Yada, yada, yada. At least twice a day I find myself on the phone with an experienced financial technology professional with 14 years of experience whos looking for the equivalent of a high school guidance counselor, a career coach, or a psychologist.
If you hired a private detective to follow your spouse because you suspect that he or she is unfaithful, would you ask your gumshoe for marriage counseling after they provide proof of infidelity? Most of my candidates would.
What should you expect from your relationship with a recruitment consultant? Its very simple. You need to ask yourself: Are you a Wandering Generality or a Meaningful Specific?
The Wandering Generality
The Wandering Generality is a survivalist. Theyre unimaginative takers that contribute nothing to the industry and the organizations where they work. Theyre told to develop derivatives trading system A or sell enterprise software grid computing system B, or integrate platform C with platform D, and thats all that they do.
The Wandering Generality wallows in work problems until they reach the limits of their endurance. Then they pick up the phone and call a headhunter. In less than three minutes, these strangers explain that theyre financial technology professionals with a decade of experience and theyre ready to leave their companies. They want to know "What do you have for me?"
To determine whether or not I have a Wandering Generality on my hands is, I ask: "In terms of your candidacy, what type of organizations possess a related background and shared commitment to what youre looking to accomplish in your next career move, and whats your value proposition for them?" After 15 seconds of silence, the Wandering Generality says, "Thats a good question. Ill need to give that some thought and get back with you."
The odds are that I will never hear from them again, or he or she will take the first opportunity that comes along without doing the proper due diligence.
The Meaningful Specific
A Meaningful Specific is like a master pool player. Theyre not as focused on the shot in front of them as they are in getting the cue ball in position to sink the next three shots.
Meaningful Specifics come in many varieties: sales professionals, product managers, software developers, and mid-senior level IT management to name a few. Meaningful Specifics encounter the same problems as Wandering Generalities; the primary difference is they respond to the challenge with a solution. The Wandering Generality coasts along until its too late to make an impact, while the Meaningful Specific confronts it head on. They grasp the key players, the points of failure and what can and cant be surmounted and then they move on out of choice rather than out of necessity in order to make a stronger contribution elsewhere.
Ive seen the best of the best write a business case around their value proposition. Theyll provide an overview of the market segment where they want to make a difference, such as separately managed accounts, derivatives trading, credit risk, e-mail and IM systems and more. Finally, they have an idea of which specific firms might be interested in what theyre bringing to the table and why.
Do yourself a favor and become a Meaningful Specific. The industry needs you and its the only way that a headhunter can help you.
Alan Geller is the managing director of AG Barrington, a financial technology placement firm.