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Credit Industry Hiring

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The US credit market saw a large shift in the leaders of the financial industry in 2015. The GE Capital conglomerate announced the sale or spin off of their Retail Credit, Healthcare Financial and Mortgage Portfolio divisions. The fate of their commercial finance division remains to be seen. Large European banks like RBS, Barclays and HSBC continued to shrink their presence in the US market. RBS put its subsidiary, Citizens Bank, through an IPO after using them as a stepping stone to enter the US market in 1988. Barclays Bank closed their Long Island City office and continues lay offs in their Manhattan based US headquarters to focus more on their European portfolios. The turbulence in China has had an impact on the worldwide financial market, again making us appreciate the reality of our global economy.

The credit industry was faced with many new regulations across both the prime and sub prime markets. These new regulations caused some companies to restructure and rethink their analytical processes. These processes and regulations required niche skilled candidates.

1. Statistical/Quantitative Model Development technical skills were in high demand.

2. CCAR/DFAST/Model Validation/Economic Capital and Basel II experienced candidates had their pick of numerous positions.

3. As mobile banking became more widely available and a far more convenient alternative for consumers, a need for candidates with fraud expertise rose.

Candidates recognized that the market was shifting to a candidate driven market and they began demanding higher salaries even though they were met with strong opposition from the corporate world. This opposition took the form of longer interview timelines and more exhaustive and complicated interview processes. Sometimes 3-4 onsite meetings were requested before a decision was made. Timelines for hire in the previous few years was 1-3 months. The interview market of 2015 had a hiring timeline of 4-8 months. Yes, there were more jobs available in 2015 but they were more technically specialized and required a greater perseverance to attain.

The Credit Industry remains an interesting and vital market for the talented technical candidate. We predict more changes in 2016 and with that change more opportunity. Please give us a call in early 2016 with your hiring needs or to discuss your job search.

Nancy Darian at ndarian@smithhanley.com or Paul Chatlos at pchatlos@smithhanley.com.

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