The old slogan used to be, “Go West, young man” to seek one’s fortune. Today, it seems the opposite is true, as skyrocketing growth and better salaries are luring more business school grads to Asia, and particularly to China.
Businessweek reports that at top U.S. b-schools such as Chicago’s Booth, University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton and Northwestern’s Kellogg school, the percentage of MBAs taking jobs in Asia has doubled. This is not just a short-term response to the current economic downturn, but a long-term structural shift towards a more international and mobile market for investment banking talent.
And it’s not only Asian students who happen to be studying in the U.S. who decide to return home for job opportunities. The article lists many examples of U.S. students seeking their fortune in the East. One of them, Andrew Maywah, 32, was working for Oracle (ORCL) in Silicon Valley before entering graduate school at Wharton. Now he’s juggling job offers from three Chinese companies. In Maywah’s words, “It’s like the Wild, Wild West. There is just so much happening there. I want to be at the center of it.”
Meanwhile, Hong Kong is hot, too. MarketWatch reports that Hong Kong’s finance sector has seen a major reversal of fortune and now has a big shortage of people to help out in the finance sector.
Those switching jobs right now are likely to get salary increases of 15% to 20%. International banks are leading the recruitment drive for investment banking jobs, and there has been an increase in hiring among hedge funds and private equity groups, too.
The article quotes Mark Enticott, associate director at the recruitment agency Michael Page International in Hong Kong as saying, “We are starting to get back to that situation which we haven’t see for a year and half, where we really need to start sourcing from overseas and start relocating people.”
Fortune magazine has published its annual list of the top 100 companies to work for in America, and a whopping 20 financial services firms made the grade.
Among the top three were Edward Jones, once again ranked #2. The St. Louis-based investment advisor sailed through the recession without having to close any of its 12,615 offices. And it’s even looking to hire more staff (see below).
Robert W. Baird & Co. came in at number 11; Johnson Financial Group, based in Wisconsin, was the third-ranked financial firm at number 22 on the list. As for investment banking jobs, Goldman Sachs was fifth among financial companies and 24th overall.
The public may view Goldman as the poster boy for corporate excess, but employees are certainly happy with a big increase in bonuses this year. The firm is noted for a high degree of employee loyalty. And Goldman reported a broadening of opportunities for women in the firm, as well, with female vice presidents, including executive directors, up by 21% and the number of female managing directors up by 45%.
Rounding out the other financial firms in the top 100 Best Employers:
27. Scottrade
29. Quicken Loans
35. American Fidelity Assurance Co.
37. Aflac
44. Ernst & Young
45. USAA
48. FactSet Research Systems
54. Paychex
66. Plante & Moran
70. Deloitte
71. PricewaterhouseCoopers
73. American Express
84. Accenture
88. KPMG
94. Intuit
These top firms are in hiring mode, too. 22 of them are looking for more than 500 new hires each, including Edward Jones, Ernst & Young, USAA, Deloitte, PricewaterhouseCoopers, American Express, and KPMG. You can check out the entire list and see descriptions of the types of jobs that are open on the Fortune magazine website.
Have you worked for any of these top 100 companies? Or want to? Let us know your thoughts by adding a comment below.
Do employers really look at your cover letter? Is it worth spending a lot of time on one? If so, what’s the most important thing to include?
The answer depends on who you ask, according to a recent article in New Jersey Business News. Jane Angelich, a former vice president of human resources at the investment banking firm of Salomon Brothers, says the cover letter is even more important than the resume. That’s because with so many resumes looking and reading the same, the cover letter gives you a chance to really catch someone’s attention and differentiate yourself.
Others experts say many recruiters and human resource professionals simply put the cover letter aside and jump right to the resume.
However, one thing they agree on is that if you’re going to include a cover letter, it had better do two things well. First, it must be personalized. That means it must be addressed to a specific person, clearly indicating the investment banking job you’re applying for, and should focus on the specific needs of the company.
If you don’t know the specific person, you’ve got to do some sleuthing. Either call the organization and ask the receptionist, check LinkedIn or Facebook to see who might be doing the hiring, or contact a current or former employee of the firm to get the name of the person in charge of hiring.
Second, you’ve got to make it interesting, but in a way that’s relevant to the specific job being filled. Your job is to demonstrate how well you “fit” with the job. Some experts even suggest a two-column format that compares “company requirements” with “my qualifications.” That way you can link many of the key words the company uses to your own experience.
We want to know what you think.
What is your experience with employers and recruiters reading your cover letter? (leave a comment below)
