APPLYING FOR A JOB

All of the finance forums have their own jobs advertising boards. A lot of adverts are from recruitment consultants rather than from banks.It is important to realize that the job may not even exist – the consultant
wants to get decent candidates that he can then try to place them in banks. The consultant gets a commission from the bank if he can place you. They tend to have short attention spans. if you do well at the first couple of interviews then they will work hard to get you a good job but if you don’t they will quickly lose interest. Also, be aware their agenda is to get a good commission rather than to help you so they will push you at jobs on that basis. (A typical cut is 25% of your first year’s package so whether you say “yes” to a job makes a difference of ten thousand pounds to them.) If you want to understand them, think of estate agents.
In fact, going via a recruitment consultant is the standard way to get a job. Quants are generally not hired as a part of the on campus recruitment process but instead hired as they are needed by the team. That said it is worthwhile to go to presentations and to meet the people, and get their contact details for later. Because of this it is not a great idea to start applying a long time before you want to start. Banks tend not to be into
paying expenses for interviews. One therefore needs to go to London or New York and attempt to get as many interviews as possible as quickly as possible.
If you have personal contacts, you should use them. Employers prefer not to use headhunters if they can  avoid it. If you are finishing a maths or physics PhD from a top university you will be a hot property.  Employers will be keen to get you before someone else grabs you, so make use of this.
Recruitment agencies vary tremendously and are discussed at great length on all the online forums.One which seems to know what they are doing more than most, andwhich has its own much more extensive guides
is paul and dominic.
If you get offered a job that is not in your ideal area do not be too worried.
It is the first job that is hard to get. You can move on. The main thing is not to spend more than a couple of years in an area where you do not want to be. Quants are most employable with 18 months to 2 years experience. With more than that they tend to be too well paid and get pigeon-holed.
Fromtime to time, I hear of someone being offered a job and being told they must accept immediately or within 24 hours. This is unreasonable and you should question why they are doing this, and do you want to
work with someone who treats you this way? Possible responses are “Why?”

• Does that mean the offer will go away if I don’t accept immediately?
• “Oh I get it, you are testing my naivety” and laugh.
• Mark Joshi’s guide says never to accept an offer made under such
• circumstances.

If you are interviewing with other places, call them first and tell them the circumstances, they will find this less annoying than you telling them you accepted a job under pressure.