A Career in Banking/Finance?

Reading the national press, you might conclude that this is the worst possible time to be looking for a job in banking or finance.  The collapse of Lehman Brothers, two years of credit crunch, and a stream of pictures showing newly laid-off bankers leaving their office for the last time, cardboard box in hand, have all contributed to the impression that these are sectors in decline, with plenty of well-qualified people competing for a handful of jobs.

Well, think again. London is still the world’s top-ranked financial city (together with New York) and there is an enormous amount of economic activity going on.

There are thousands of banking and finance jobs out there, and even more non-financial positions available in financial institutions. Many of our clients have made the move into these areas successfully, even over the past year. However, you need to know where to look and what to look for.

The place to start on your career search is the banks’ own websites. Thanks to the internet revolution, banks rely less than they used to on recruitment agencies to attract personnel and are also reluctant to advertise on job websites because they do not want to be inundated with applicants; adverts on major job web sites or national newspapers are often a last resort.

That said, one need only glance at the major industry recruitment websites – such as  http://bankingjobsuk.co.uk to see just how many serious adverts they still carry and how vibrant the sector clearly still is. Look closely, and you will see a particular abundance of jobs available in retail banking, marketing, financial planning, project management and other such areas.

This is partly related to the economic upswing and greater sense of confidence recently felt in the City; the £11.5billion takeover of Cadbury’s by US food company Kraft, for example, generated hundreds of thousands of hours of work and other, albeit smaller, such deals take place all the time.

Another factor is the government’s hard push for greater regulation of the banking, investment and financial services industries and more anti-fraud controls. More staff are needed to monitor compliance.

So there are plenty of new career opportunities. And here at Career Balance, we have helped many clients worried about moving into the financial sector to find rewarding (in both senses) new jobs.

Our role is to help our clients realise their own potential by identifying their transferable strengths and figuring out how to apply them to a new role in a different sector. Very often, clients do not realise just how broad a range of skills and knowledge they have picked up in previous workplaces, and how widely these can be applied. Our work with our clients can open up a world of new opportunities.

We also encourage clients to open their minds to jobs they may never have previously considered, but could turn out to be highly suitable. For example, increasing numbers of jobs in banking and finance are fixed-term contracts. Many people are reluctant to even consider them, but they can be excellent for building experience and contacts, and often turn into permanent roles.

So if you’re unsure about a career in banking, now is a good time to reconsider.