We spend a lot of time in this job looking forward and planning for the future and seldom take the time to stop and reflect on things previous. Our company conference on Saturday offered that time for reflection and provided a reminder of how tough times were in financial services back at the start of 2009…

 
Back in the business after Christmas in Cape Town but with a number of key people still enjoying a well earned break – it has certainly felt busy these first couple of weeks back at work. We didn’t expect to see such a significant jump in new job vacancies coming onto the market compared to this time last year.  December figures also showed an impressive 24% hike in recruitment activity compared to December 2008 (Morgan McKinley London Employment Monitor – December 2009).

 
Morgan McKinley’s 2010 Hiring Market Outlook Survey of 124 City HR and line managers re-iterated the view that this year will present professionals in London with a wide choice of career prospects – 83% of respondents expected hiring to increase over the coming year.

 
Whilst remuneration is likely to become one of the biggest challenges for employers over the coming months, it is the demand for experienced talent across the sector that will probably create the key personnel challenge, with employees being “poached” by competitors.

 
Having witnessed a degree of professional migration over the last 18 months it is encouraging to see London promising greater opportunities for experienced career minded professionals within an established global infrastructure in the coming year.

 
We’ll have to wait and see how the tax and regulatory environment evolves and the extent to which global talent gravitates to London …

2010, Finance Jobs in London, Finance Managers, Financial Services, jobs, London, new jobs, Positive attitude, Tax

It is important to frequently sit back and evaluate how employable you are, regardless of whether you are employed or not!  Being a specialist in a certain area is not enough to ensure you are an attractive, employable candidate. This approach is naïve and disconnected from the reality of the jobs market of 2010.

Recently, a friend of mine who has worked in the same company for the last 20 years was told on his first week back from the Christmas break, that he faces the prospect of being made redundant. Having survived one of the most gruelling years in his sector, he was certain that his skills were enough to provide him with good job prospects for 2010, if not in that company then another. Not so. He is now faced with the prospect of having to find a job in a completely new sector with no relevant skills due to the fact that his sector (construction) was one of the worst hit, in the recession. The moral of the story is that allowing yourself to become complacent in your career, means you could run the risk of becoming unemployable in the future.

It is vital no matter what your career circumstances, that you make a continuous effort to educate yourself and progress with technologies and skills as they continue to evolve and change. This will ensure that you are equipped with some level of transferrable skills which may help, should you find yourself facing applying for jobs in a new industry sector.

Tips to ensure you stay employable:

• Adapt to new technologies
• Embrace change
• Be a life long learner
• Evaluate employability regularly
•  Maintain a positive attitude
• Hone your communications skills
• Improve your social and interpersonal skills

2010, Employability, jobs, new jobs, Positive attitude, redundant, upskill