essential that both recruitment companies and candidates keep their relative
skill sets abreast of changes within the industry. It was not so long ago that
the Banking industry had a fairly simple induction process for new starters
often supplemented by ‘day release' to study for professional qualifications.
Those new to the industry would be introduced to the basic banking
administration systems and controls including the electronic and manual filing
systems. In the Retail banking arena this would usually be followed by some
‘front office' training on balancing the cash tills and customer services good
practice followed by some ‘back office' training in the maintenance of customer
account records and dealing with postal queries.
Then as one's career in
Banking and Finance progressed more detailed training would follow in a number
of other specialist areas like Mortgage Finance, Credit and Loans or Investment
banking and Securities. Even just a few years ago this type of ‘on the job'
training could often be slotted into the working day and generally was very
effective.
Today
the Banking and Finance arena has become much more competitive and complex for
a whole host of reasons including new demanding legislation, increasing
consumer confidence and awareness, stiff competition from many different
sectors and all the other factors like globalisation, compliance, security and
technical advances.
It is perhaps
the last of these, technical advances, that are having the most profound
impacts on these very old institutions and almost every month new technology is
released onto the market that is having a profound impact on the way the
Finance industry runs.
Today
robust, secure, fast IT systems are absolutely crucial for all financial
institutions and it is therefore a pre-requisite for many candidates that they
have a good familiarity with some of the core systems. For some of the ‘old
school' specialists this sea change in technological advancement has been
difficult to assimilate and in some cases it can really be a scenario of ‘adapt
or die'.
The good
news for candidates though is that emerging specialisms can lead to very
lucrative contracts for those in the right place at the right time and with the
right skills. For example, new threats to corporate systems from hackers,
viruses, ‘worms', ‘trojans' and identity theft has led to the demand for more
and more IT security specialists, something quite unforeseen a decade ago.
Similarly
the need to integrate older ‘legacy' systems has increased demand for skilled
system integrators and newly highly sophisticated CRM or content management
databases require trained specialists to administer the systems. Mere IT
knowledge though is rarely enough in isolation. It is those candidates that can
apply their financial knowledge and experience and combine it with IT systems
knowledge that are going to be the most sought after resources in today's
competitive business environment.
The
message is clear. By keeping their both their CV's and their skills up to date
and also maintaining a good relationship with a professional recruitment
company candidates are doing all the right things to find the jobs that really
match their individual needs and aspirations.
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