Job Hunting in the City: My Advice

Category: Tips and Advice Publish date: 28/07/2015

Now employed in the financial services industry, former Army Officer Richard Fielden reflects upon his resettlement and job search - read his tips for success.

Networking

The advice that people will give you about networking is absolutely true. It is the key to getting the role that you want; but in reality it is more than that. The vast majority of people you meet in the early stages of your job seeking will give you generic advice about how to go about finding work. They will often use the line "speak to me again when you have a better idea what you want to do". My advice on the early stages of job seeking is to use the meetings with people as the chance to understand their industries and experiences. What you are looking for is something that interests you and you think you could potentially do as a career. You will need to meet with a lot of people to find this. I met with around 60 people before I found the types of roles that I wanted. You should use the OA, Liquid List and speaking to friends for this. You should always try to add the contacts on LinkedIn (so set aside the time to ask if they would be willing to connect) and follow up with a letter or email.

Once you have discovered the area that you wish to work in you can be more targeted with your networking. It is here that LinkedIn comes into its own. Use the company search function to discover how you are connected to people that work in your chosen area (this is why it is key to add the people you meet).

From this point forward, every meeting is a potential job interview.

You are likely to meet 3 types of people:

General employees - These individuals will be able to tell you about the work that they do and the culture within the company. This is extremely useful as background and you should try to pick up as much information about specific projects and plans within the company (especially the project names) as this will be invaluable when it comes to formal interviews.

Hiring Managers - You may be fortunate to be referred to, or end up speaking to a hiring manager. These individuals have roles that they are looking to fill. It is imperative that you prepare for these meetings (however informal they are). The goal is to impress them sufficiently that they invite you in for a formal interview. It is by this point that it is critical that you fully understand the transferable skills that you can offer and their application (see the credibility section to follow).

Managing Directors - These individuals will have an insight across an organisation as to potential roles and will be able to put you forward to hiring managers in other areas. Again it is critical that you prepare for these meetings. Research both the company and individual.

Online Application

I very much found that applying for roles online was a waste of time. The HR person who reads your CV is extremely unlikely to forward it on to a hiring manager. In my experience if you find a role that you think would suit you, use LinkedIn to work out who you know in the company and then ask them to recommend you or to take your CV to the Hiring Manager directly (if you are eventually employed that person may then receive a bonus so it is worth their while to support you).

Recruiters

Again in my experience these proved fairly fruitless. Most recruiters are after the easy role fills and will not take the time to try to explain how your skills transfer. It is also worth noting that all recruiters will tell you that you are the greatest thing since sliced bread and promise that they will support you. You should trust your gut instinct as to whether you believe them and certainly do not rely on them to get you a job. You have to do that yourself.

Credibility

One of the biggest challenges is appearing credible in the area that you have chosen. It is extremely important that you are well read on this area and are able to hold a conversation with the correct terminology. In order to increase your chances I advice 3 avenues:

Courses - It is fairly inevitable during resettlement that you will do a Project Management or similar course. This will be useful as most of the work that you will end up carrying out will be project based to a greater or lesser extent. However this alone is unlikely to buy you credibility within the Financial Services. The courses that those working within the Financial Services carry out are usually CISI accredited. Some training providers offer a short crammer course (yes you can use your SLC and the resettlement grant for these). Aside from being useful as a qualification it displays your commitment to the area and will separate you from other applicants.

Work Placements - These cannot be underestimated. They can vary in length from 2 weeks to 6 months and depending on the time you have you should try and get one of these.

Work placements are the perfect ‘in’ to a company and will give you the exposure to hiring managers that you require. Even if nothing comes from your placement it will look great on your CV and will demonstrate commitment to the industry.

The Barclays AFTER programme is a good place to start on this.

Consulting - Another method for getting into the Financial Services is through a consulting agency or to contract for a period. Having not gone along this line myself I do not feel that well placed to advise, however selecting the right consultancy is crucial. You should be prepared to flick between different roles and different locations, and although the Financial Services may be your goal you may need to be prepared to start in an area such as the Public Sector to get your foot in the door. Contracting requires excellent networking skills, as jobs are often made available by word of mouth. You should seek further guidance on this from a consultant or contractor.

Getting the job

With all of this in mind it is important that you pursue multiple avenues and do not get down hearted if one comes to an end. Receiving more than one offer will place you in good stead when it comes to negotiating salaries and will also show that you are clearly desirable.

All of the advice you receive during the Career Transition Workshop is true when it comes to interviews, so I will not repeat that. However, it is worth noting that this process can take time and even after you have been offered a job and signed a contract it can take 6+ weeks to conduct background screening before you are given a start date.

You will often hear stories of people who got their job because they met someone down the pub or just because they have good banter. Although I know that this does happen, it is not something worth banking on and just because you have been in the military and been on tour this does not equate to getting a job. It requires being humble yet confident, incredibly hard and persistent work and should not be left to the last minute.

Good Luck!
Richard Fielden, ORM Deutsche Bank