Wow people are really desperate in Toronto now

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DonYuan

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I went to this interview for a middle office accounting position in one of the big 5. Interview told me that she got hundreds resume. Her mail box is so swarmed she doesnt even bother to check them anymore. They are probably going to interview 50 people through the month. My odds is not very good.
 
I never understood why an HR person whose job it is to source and hire candidates for job openings doesn’t bother to read all the resumes that come in. At my old firm the resume folder use to be part of a shared drive in our email system where I could see who was applying to jobs, and 90% of the emails that came into that folder were unread. Makes me wonder what HR does all day.
 
My theory (goes for recruiters as well…) is that they’re (=HR, recruiters) are only interested to find the first person who is “good enough” for the position. They have no interest in finding the best applicant for the job, so reading every application is just a waste of time from their perspective, especially if the goal is to find someone who is “good enough”. This is especially true for recruiters who need to create a closure on many deals at low cost. Being good enough is basically what counts at the end of the day, they don’t need people to be better than what it takes to do the job well. Being better than that might even create a problem: the person might become bored with the dull job, and soon want to transfer into something more interesting.
Edit: There’s absolutely no way of telling DonYuan’s chances here, they might be good depending on what kind of personality the interviewer was actually looking for.
 
I have over 150 applications out right now and I have noticed that the only call backs I get are for jobs that were just posted (within 3-4 days tops). Anything beyond that and the firm or recruiter has already selected 5+ people to interview and doesn’t need to see any more resumes. I saw a brand new posting for an excellent job yesterday and fired off a resume. I got a call back within an hour.
 
DY, I’d get the hell out of TO if you can man. Not a lot of good ops for young people I know.
 
“DY, I’d get the hell out of TO if you can man. Not a lot of good ops for young people I know.”
This is basically true if you were not recruited after graduation (undergrad or grad). Especially right now.
I must say, if you have a B.Comm in Finance (or MBA) and are pursuing the charter, you are fairly desparate to be applying for middle office accounting gigs. The success rate for this leading to the front office/portfolio management is not high.
 
You would probably have a greater hit ratio if you stopped spamming employers with emails that probably say…..I am interested in this position…please see my attached resume. You couldnt possibly have 150 applications out there for positions that you are actually qualified for, or atleast a well thought out cover letter that stands out from other candidates’. Apply to fewer positions….maybe the ones you are qualified for and acutally interested in, and follow up with a phone call a week later. Its not all about numbers.
 
I got my current job in August last year when I had heard through a consultant about someone leaving a position, so I wrote the manager and when I figured he had received my letter I rang him up. Sure enough there was a vacancy, and they hadn’t even started to figure out how to fill it. I got the job, it never went through the recruiters…
Edit: The consultant was a programmer going from place to place to do VBA & C++ coding of financial applications… and nor a HR person… fyi.
 
A couple of things:
- Cover letters are basically useless. I try to avoid applying for jobs that require these since it takes a significant amount of time to put a strong cover letter together and it has little or no impact on the decision (this has been my experience, maybe yours is different).
- My ratio for getting interviews seems to be roughly one in 10. So we’ll say around 15 (I haven’t counted, but that’s probably right). Half of the jobs turn out to be bogus or pay way too little, so we’re down to around 7 interviews for legitimate jobs. Given that employers are sometimes interviewing dozens of people for one position, I’m still facing a relatively low probability of getting an offer. A higher number of applications increases the likelihood of finding a position.
- I’ve used recruiters but they are of marginal usefulness in this environment. I am having more luck just applying over the net for various jobs.
- It is mostly about numbers.
aic Wrote:
——————————————————-
> You would probably have a greater hit ratio if you
> stopped spamming employers with emails that
> probably say…..I am interested in this
> position…please see my attached resume. You
> couldnt possibly have 150 applications out there
> for positions that you are actually qualified
> for, or atleast a well thought out cover letter
> that stands out from other candidates’. Apply to
> fewer positions….maybe the ones you are
> qualified for and acutally interested in, and
> follow up with a phone call a week later. Its not
> all about numbers.
 
If you’re going through HR, long cover letters are useless. If you’re applying directly to a hiring manager, they can be very useful.
I have occasionally had a sheet consisting only of bullet points about what’s great about me. Ironically, this seemed to resonate with HR better than a cover letter. In fact, one time an HR person called and said that they didn’t have my resume, only my bullet points, and they wanted to talk to me.
So, just remember that HR people spend their day scanning dozens if not hundreds of resumes, and anything that can make your point quickly and clearly will pique their interest (assuming that you are at least reasonably qualified for the position).
 
me: man thank god I have some time to relax this summer, just wrote the level 2 CFA
cab driver: level 2? I passed level 3 last year and have been looking for an ibanking position since then
me: damn
 
another tip is - keep your resume to ONE page (do not try to explain everything you did in detail, that is what interviews are for)
 
Well I am a math graduate. I know that I am 100% qualified for the position. I am good with excel and access. So it all depends on my competition and whether if she likes me.
 
Where else can I get a finance job in Canada? There aren’t many options for a young graduate.
 
Google for “dimus”, DIMUS - Dedicated Investment Management System Users Society Forum. It’s frequented by recruiters. Make your credentials appear under “contractors, free lancers and job seekers” (it’s a locked thread, so you must contact admin to post, which explains the comparatively few posts).
 
DonYuan Wrote:
——————————————————-
> Where else can I get a finance job in Canada?
> There aren’t many options for a young graduate.
I’m moving to Calgary in Sept. I graduated a few yrs back.
 
^Halifax: Do you have a spot lined up already, or start looking once you arrive?
 
There are little jobs everywhere, you just have to apply to the stuff you really want to do and create great cover letters and tune your resume up to appeal to that specific job. I’m working in Waterloo where there are probably 10 jobs of this type, but its fantastic, there are always people hiring, keep those heads high and be true to yourself. Don’t put on a front to get a job you’re going to hate.
On the first subject, where is HR’s fiduciary duty to the company to pick the best candidate for the job? One day there’ll be a 4 year HR program on sorting files and replying to emails quickly, with extra weight put on ethics…
 
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