On behalf of everyone at Morgan McKinley in the UK, I would like to wish you a very Merry Christmas and prosperous 2013.

christmas, Christmas Message, happy new year, Morgan McKinley

Our latest Bonus Expectations Survey is now available – this was carried out in November with over 500 professionals working across financial services in London, giving us real insight into their thoughts on bonuses and compensation.  Compared to last year’s survey we can see a definite faltering in confidence with only 60% this year expecting to receive a bonus. Last year 67% anticipated a bonus, and even more the previous year.

In addition a third of those who don’t think they are likely to get a bonus told us this is because their employers will not be paying bonuses at all for 2012/13.

On a more positive note – there were 27% who think that their bonus might be higher than 2011/12.  When we asked this question at the end of last year, only 14% were so confident.  However, the majority (57%) are not forecasting bonus payments any higher than last year which seems to sum up the overall attitude towards bonuses throughout the market.  Where we once saw bonuses as a very key part of the negotiation between job seeker and employer, this is less and less true now.  For most job seekers who are motivated to move by improved pay, it is their basic salary that is becoming more important to them in making the decision to take up a new role.

In terms of the amount that will be paid, almost 90% don’t think they will get any more than 30% of their base salary as a bonus – similar to last year.  Most of these actually think their bonus will be no more than 10%, relatively modest in comparison to the years before 2008.  Our Spring 2013 Bonus Satisfaction Survey will reveal if professionals were in fact being over cautious, or if their predictions were realistic….

Read the full results of our latest Bonus Expectations Survey and November Employment Monitor

bonus, bonus survey, Hiring, Professionals, salary

I recently attended a small but significant networking event hosted by Silu, an organisation aimed at professionals working or doing business in China invited a Morgan McKinley guest to speak at their panel event – alongside editors from The Banker and eFinancialCareers. Richie Holliday, COO Morgan McKinley Asia took up the opportunity to speak from his experience overseeing Morgan McKinley’s offices in Shanghai and Hong Kong, as well as Singapore and Japan.

The event titled: ‘Asia calling: where is the future for financial services professionals’ is the first of many seminars from Silu as it aims to become a hub for professionals in Asia, particularly those focused individuals seeking to return to China (known as Haigui) for career enhancement.

Haigui (an informal term for Chinese people who have returned to mainland China after having studied or worked abroad) are in strong demand and sought after by multinational companies to bridge the cultural differences. Also a new generation of career driven individuals are in China looking to make a name for themselves, in a competitive career environment everyone is looking for the edge to give them the advantage and Silu offers an outlet to learn from successful individuals such as the two other guest speakers, Dr Mao and Dr Wang, both head of risk areas in leading financial services institutes

This signifies the impact that China will continue to have especially with cities like Shanghai progressing rapidly towards becoming a global financial centre. Richie presented key findings from Morgan McKinley’s China Hiring Market Report 2013. He also highlighted the changes happening in the market, for example, no longer can non-Chinese language speakers walk into a position even in financial hubs such as Hong Kong.

The event was very well attended and a great success for Silu, with Richie being almost mobbed at the end from those who wanted more information about the opportunities and possibilities of returning to China.

Now we are all in a globally competitive market, what skills do you think will be most important for you to succeed in the future?

career, China, Chinese language, Financial Services, financial services professionals, Hong Kong, Shanghai

Yesterday evening we hosted a very special Vegas Glamour event in aid of the much loved Rainbow Trust Children’s Charity.

The evening hosted for clients operating in secretarial and business support, was held at our London office in Aldwych. The office was transformed with a Vegas theme; meeting rooms were renovated into iconic Vegas hotels, Casino tables took residence in reception, a swing singer set the mood and a mixologist welcomed guests with signature cocktails.

