Ask-A-Career Coach: From Entrepreneur To Employee

jobsearchContributed by Caroline Ceniza-Levine of SixFigureStart™

I took this last year to work on a business idea. I’ve had some success but am unsure of the long-term viability of the business so I’d like to start looking for a corporate job. How do I explain my past year without coming across as a business failure?

Many of the people who will interview you, for both informational and job interviews, will not view the transition back to corporate as a failure. So it’s important not to telegraph this by being apologetic or speaking sheepishly of your business. Instead focus on your accomplishments with the business and the revenue that you did generate. Give details of how you estimated the market for the business. Even though it turned out that the market might be too small, it is a valuable skill to be able to research and understand a market. Finally, be excited and proud that you had the courage to go for it when many people stop at the analysis stage. Your level of engagement is infectious, and people will see your can-do spirit and risk-taking in a positive light, regardless of the ultimate outcome.

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In Case You Missed It: Business News Round-up

Contributed by Martin Mitchell of the Corporate Training Group.Martin Mitchel of CTG

The European Commission raised its forecast for European economic growth for 2010, while U.S. unemployment rose to 10.2% in October. These are but a few highlights of important market events that we’ve gathered to help you start the week well informed.

Economic Backdrop

  • The European Commission raised its forecast for European economic growth for 2010, but said the recovery from recession would come at the price of record budget deficits and public debt levels. After a slump of 4.1% in GDP this year, the 27-nation European Union is expected to grow by 0.7% next year and 1.6% in 2011.
  • Manufacturers reported that output around the world was rising at the fastest rate in five years in October. The JPMorgan global composite purchasing managers’ index rose to 54.4, up from 53 in September, the highest value since July 2004. In the U.S., the Institute for Supply Management’s factory index rose to 55.7 from 52.6 in September.
  • U.S. unemployment rose to 10.2% in October, its highest rate since 1983. President Obama called it a ‘sobering number that underscores the economic challenge ahead’.

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The Glass Hammer / Stone House Consulting Survey of Buy-Side Industry Trends

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iStock_000001000665XSmallContributed by Holly H. Miller of Stone House Consulting, LLC

Executive Summary

Margins in the investment management industry are under siege, facing threats from both directions – lower fees and rising costs. The Glass Hammer / Stone House Consulting Survey of Buy-Side Industry Trends indicates that while regulators are contributing to the cost pressures, the industry’s own client base, together with the investment consulting firms that advise those clients, are a key factor in the equation. Not only are investors demanding greater due diligence, improved risk monitoring and controls, but they are calling for lower fees without any concession on the performance expectations, high levels of customization and quality client service they have always required.

Many managers, seeking to protect their margin, have responded in the market crisis with staff cutbacks and hasty outsourcing deals that, in some instances, have resulted in increasing operational risk within an investment management firm – or have set the stage for potential problems as the job market improves.

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Bonuses: Are You Getting a Fair Deal?

By Elizabeth Harrin (London)Rich

Ever wondered why we still have the gender pay gap? Well, women receive around 80 per cent less in performance related pay than their male colleagues in some of the UK’s top finance companies – and that is a large chunk of why women’s salaries differ from their male counterparts.

An inquiry into the finance sector by the U.K.’s Equality and Human Rights Commission has found that women are much worse off when it comes to receiving bonuses. The average performance related payout for female employees was just £2,875 compared to an average of £14,554 for men. It’s not simply a few highly paid men, or a skew toward women in administrative roles on low salaries, either. There was a gender pay gap for men and women in the same grade or job category – where both sexes are assumed to be doing the same actual job – in 63 per cent of cases.

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Rumblings and Mumblings at the FIA Expo

By Jessica Titlebaum (Chicago)iStock_000006793589XSmall

Mere days before the 25th Annual Futures & Options Expo began on October 21st, the Chicago derivatives market was all abuzz. The cause: the report last week by Crain’s Chicago Business that the CME Group was considering an acquisition of the Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE). Whether the acquisition will come to fruition is still in question, dependent on a resolution of a lawsuit between the CBOE and the Chicago Board of Trade (owned by the CME Group) concerning the ownership of CBOE. But that didn’t stop speculation about the potential acquisition from making its way through the Expo.

