October 02, 2008 - by Kanishka Kelshikar
We are all aware that at the moment, the market is quite "challenging"
to say the least. True, we have banks that are failing and
professionals that are losing their jobs. This might discourage you
from applying for jobs considering the elevated level of competition
for the shrinking number of available jobs. At times like this is when
I think of the one percent rule.
It goes something like this:
You send out a hundred applications. If you have done your homework well,
perhaps you get ten interviews and if you're lucky you might just get
one job offer. Sounds a little extreme? Well so is the market!
September 18, 2008 - by Kanishka Kelshikar
When sending out applications for jobs, there are certain steps you can take to try and bring your résumé to the top of the pile. Generally, most large-size firms tend to have recruiters in charge of recruiting events for select "target schools" and, additionally, you have a few recruiters to look at applications from all the other schools. It is quite intuitive that the "other" recruiters will tend to come across a significantly greater number of résumés as compared to the "target school" recruiters. In order to overcome this setback, you might want to first find out who the appropriate recruiter is by simply calling the company (yes, it works!) and then making a connection. Remember, this business is relationship-based, so every interaction you have will determine the outcome of your application. If you manage to leave a good impression on the recruiter, congratulations! You have just moved your résumé to the top of the pile.
Alright, so let's say that for some reason the above method does not work. This just means that you have to get a little more creative. I would start by using Google to search for the recruiters of a particular company. Keywords you might want to use are "human resources," "recruiter," and "staffing," coupled with the company's name. Odds are that after a little digging, you will come across a name. What's in a name, you ask? Everything! See, every company has an e-mail formula for their e-mail addresses.
For instance:
"first name"."last name"@"company name".com would be kansihka.kelshikar@xyz.com
or
"first letter""last name"@"company name".com would be kkelshikar@xyz.com
You can find examples of the formula for a company by Googling "@company name.com" and then looking for the hits.
Once you have the recruiter's name and the e-mail formula, you can send a personalized e-mail in an effort to get your résumé to the top of the pile. Good Luck!
September 06, 2008 - by Kanishka Kelshikar
WRONG! This is a common misconception that most students have about the
recruiting calendar. Most financial firms tend to do their recruiting
in the fall, typically in the months of September through December.
Beyond that, it is mostly second and third round interviews and the
handing out of job offers. Now, there are a smaller number of job
opportunities that open up throughout the year based on demand but when
I speak of the recruiting calendar, I am specifically referring to the
established analyst programs. Also, the internship recruiting calendar
tends to lag the analyst recruiting calendar by a month or two. So the
juniors and sophomores looking for internships have some more time on
their hands, but not much.
So what does that mean? It
means that if you are a senior looking for a Wall Street job, you have
probably missed some of the application deadlines already and the rest
are coming up soon so you might want to get that ball rolling.
Moral of the story—Wake up and get working on those applications!
September 06, 2008 - by Kanishka Kelshikar
The first thing you would want to do is set up an appointment with the Center for Career Development and make sure that your résumé is good to go. Simultaneously, you might want to figure out exactly what kind of jobs you are looking for. Okay, so you have already decided that you want to work on Wall Street—that is a good start but unfortunately you need to be a little more specific.
A good resource is the Goldman Sachs "Where do I fit in?" quiz that you can find under the "Careers" section of their website. Needless to say, you have to be honest with yourself when it comes to this quiz. For example, if asked whether you like to take risks, don't answer "yes" just because it seems like the thing to do. Would you really feel comfortable making a $100,000 unhedged bet in volatile markets such as the one we are currently in? The perspective changes a little, doesn't it? Personally, I am a little more risk averse but that is my individual trait and this is something that you will have to figure out for yourself.
Alright, so we now have a résumé and we also have a better idea of our target jobs. The next step is simply research, research, and research. There is no other way about it, you simply have to look up firms and read about their business and whether you see yourself being a part of their team. Resources that you could use are
www.vault.com,
www.monster.com, and a very familiar tool—Google. For example, you could simply run a search for "Investment Banking firms in New York" and see what hits you get.
Once you have found a list of firms you like, you can begin the application process by looking up the "careers" section of their websites.
