Entry Level Finance Jobs

[icetonez]

I want to update my situation since applying to Wells Fargo for an analyst position. A few weeks have passed and I haven't been contacted. Last week I was searching on monster and saw the same job description, except that it was posted by the staffing agency Accountemps. I called the temp agency on Friday and scheduled an interview for this morning.

When I arrived I filled out some paper work (including tax forms) and then took a financial math test. I made some silly mistakes on balance sheet questions and scored an embarrassing 83%. To my surprise the woman who interviewed me lauded my performance saying the average was only a 78% (~1 question out of 30)

The interview itself I believe went well. It was very brief; she only asked what I did at my previous job (Prudential insurance sales), and if I planned on continuing my education. She told me I was "definately presentable" and it seemed likely to me at that point that I would get the job(except for a possible phone interview with WF, this would be the last screen before actually starting the temp work). However, I became weary when she said she might have something open for Wells Fargo in early July. I have read about temp agencies listing jobs that don't actually exist just to get candidates into their database.

I've been given feedback from previous interviews that I'm not aggressive enough, so I told her that I understand she is putting her reputation on the line when she places a candidate and that I am completely confident I will do well and turn it into a full-time position.

Sadly this is the best interview I've had and my best opporunity. Even still, I feel there's a 50/50 chance I get swept under the rug (I've also heard staffing agents don't like to keep in contact after the initial interview)

I'd be interested in hearing about other entry level positions and or experiences with staffing agencies.

[DcifrThs]

in general, staffing agencies & headhunters do very poorly in terms of yield to banks like WF & the like.

school recruitment & employee referals i think yield the highest resume: offer ratios.

the highest you can get is an employee referal. therefore, the best way to get these positions is find people w/in the firm via alumni databases or other methods and talk to them directly. they would then (with hope) pass your info on to the recruiter who will be much more responsive to your application.

it aint what ya know, its who ya know.

Barron

[icetonez]

Thanks for responding Dcifr. That doesn't sound good. When she asked me if I would be available for a phone interview with Wells Fargo she mentioned that they only sometimes ask for a phone interview because they trust her. I guess that's a glimmer of hope.


A friend of mine from high school and college is already an analyst there and I asked him last week to ask his manager if my resume had been reviewed yet. I'm still waiting to hear back from him.

[dustyn]

Staffing agencies and recruiters fill the void best for two types of recruiting:

- Temporary help employers need FAST either on a temporary basis or temp-to-hire type of deal. Positions are usually easy to find, but either have a high churn/turnover rate (since temp agencies handle the backend it makes hiring new people fast and decreases liabilities) or there is such a quick time frame needed for hiring that using a temp agency gets it done quicker because of HR inefficiencies.

- Higher level / experienced hires in very high demand fields. These positions usually use a retained type of firm or specialized contingency firm where they search for weeks-months to find the "perfect" fit.

College recruiting is one of the weaker areas for staffing and recruiting agencies. Most companies do enough of it that they do it on their own and networking is huge for this too since almost everyone knows college grads. I would really not recommend using agencies for entry level recruiting unless the company has a specific "in" with another company (which does happen with agencies/companies).

In your case the job may not really exist. However, you have to understand the fact that HR may not have been responsive for recruiting for this position and a hiring manager contacted the temp company directly (which happens a lof because HR departments suck) because they really needed it filled. In this case, you may have a legitimate "in" with WF but more often than not it's a "slow" or non-existent job posting. However, if the hiring manager contacted the temp company directly because of HR incompetence you likely have a real solid shot.

[icetonez]

Nice post dustyn, thank you. Hopefully I'll be the exception this time rather than the rule.

[CrushinFelt]

[ QUOTE ]
it aint what ya know, its who ya know.


[/ QUOTE ]

[Sammich]

Does someone offering a nice paying IT job want to be my friend?