A Highly Value-Added CFAA Event on Job Market and Recruitment

CFAA Recruitment Panel Discussion was held on September 16th, 2009 at the Union League Club of Chicago. HR managers from three prominent financial service institutions in the Chicago area, Bank of America, Morningstar, and UBS Global Asset Management, met with CFAA members and friends. More than fifty attendees, including professionals in the financial and related industries, as well as students and recent graduates attended the discussion to gain insights and seek advice from the experts for the upcoming recruiting season.

The panel began with an overview of the challenges in the financial job markets in the wake of the recent global financial crisis, yet pointed to the new job opportunities as the financial industries start to stabilize. In fact, all three companies are now hiring. Certain sectors, such as quantitative investment, and certain regions, such as Asia Pacific and Global Emerging Markets are seeing more opportunities. To address the questions raised by the moderator, CFAA President, Ms. Vivian Lin, the panel discussed topics in the recruiting process in details, such as the difference between campus recruiting and professional recruiting, and corporate policies on immigration issues and global/relocation hiring.

Maria Kappel, HR Client Relationship Manager at UBS Global Asset Management, emphasized networking and recruitment via internal referral. Ms. Kim Dobbins, Corporate Recruiting Manager from Morningstar, introduced the key-word screening technology as now a standard process implemented throughout the industry. Also, the candidate needs to do homework on self-evaluation and company research, and be focused on strengths, as noted by Mr. Keith Wagenknecht, Vice President of Human Resources at Bank of America. The panelists also stressed the importance of being honest, ethical and not overbearing for the candidates during the recruiting process.

The panel discussion received very positive feedback and strong interest from the attendees with several great follow-up questions. The panelists provided their professional contact information to continue to help and advise CFAA members on their career development.