This may be a dry topic, but it is so important and many job seekers are overlooking it. I cannot stress the importance of a well-crafted, meaningful thank-you note to everyone you have interacted with at the company you are currently interviewing with. Why?  Because it’s your calling card that is left behind as the process progresses.  With time taking so much longer to get hired (as we have shared over the last few blogs), your thank you note will remind them of your continued interest in the process. A Thank You Note Should Be… Let’s discuss the thank you note – what it is and wha ..read more

As we approach the middle of the second quarter, I find myself asking if there is a litmus test I can apply to my candidates.  Is there one thing they each have in common, so that when I am talking to someone I know I can help them?  Is there one thing that sets them apart from any other candidate – whether they are at a small, boutique law firm or a large, bulge-bracket investment banking firm?  One answer kept coming back to me, but it starts with a simple question: is public finance in their blood?  This simple question was the answer I was seeking.  It’s A Feeling ..read more

It’s time to explore the changing role of the recruiter with the advent of technology.  Everywhere we turn, AI (artificial intelligence) is being applied to make everyone’s job a bit easier.  From the blog writer to the medical profession, AI is being utilized.  Most blogs written now are being written completely or at least assisted in one way or another with Chat GPT.  It shouldn’t be a surprise that recruiters are also taking advantage of this technology.  Did you know that if you pose a recruiter an objection, right there and then, they can put your information int ..read more

Hopefully, today’s blog can reassure candidates who are waiting for some action from the hiring managers. There seems to be a common pattern among public finance firms, whether they be investment banks, regional banks, boutiques, or large and small law firms.  What’s the pattern?  The common thread is no one is hiring quickly. Firms that were hiring faster last year are definitely hiring much slower this year. The purpose of writing about this topic is to let you know that you have to expect things to be moving much slower before offers are being tendered. Surface-Level Reasons For P ..read more

This question came to me after I reviewed the calls I had last week.  I had been given an assignment to fill an underwriter position, a rare task as most of my recruiting is opportunistic.  It was a very specific assignment in this case and one that I felt I was definitely challenged by.  Being an experienced recruiter, I resorted back to my old recruiting day tactics where I searched for a specific job order.  What I found was absolutely eye-opening!  Many retired (or so-called retired individuals) really wanted to get back in the saddle again.  I was referred to ..read more

Why does someone make a move to anything?  Generally speaking, a person or a group of people are either motivated by pain or pleasure. Let me explain: you are either motivated by the prospect of moving towards pleasure or improving your current situation, or you are driven by pain and wanting to leave something that is distasteful or upsetting you behind.  When a new situation or prospective firm is presented to a candidate, this is what is going on in their subconscious mind.  They might not be aware of this game that is playing in their head, but they should be. A Prospective ..read more

One of the new trends I am seeing across all sectors (i.e., public finance bankers as well as bond counsels) is the flexibility we used to have to show and hire bankers or counsel that were different from the firm’s initial sector focus.  Firms were willing to take chances and develop new areas of expertise with proven bankers or counsel “outside of their box.”  This is no longer happening.  We are not seeing the flexibility of a firm in their hiring process.  Firms are now looking for that exact fit and taking much longer in their due diligence of a new candidate before ex ..read more

“There is no such thing as a perfect fit.” This is an interesting and hopefully thought-provoking sentence. In today’s world, there is no such thing as a “perfect fit” anymore. As we all know, the days of going to work for one company and retiring are gone forever. What does that mean as it relates to candidates making job changes? What does that mean as it relates to hiring a candidate? It means exactly that—they know now that there is no such thing as a perfect fit.  Lifers: What Hiring A Candidate Can And Can’t Mean The day of hiring a candidate and staying at one firm for their entire ..read more

We are back on track with sharing insights into the public finance and bond counsel recruiting world.  I want to share a part of an interview that just occurred when a new firm reached out to us to recruit for them.  After the typical questions of who we are, how we work, and what makes our firm so unique; we received the following request, “We want to understand the main driver that compels high-quality candidates to switch jobs and what triggers them to do so.”   What Triggers High-Quality Candidates To Switch Jobs? I have to admit this is a question that I have not been ..read more

I want to address questions I have received after making the announcement of our new affiliation with Core Wealth Search, in which I was hired as the President of this new and exciting recruiting company.  In this week’s blog, I will be a bit off base from the instructional content that I try to share every week.  Let me be very clear at the outset: my role as Head of Capital Markets Recruiting for H. Friedman Search is exactly the same and will never change.  We work with the top professionals in the area of public finance professionals in helping them make career transitions a ..read more