Help: IB Job hunt in Hong Kong

[freeier]

geestah,

just put it this way, there is no upside for them to take the risk and employ someone good but not matching the characteristics.
support functions usually get blamed for doing wrong and not get credit for nothing happening (i.e. doing right).

if they employ someone taking the risk, anything screw up they get the blame. if they simply stick to the rules and employ someone according to all the ticks they have on their own form, if it burns up they track back and cover their track on why they employed this person...

that's how the market work. that's how why everyone always complain about the employers only looking at certificates, and yet when they are the ones employing they hop onto the same wagon.

that's life.

[geestah]

geestah,

just put it this way, there is no upside for them to take the risk and employ someone good but not matching the characteristics.
support functions usually get blamed for doing wrong and not get credit for nothing happening (i.e. doing right).

if they employ someone taking the risk, anything screw up they get the blame. if they simply stick to the rules and employ someone according to all the ticks they have on their own form, if it burns up they track back and cover their track on why they employed this person...

that's how the market work. that's how why everyone always complain about the employers only looking at certificates, and yet when they are the ones employing they hop onto the same wagon.

that's life.

Too be honest that's not the way I've done my hiring in the past. I remember 2 of my hires when working in London for a qualified 5 years experience financial accountant in investment management. One lady I took on was a chinese undergraduate, UK masters grad, worked at PwC in Beijing yet the only job she could get in London was doing book keeping in a back packing hostel. On paper there was no way she'd be qualified but my job spec focused on personal qualities rather than a bean counter who has done the same for 5 years. Of course the recruiters kept sending over these financial accountants who could do the job with their eyes closed. But the personal and professional skills of the people behind the resumes left a lot to be desired. Yeah they were a perfect on a piece of paper but the reality was they were only interviewing to see how much more I can pay than their previous employer. Except for the change of environment why else would someone want to change jobs to one that's exactly the same as what they were doing before. Anyway unlike the lady I took on these perfect on a piece of paper candidates displayed no motivation for the role, were process orientated non thinkers, displayed no general smarts to show they can succeed in any environment etc etc. They were essentially dullards with no flare or curiosity. The lady I took on turned out brilliantly as did the second encumbant who's technical background was no where a close match to the role. Like 90% of the roles out there it's not rocket science. So long as I can determine that the hunger in the candidate's eyes for that role is genuine why would I have reason to doubt people who have acheived success in slightly different areas.

True the back office doesn't generate revenue but at the end of the day it's still a cost centre. They still need to ensure they get the efficiencies up without comprising the robustness of their controls and reporting. This is their goal to achieve that requires people with a diverse skills. Anyone coming in at a senior level, provided they have requisite understanding of the business and products, are hired more on their soft skills than the hard technical skills that are utilised by the foot soldiers.

Anyway, given my background is quite diverse and has a strong project element I'm not limited to bog stock control, MIS or operations roles. What's most annoying though is seeing the HK employers padding their job specs with candidate qualities like entrepreneurial mindset, a proactive visionary, willing to challenge the system, creative thinkers, pragmatic intelligence, commercial flare blah blah blah. Yet the very first dealing you have with them via the recruiting process reveals them to be complete opposites to the qualities they think they want. Bizare.

[freeier]

geestah,

of cos i dun disagree with you.
my background and job history shows that. 8-)
what i am saying is the generic trend of market behavior. only a few bold employers, maybe the biggest head that is forward looking, wld have more buffer to take risk and willing to invest in a raw talent.

[coolgirl]

Sometimes it's just a matter of luck. Just don't despair and keep sending your CV to the right parties. I am in a support rather than front-office job in a foreign bank, and it only took one week from first interview to offer. It's sometimes a matter of chance.