Finance news in Australia – covering the financial job market, recruitment & career trends in the finance industry

Bankers, accountants and lawyers have been leading the recovery in the jobs market while shop assistants and truck drivers who resign are not being replaced. Detailed employment figures released yesterday show that the economic recovery is gathering strength, but some major sectors are still contracting. Employment in the finance sector, which was at the centre of the global downturn, has completely recovered, with the same 411,000 people employed now as... Read more

In the second report (click here to read part I) from the recent eFinancialCareers recruitment roundtable in Sydney, the attendees give their opinions on what is motivating candidates in the current market. The delegates, who asked not to be named, are senior HR professionals at major financial institutions in Australia. Recruitment levels are rising, but banks aren’t so keen to offer large salary increases in order to attract talent. “Increments... Read more

Major domestic and international financial institutions in Australia are positive in their employment outlook for 2010, but they caution not to expect a hiring boom. That’s the main message from the 13 senior HR professionals who attended the latest eFinancialCareers recruitment roundtable in Sydney. While current vacancy levels are much higher than 12 month ago, Q1 2010 hasn’t seen a significant rise compared with Q4 2009. “We’ve been quite busy... Read more

ANZ and CBA are aggressively taking on talent in a bid to catch up with more established foreign banks in China. The first ANZ rural branch opened in Chongqing last year, and the firm is aiming to boost its current network of two branches and a representative office by opening more than 20 new branches by 2012. Last year, bank officials said headcount in its retail banking business in China may... Read more

Bank of America-Merrill Lynch is becoming a high-stakes player in Australia’s investment banking talent war. In its most recent hiring coup, the US firm poached 10 staff from Royal Bank of Scotland to boost its presence in Australian fixed income, foreign exchange and commodities. The bank is believed to have paid generously to get these bankers on board. “Most bases for senior people would be $300k plus, possibly up to $500k.... Read more

Firms such as JP Morgan, Macquarie, AMP Capital and Colonial, plus the Big Four Australian banks, are leading a renewed search for back-office staff. The increase in recruitment comes a few months after front-office hiring began to recover, which is inline which the theory that ops jobs only start flowing when the revenue generators are making enough money. But current demand is also linked to the severe cuts made to back-office teams... Read more

Banks in Australia are struggling in their efforts to recruit directly as hiring mandates pick up and application levels remain high. Faced with rising workloads, many HR teams are turning back to recruitment agencies to meet their hiring needs. Establishing a strong rapport with a headhunter is therefore becoming more and more important. But it’s also safe to say that some job seekers remain sceptical about the responsiveness and usefulness... Read more

In part II of a two-part series, we give you some more examples of candidates who've made silly mistakes in their job search. If you haven't read part I, click here. The recruiter abuser Candidates who are represented by multiple agencies for the same role are a headhunter’s worst nightmare, says Trevor Bradley, divisional manager, banking and financial services, Chandler Macleod Group. “Job seekers need to ask recruiters exactly who their details... Read more

We get the message – from reading recent comments on eFinancialCareers articles, many of you aren’t particularly enamoured with the service you’re getting from recruiters. That’s why (in part I of a two-part series) we’ve asked a few consultants to address one of your key complains: not getting a good enough reply when you apply for a job. Too many candidates, not enough headhunters Don’t always expect an immediate or personalised... Read more

In the first of his "Junior Job Hunter" series, our new columnist tells us about his plight in the Aussie employment market since he left London last year. Two years ago I was working in a meagre back-office banking role in a small Australian city. Having been travelling and working in London the year before, I had two choices: return to London to hopefully work for an international bank and try... Read more

This time two years ago I was working as an institutional sales trader in one of the world’s top financial hubs. I was in the thick of it, trading on behalf of some of the most respected names in finance. I also had experience with two top-tier investment banks on my CV and had dealt with complex derivatives and structured products at a time when this area of finance was... Read more

Australia’s retail banks are facing a growing bad debt burden, but this shouldn’t cause mass redundancies or recruitment freezes. The next six months will probably bring us more of the same: selective high-end hiring for niche jobs, replacement of business-critical positions, and some small-scale layoffs, particularly in the back office. The Big Four’s debt problems won’t make the employment market in Sydney and Melbourne as bad as New York and London. Earlier... Read more

Have a read through this CV and use the box at the bottom to add your comments. What type of role (if any) could this guy get in the financial services sector? Is there anything particularly wrong (or right) about the way he's written his CV and the work experienced he's gained to date? CAREER OBJECTIVES A position that utilises my educational and employment experience to assist in providing planning... Read more

Hedge funds aren’t in the mood to hire as investors continue to give the alternative sector the cold shoulder. Many investors, both institutional and high-net-worth, remain cautious and don’t want to give their money to hedgies, especially with the short-selling ban still in place. "There are a number of factors which are affecting hedge funds at the moment and the difficulty in finding new investors is one of them. The employment... Read more