• In the MGM Grand guests were able to  have some fun with Vegas style games, drinks, nibbles and cupcakes
• In the Bellagio the theme was beauty and guests were invited in to hear about the latest hairstyles for the party season from top stylists from the Andrew Jose Hair Salon and be pampered with a mini manicure, eyebrow shape or HD Brows. A personal trainer was also on hand to give tips and advice on how to get healthy in 2013
• Caesars Palace featured some great makeup and skincare tips from the Mary Kay makeup team
• The Luxor offered celebrity spray tanning to give attendees a true Vegas glow!
• And last but not least the Venetian was home to the  Rainbow Trust Children’s Charity where guests could learn more about the charity and pledge donations.

Over a hundred clients and business contacts attended to support the cause and take part in pre-Christmas networking and the money raised contributed to the total of  £941 raised by Morgan McKinley for the Rainbow Trust, a charity that provides emotional and practical support individually tailored to families of children with a life threatening or terminal illness. The charity relies on fundraising for 95% of its income so events like this are essential in providing vital support to families when they need it most.

We hope to raise even more for the charity at our Christmas party this Friday (30th November 2012) where we will be holding a raffle for all London employees.

To find out more about this event you can view the press release here, you can also visit Flickr to view all photos from the evening.

event, Morgan McKinley, rainbow trust, vegas

Wondering what salary increase to ask for can be tricky. With our insight into who’s paying what and where, we have decided to start tracking the uplift in pay across the City based on employers making job offers each month.

Our London Employment Montitor now includes this metric each month. The graph below shows the percentage change – typically an increase – in the salary that people were previously on, compared to the salary from their new job offer. In the month of October 12, the difference was an increase of 20% indicating that despite the challenging hiring market, salaries are still increasing for those who are finding new roles.

Average salary increases across London's financial services sector

Job opportunities are still down 36% compared to the previous year, however seeing pay rise gives us some confidence that London’s financial services sector retains an element of competitiveness in securing the best talent and remains an attractive place to work as we saw from the recent Global Competitiveness report from Z/Yen that my colleague James Smith recently wrote about as well as the PwC report: Cities of opportunity 2012 – both rank London top as a global financial city.

To find out more about financial services salaries, please contact us to have a confidential discussion: london@morganmckinley.co.uk

Cities of Opportunity, City, employment monitor, financial services sector, Global Competitivess, global financial city, job offers, pay rise, salary increase, talent, Z/Yen

According to the online finance dictionary Investopedia, the term broker refers to a ‘firm when it acts as an agent for a customer and charges the customer a commission for its services’.

In the job seeking process, that’s where recruitment consultants like me come in: we act as brokers between the companies and institutions who hire us to find talent and professionals looking for new roles.

As an experienced financial services professional with good knowledge of the market you may feel no need to engage with a recruiter.  I understand that, however let me explain the pros and cons of either working with a recruitment company or alternatively not doing so and waiting to be headhunted directly…

Will a direct recruiter be able to help me?

More and more banks are building up their own internal recruitment functions – referred to as ‘direct recruitment’.  For a bank, this seems like a great option; bypass recruiters and hire directly – saving money on the fee paid to a consultancy.  However the probability of a direct recruiter finding the very best person for the role immediately drops – by definition a bank or institution will never have access to the same wide pool of candidates that recruitment companies do.  They don’t invest in the right tools and technologies to do so as it’s simply not their business – it’s ours!

For a hiring manager this is not necessarily the best option especially at a time when each new hire is key.  For a professional looking to develop their career – it’s only one role with one bank, compared to the opportunity to discuss multiple roles across varying organisations by speaking to a recruitment consultancy…

So is it better to talk to a recruiter than to a bank?

We are paid to source and find the best professionals in the market, for the right roles.  Like it or not, that’s what we do, all day every day to help companies build strong teams.  This simply gives us the edge over any employer in being able to find talent.  We also talk to financial institutions daily about multiple roles, across various teams in their organisations: so once we find good people, we know exactly where they might fit.  Acting as the ‘broker’ means we know what hiring managers are looking for; we may have already helped them hire somebody or even placed them in their own jobs, so we have a unique insight.  We also spend hours talking to professionals to understand, not just their next job, but their entire career plan so we can help them find the best roles.

