Capital Markets

08/08/2022

Careers advice tip #7

Online interview etiquette

o You would be surprised how many people fail to dress appropriately for an interview. Even in an online video interview, you should dress like you would for a face-to-face interview.

o How you present yourself will have a large impact on the success of any interview. Always ensure that you dress smartly, to give the interviewer the best impression of you. If unsure, always err on the side of smartness rather than being too casually dressed.

o Triple check your video and audio so that there will not be any issues when your interview starts.

05/08/2022

Careers advice tip #6

Prepare your answers

o You never want to be caught off guard during your interview. Make sure you have answers prepared for all basic questions:

 Why do you want to work here?
 How do you understand the role and what makes you suitable for this role?
 What does an ideal working environment look like to you?
 How have you demonstrated X (leadership, teamwork, initiative etc.)?
 What is your greatest achievement?
 Where do you want to be in 5 years?

o You should try to understand the company’s ethos/mission statement, and weave that into your answers to show that you understand their culture.

o You should also have a list of 2-3 key strengths, with examples of using them, on which you can sell yourself, and 1 or 2 weaknesses and examples of how you turned them into strengths.

01/08/2022

Careers advice tip #5

Stand out from the crowd

o Hundreds of graduates with top grades enter the job market every year. You need to find an edge over them to make employers notice you. This could be through volunteer work, or work experience, or even taking qualifications and completing courses related to your chosen field.

o Be sure to update your CV and LinkedIn profile with any of these qualifications, as well as any language and IT skills, in order to show potential employers that you are a cut above the rest.

o For example, if you wanted to go into a data analytics course, it may be worth doing a basic course in Python, SQL or R to show your employer that you are willing to develop yourself further with every opportunity.

29/07/2022

Careers advice tip #4

Do your research about the company/role

o This sounds very simple, but you would be surprised how many people fail for failing to do some simple research.

o Your potential employers want to know that you are genuinely interested in working for their company. Knowing what the company does, what your role is and what the company values will give you an advantage throughout the entire application process.

o Search the latest news about the company, it may be something you can bring up in an interview. You should also know about some of the main products and services that a company provides. Pick 1 or 2 that you have a detailed knowledge of, but you should have a basic knowledge of all of their services.

o Ensure you know about the wider industry and the company’s competitors, this is valuable information that you will be expected to know.

25/07/2022

Careers advice tip #3

Update and monitor your LinkedIn profile on a regular basis

o If you are on LinkedIn, monitor it and respond to messages in a timely manner. Do not create a profile and not monitor it, as recruiters will assume you are ignoring them.

o It is essential to keep your LinkedIn profile up to date. Most recruiters will search for candidates on LinkedIn, so it is important to give them as much information about yourself as possible, such as your education, work experience, language & IT skills and any relevant certificates/qualifications (e.g. BMC).

o Have your contact details available on your profile. You may want to create a second email address for this as it will be visible in the public domain, but if you do this, be sure to monitor the second account.

o Having an open to work profile will allow anyone on LinkedIn to contact you about roles they may be hiring for.

22/07/2022

Careers advice tip #2

Be professional

o Always remember, “Bad news travels faster travels faster than good news”

o Treat people how you want to be treated. If a company/recruiter approaches you for a role that you agree to apply for, then follow the process through or kindly decline the opportunity if you have changed your mind halfway through the process, or take another role. Never go “radio silent” and ignore people, as this unprofessional behaviour will be remembered and may be noted on company/recruiter’s database for future reference.

o Do not cancel an interview a few hours before it is due to happen, even if you have changed your mind, as there is no harm in having the interview and then kindly declining the position. At least you haven’t burnt bridges and you have made new connections/contacts. There is nothing wrong with changing your mind about a job, it is a big commitment that no one expects you to take lightly, but ignoring a recruiter can only go against you.

o Make sure that you have a professional online presence. It is essential that you present yourself online as being respectful, trustworthy and employable to the companies you want to work for.

21/07/2022

Attention Graduates!

As part of our role as recruiters, we receive a lot of CVs from prospective candidates. Something we have noticed is that the majority of CV’s submitted to us are not up to the standard required by our clients.

As a result, we feel that it is important to give graduates an understanding of what is required from their CVs in order to help them be successful in finding a job.

We will be running FREE 15-minute consultations for graduates to give personalised advice on how to improve both their CV and LinkedIn profile. This service is only available to people who graduate/have already graduated in 2022, or graduated in 2021 and are still looking for their first job.

In order to book a free consultation, please use the link below:

Capital Markets is a financial services focused search firm that is significantly different from any other. We are the only recruitment firm where all our consultants are FCA authorised, on our sister company, working in the markets we recruit for

18/07/2022

Careers advice tip #1

Tailor your application for each role:

o This may seem tedious to do for every role you apply for, but it is a very important part of your application. Some recruiters, who may not have a technical grasp on the roles they are advertising, will scan your CV for keywords. Hence, it is important to read the job description and tailor what you write to suit what the employer is looking for (if you have the relevant skills/experience!)

o For example, a job spec may specify that you require VBA for Excel skills and you have written in your CV that you have the ability to write Macros, but non-technical recruiters (many of which will have not worked in the industry) will not know that these are the same thing.

o A more complex example: You may have written that you have experience "in estimating the expected value of a portfolio after a given period of time, assuming specific changes in the values of the portfolio's securities or key factors taking place, such as a change in the interest rate”, however, the recruiter may be looking for the words “scenario analysis”, and may not understand that this is what you have explained.

18/07/2022

Every Monday and Friday we will upload rolling tips/hints to help you with securing your dream job. We will cover tips including how you should set up your LinkedIn profile, refining your CV and useful interview techniques.

24/06/2022

We are currently looking for business proficient/fluent German speakers (level B2-C2) for multiple roles with a major global financial technology firm. Please get in touch for further details.

Email: [email protected]