Approaching investment banks directly?

[MrMarkyMark]

So you don't think my offer to code for food will go down well then?

Seriously though I would just ask a contact in LinkedIn to find out who the person in their bank is. But that only works in banks where I know somebody already.

Given the way the, usually outsourced to a large agency, HR works in IB's it is, most likely, not worth the effort.
Having had a lot to do with building IB teams, in the last few years, the roles have usually already gone to personal contacts, prior to the interviews. The interviews are often a box checking exercise, in this instance.

[adam42]

No one likes a desperate man, especially in IB.

So you don't think my offer to code for food will go down well then?

Seriously though I would just ask a contact in LinkedIn to find out who the person in their bank is. But that only works in banks where I know somebody already.

[MrMarkyMark]

I wouldn't have read it like that either. I'd be interested to know how the OP is going to get the contacts he needs to get his CV infront of.. or is he just going to write 'To HR' on the front? Not so sure spamming random people off linkedin is a wise idea either tbh.

No one likes a desperate man, especially in IB.

[northernladuk]

Not how I read it.
Generally contacts are what are needed either key agents, or contract/perm staff within, or known by, the bank.
Hawking yourself, imo, would be a total waste of time.

I wouldn't have read it like that either. I'd be interested to know how the OP is going to get the contacts he needs to get his CV infront of.. or is he just going to write 'To HR' on the front? Not so sure spamming random people off linkedin is a wise idea either tbh.

[MrMarkyMark]

Meanwhile, to the question whether I can successfully hawk my talents around the banks directly with any success: "maybe worth trying" seems to be the answer.

Not how I read it.
Generally contacts are what are needed either key agents, or contract/perm staff within, or known by, the bank.
Hawking yourself, imo, would be a total waste of time.

[uk contractor]

Most are outsourcing & or looking to shave costs internally so the future looks like way less IB contractors rather than more. As someone else said its not been the same since 2008 financial crash we are still in reality sitting in a housing bubble waiting to burst!

RBS, Lloyds, HSBC, Deutsche, Barclays are all in the process of & or have already outsourced wherever possible to cheaper overseas companies many back office jobs. The front office jobs are harder to outsource but they are starting to look very closely at salaries. Then you also have to consider many agencies on the PSL do exactly the same thing you suggest every day AND already have the HR contacts.... Some I know get the advance nod on roles up to a week before they appear on jobserve! Still does not help much though as they usually need to interview 3-5 people per role & see up to 10 CV's so as always you need to stand out from the crowd & or be good at what you do.

Most financial services in London if they have are fully FCA compliant will have these rules in place but the ones who do not will hire without references, background checks or seeing more than 1-2 candidates. They tend to be the smaller less FCA compliant developed IB's though.

As always if you have niche in-demand skills & or high level genuine qualifications your more likely to be successful!

[adam42]

Are you really that bothered about only working in and IB though?

Do you mean IB pedantically or do you mean the finance industry generally? I meant the finance industry generally. I'm the type of person who finds money interesting in its own right, presumably merely a Pavlovian response to my experience of life so far.

I can see the industry going in cycles but I can't see it ever dwindling permanently from the no. 1 spot for well paid techie contracts. Not unless capitalism eats itself and that will take several millenia, a few replacement earths and a couple more prophets / messiahs.

Meanwhile, to the question whether I can successfully hawk my talents around the banks directly with any success: "maybe worth trying" seems to be the answer.

[ChimpMaster]

I don't think you can assume the IBs will ever come back like they were.

Investment banking is essentially reckless gambling sucking money out of the rest of society and then getting bailed out when they lose all their bets.

"It has always been thus", you say "and the same thing starts all over again".

However 2008 was supermassive. Oil has dropped and the BRICs are in the slow lane. Is there going to be enough cash to feed the fruit machines? The increased capital requirements hit your winnings - you can't do the X20/X50 leverage so easily yet the margins are still only a few atoms thick.

Brexit could bring a Tobin tax - great for citizens but a fatal blow for IB. Our only hope is the likes of BNP Paribas and Deutsche have bigger skeletons in cupboards than RBS...

This is how I see it. IBs and perhaps financial institutions of any kind haven't been the same since 2008. I stayed in the square mile at an IB until 2011 and then jumped ship to a completely different industry; I always hope one day I will return to the City because I did really enjoy my time there and do miss the social environment, but I can't actually see investment picking up or opportunities growing. Rather, I think that jobs and contracts will continue to dwindle and be outsourced even further as it has been over the past 8 years or so.

[Cirrus]

I don't think you can assume the IBs will ever come back like they were.

Investment banking is essentially reckless gambling sucking money out of the rest of society and then getting bailed out when they lose all their bets.

"It has always been thus", you say "and the same thing starts all over again".

However 2008 was supermassive. Oil has dropped and the BRICs are in the slow lane. Is there going to be enough cash to feed the fruit machines? The increased capital requirements hit your winnings - you can't do the X20/X50 leverage so easily yet the margins are still only a few atoms thick.

Brexit could bring a Tobin tax - great for citizens but a fatal blow for IB. Our only hope is the likes of BNP Paribas and Deutsche have bigger skeletons in cupboards than RBS...

[BlasterBates]

IB's are waiting for Brexit referendum, until then everything is on hold.

[BrilloPad]

FWIW, I'm connected to a number of HR bods in IB's on LinkedIn, who now and again post contracts (though the majority are perm positions).

Might be a good place for you to start looking.

+1

At the moment though IB looks as dead as the AndyW account.

[jmo21]

FWIW, I'm connected to a number of HR bods in IB's on LinkedIn, who now and again post contracts (though the majority are perm positions).

Might be a good place for you to start looking.

[northernladuk]

Nothing wrong with making sure all the agents you know that deal with IB's have a copy of your latest CV. Make yourself available on linkedin and start hitting jobserve.

I don't think hitting the clients directly is worth doing. The chance you'll get to anyone that gives a damn or actually knows isn't bit slim. Easy enough to keep an eye on jobserve and see who's dealing with them. Just update every agent you can think of instead.

Are you really that bothered about only working in and IB though?

[adam42]

What are people's opinions on whether it's worth putting together a list of all the investment banks in London, finding out who is their 'embedded' recruitment consultant or similar, and then spamming the lot of them with my CV asking to be considered for any relevant roles they might have open?

I'm just coming to the end of my 2nd contract in an IB and from what I can tell, there is such a central recruitment consultant who sees a majority of the roles that need filling in their bank.

I'm pretty sceptical of the HR depts keeping CVs on file and then using them effectively.

Does anyone do this regularly?


PS just seen the ad on this site for the seminar on networking via linked-in - looks interesting and probably overlaps to a degree with the above