I am certainly not saying that as a professional you shouldn’t take a call directly from a financial services institution – instead I hope this post makes clear the difference between their role and our role. Do yourself a favour and keep your options open by talking to a recruiter.

If you have a view on this topic – I’m keen to hear from you. Please email me at henver@morganmckinley.co.uk or leave us a comment below.

debate, direct recruitment, Financial Services, financial services jobs, Morgan McKinley, recruitment company

London has come top alongside New York City in the Global Financial Centres Index published by Z/Yen last week. What’s more,  Morgan McKinley is located in four of the top 10 global financial centres identified in this latest report, with operations in London, Paris, Singapore and Hong Kong. In addition Morgan McKinley is located in Australia, China, Ireland, Japan and the UAE.

The report examines the major financial centres around the world in terms of competitiveness, and highlights priorities and concerns of professionals. According to the Financial Times, despite London’s top ranking, issues in the Eurozone and regulatory pressures continue to be a significant concern for professionals. Nearly half of the respondents in London don’t expect the city to be more competitive in three years’ time – compared to respondents in other European countries who were far more positive about where they live.

This illustrates the impact and turbulence of the global economic issues and in particular how the Eurozone problems have affected London’s financial services sector. Despite these issues, London’s ability to come out top of the ranking also underlines how the city continues to remain at the heart of global financial services and its geographical placement and attractiveness in terms of the talent pool and the large number of financial services institutions remains clearly in evidence.

Top 10 –  Global Financial Centres Index 2012. Please click on the countries to view Morgan McKinley’s local websites:
1. London & NYC
3. Toronto
4. Paris
5. Stockholm
6. San Francisco
7. Singapore
8. Hong Kong
9. Chicago

To discuss career opportunities in financial services around the world, please contact James Smith, Associate Director  -  jsmith@morganmckinley.com

eurozone, Financial Times, global financial centres, Global Financial Centres Index, London, Morgan McKinley

Outside of my precious family, the two most prominent things in my life are recruitment and baking.  Ten years ago when my career involved spending most of my time 30,000 feet up in the air as cabin crew, had someone given me a glimpse of my life today I think my reaction would have been quite the picture.  Number one, I couldn’t cook never mind bake and number two, work in an office – you must be joking?  The sky is my office!

Fast forward to now and I am so passionate about recruitment and the company I work for.  As a recruiter I spend all my time searching, sourcing and identifying people from a variety of backgrounds to work in an industry that is hugely rewarding and a company that makes it happen.  (The baking comes a close second as it’s still in its infancy but like recruitment I get a buzz from it and it too is hugely rewarding).

So how did it all happen?

I had just bought a house and wanted to get my feet on the ground with normal working hours, good pay, an exciting job (this was going to be a tall order competing with aviation), and it needed to involve people.  A friend suggested recruitment and, like most, I thought of recruitment in the context of the few times I had been exposed to it in various companies and thought yes; I could probably do that! Recruitment is a career path that people don’t often think about pursuing but sometimes when they try it they realise that they have a genuine talent for it. When I started I realised there was a whole other world in recruitment, it wasn’t just about working for one company, you could service a multiple of clients,meet hundreds of candidates and most of all get uncapped earnings based on your performance. Just like having your own business – you get out of it what you put in.

Daunting? Yes!  Impossible? Absolutely not!

Seven years later and I have placed over 500 people, built a network of connections that I would have deemed unreachable ten years ago and forged a career that has gone from strength to strength.  I’m a lucky girl!

So if you are considering a career change and you want to find out more about recruitment please feel free to get in touch, I have been there and I am happy to advise you.

PS – recipe suggestions also welcome!!

