Finding the right staff can be tiresome and costly

For a financial services organisation, be it a national IFA firm, a blue chip bancassurer, a big life assurance organisation or even a small regional accountancy practice whats the biggest problem you come across in running a profitable organisation?

That's right - finding well qualified, experienced, high quality financial advisory staff.

What do you usually do? Put an advert in your local paper? Advertise on the web? Even try networking or word of mouth? All good solutions in their own right but are they both cost and time effective? and do they find you the right staff? or do you find that time after time you are interviewing the wrong calibre of adviser?

For some reason public perception of the financial services recruitment specialist is that we are expensive and in some cases a waste of time. The good recruitment organisation, and there are plenty out there, can turn a sometimes fruitless task into a time and cost efficient exercise. many financial services recruitment specialists will take the sourcing process almost completely out of your hands leaving you to do the one part, as the company potentially hiring, you will have to do - the interviewing.

Imagine that, you have an organisation staffed with professionals highly skilled in sourcing good quality financial staff at your disposal. A good financial services recruiter will find you staff through advertising your position on both the web and in the papers, headhunting and targeted cold calling. They will then pre-qualify and screen those professionals by meeting them face to face in most cases, or if distance makes it prohibitive, over the telephone by asking highly relevant questions focused on performance, qualification, experience, business strengths/weakness's, ambition and motivation. Once screened the candidates are forwarded by way of a concise summary CV of the above and if deemed good enough by you, booked for interview.

How much time and cost do you think that would save in man hours and advertising budget? Oh, and it doesn't end there. Most financial services organisations will require a second competency based interview so the candidate will be questioned for feedback, given relevant guidance and prepped for 2nd stage.

There are professional financial services recruiters out there that do all this, and for what they provide, at an extremely competitive cost. Think about how much it currently costs you to get the right staff and how much time it takes. Now think about not having to do all that and having someone else, a PROFESSIONAL do it. The time saved, the cost saved, the extra revenue generated by the right advisers - how come you're not on the phone already?

Why use a financial services recruitment specialist?

Finding a new role in today's financial services market can be a daunting prospect whether relatively new to the industry or an old timer with years under your belt. In today's uncertain economic climate its no less difficult.

Professionally you would expect companies to be more choosy about who they want to take on which can make it look like its not quite the right time to make the jump. Also, personally there is a multitude of questions you ask yourself, such as 'what do I want from a new role?', 'where do I go?', 'Bancassurance or IFA?'. These are just a few of the questions we, as financial services recruitment specialists, come across every day. Now of course we can't answer every question. For some of them the answer comes from you, the adviser but we can certainly make the whole process a lot less painless. Who said 'knowledge is power' or 'forewarned is forearmed'. I'm not particularly sure but they were right. Given the right information, at the right time it becomes a hell of a lot easier to make a considered and conscious decision. And of course, there are still good opportunities out there, they just need to be with the right company and with the right conditions!

So why use a Financial Services recruitment consultancy to do something today, with the access to job boards and companies the web gives you, that you can do yourself?

Part of the answer lies in the first part of the post. Not only do financial services recruiters give you access to some of the best jobs in the financial services industry but, if the jobs done properly and you're given the right information, they can assist you in making the right choice for YOU. If the recruiter you use is a good one they should be able to go through your past employment history with you, find out what your strengths and weakness's are, what you're looking for from a new role, find you that position and finally, do the best they can to assist you through the interview. And if the right role isn't there right now, you sure want them to make you aware of it when it is.

There is no 'one size fits all' approach to recruitment. You, as advisers, require a flexible yet professional service that 'does what it says on the tin'. Too many agents don't listen to what the adviser wants or needs and because of that, public perception of the financial services recruiter is not what it should be. The good financial services headhunter is a very relevant service and next time you're considering making the jump, consider who you want to make it with!