View Ciara’s profile

Link to the original article here

career changers, career in recruitment, Careers, Hiring

There’s a time when ‘investment bank’ and ‘apprenticeship’ would not have typically been mentioned in the same sentence.  Well times have changed and even in these cost stringent times of shareholder scrutiny, organisations like Goldman Sachs are lining up to take on the Ladder for London Scheme – as highlighted in an issue of last week’s Evening Standard.

Upon joining the scheme employers are presented with a shortlist of candidates to interview and select an individual for 12 months, pay them at least £8.30 (the London living wage) for a at least 30 hours a week and release them one day a week to complete their NVQ. The government may also give some employers cash incentives for taking apprentices.

Over the past few years its been evident that skilled workers have been more valuable and hired more often than graduates or career changers despite the cost difference in salaries.  Student debt is growing and becoming a concern, university costs in America have gone over the $1 trillion mark and has over taken credit card and car loan debt (still a long way off mortgage debt) but its the second highest debt in the US and with an uncomfortable default rate of 21% it’s not looking like a wise move for an individual interested in ‘higher education’.

Is banking going to lead the way back to on the job training?  Rather than off-shoring are they going to take apprentices?  Maybe training contracts will become commonplace for people to learn banking basics.  In the same way that a temporary position can enhance a skill set very quickly, could young, bright individuals see a career path in on-the-job training rather than going to university? I definitely think a university education has its place but equally, I believe that more apprenticeships will ultimately help to boost the economy.

The ‘hidden costs’ that some may see in giving your time and energy to developing the individual is an unfortunate way to view such a worthwhile scheme but a serious consideration for a small or medium sized business.  Giving individuals the chance to succeed and seeing this actually happen, I think well lead to a lot of businesses keen to sign up to this scheme in time – especially with global heavyweights like Goldman Sachs setting the example.

What would you get an apprentice to do in your firm?

apprenticeships, Banking, Goldman Sachs, investment bank, Ladder for London

As the magical month of the London 2012 Olympic Games and Paralympic Games is entering its final days, I wanted to share my thoughts on my experience as a “Games Maker” (Olympic volunteer). It has been an honour and a privilege to be one of the 70,000 strong team, selected from over 240,000 applications to provide support during the Olympic period.

Anouska(centre) with Valerie Adams - NZ Gold medallist in women's shot put and her coach.

I was a part of the Venue Entry team during the Olympic Games, primarily based at the Olympic Park. If you haven’t had the chance to get to the park, don’t worry. Part of the park will reopen in July 2013 with the rest of the park reopening by Easter 2014. The wildflowers and waterways make it a truly beautiful spot in what was previously a wasteland. I’ve met some amazing people and although the 4am wake up calls most days were tough, it was worth it. I can’t count how many people talked to me on the train, gave up their seat so that I could rest my tired feet, and congratulated me on doing a wonderful job. High-fives and hugs were a daily occurrence. My main highlights would be seeing all the smiling faces of local and international spectators entering the park, the outrageous costumes by the fans, and getting the chance to walk around the park after my shift to soak up the atmosphere.  Some days I was at the park from 6am to 9pm (after my shift finishing at 2pm) as I didn’t want to leave!

I’ve been inspired by both Olympians and Paralympians (aka ‘Superhumans’). What they have shown us in determination and hard work has been amazing. It’s something I will take away with me. Whenever times are tough, as long as I approach something with a positive attitude and give it my all, that’s all anyone can ask for.

Volunteering and giving back to the community can give you a great sense of personal achievement as well as showing employers that you are willing to go the extra mile and give up your time for something that you believe in. It can keep you motivated in this tough job market and show employers that you are keeping active. Wouldn’t you want to hire someone who is a team player?

Bring on the Athletes Parade on Monday 10^th September through the streets of London. I’ll be there wearing my Games Maker uniform for the last time!

If you want to share in some of these experiences check out some of the Morgan McKinley photos of the Olympics and Paralympics on Flickr!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/morgan_mc_kinley/sets/72157631421769514/

London 2012, Olympic Games, team player