John Lothian, the publisher of the John Lothian Newsletters, believes that this is a ploy to put a price on the options exchange. “CBOE knows that to realize the value of their franchise they need to demutualize and conduct a public offering. It is only for that price information that they will be able to entertain any potential deals,” said Lothian.

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The 25 Most Powerful Women in Banking™

by Liz O’Donnell (Boston)iStock_000006684238XSmall

U.S. Banker magazine recently released its annual 25 most powerful women in banking edition. The list is actually several lists: The 25 Most Powerful Women in Banking; The 25 Women to Watch; the Top 25 Nonbank Women in Finance and the Top 3 Banking Teams. This year the magazine aptly titled its accompanying story “Taking Charge in Turbulent Times.” Amid the stress and turmoil of the industry overall, women both triumphed and tripped.

Bank of America hired former Citgroup exec Sallie Krawcheck to head the Global Wealth and Investment Management unit and promoted Cathy Bessant to head of Global Corporate Banking. Because Krawacheck was not in her current job for more than one year, she was not eligible for the list of most powerful women. Instead, she tops the list of women to watch. Also the year, the California Public Employees Retirement System appointed its first ever woman CEO, Anne Stausboll. And Heidi Miller, CEO of JPMorgan Treasury and Securities Services, was in the number one spot for the third year in a row.

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Best of the Best: Working Mother’s Top Companies for Women

By Liz O’Donnell (Boston)iStock_000003367609XSmall

Twenty-six financial services firms, seven major technology companies, and four law firms were named in the Working Mother 100 Best Companies 2009 list, giving us hope that despite all the challenges women face and we document on this site every day, there are many companies that understand the value women bring to the workplace. And the companies cited by Working Mother magazine, don’t stop at appreciating the contributions of women at work. They support, promote and retain women workers.

Take Goldman Sachs. One of the reasons Goldman made the list is the global financial services firm started a “Returnship” program for employees reentering the workforce. This program is similar to an internship. Goldman Sachs runs an eight week retraining program to help employees bring their skill sets up to current standards.

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Foundations and Funds: New Trends in Philanthropy

By Elizabeth Harrin (London)iStock_000002825030XSmall

You would have thought that with all the belt tightening going on in this economy, people would be cutting back on their charitable endeavours. Not so. In fact, philanthropists are still turning to fund managers for advice and money management – and in increasing numbers. They might not have so much to give away, but they are certainly keen to work with fund managers specialising in philanthropy to make sure their money goes to the right places.

“We are on the cusp of change with philanthropic habits evolving against the backdrop of the significant global downturn,” says Gina Miller, founder and chair of SCM Philanthropy. SCM Philanthropy is a division of Spencer-Churchill Miller Private, a new boutique wealth management practice based in the UK.

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The 15th Annual Women on Wall Street Conference 2009 Coverage

By Nicki Gilmour (New York City)

“Overcoming Obstacles: Transforming Challenges into Opportunities” was the theme of Deutsche Bank’s 15th annual Women on Wall Street conference (WOWS) held this past Tuesday evening in New York City. And, after some seriously tough market conditions this year, the audience was eager to pick up some tips on how to go forward successfully.

In her keynote address, Joanne Barsh, a Director at McKinsey, challenged the women in the audience “to cross the line tonight, shift from a person to whom life happens to becoming a woman who makes life happen.” As previously reported, Ms. Barsh is the designer of a leadership framework called Centered Leadership, which promotes examination of the following areas of your life to become a more effective leader and have increased satisfaction in your personal life:

  1. How you manage your energy (Energizing)
  2. What is the sense of purpose that your work gives you (Meaning)
  3. How you perceive situations to be (Framing)
  4. How you relate and connect to other people (Connecting)
  5. How you interact and how you take risks (Engaging)

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Preethi Nair at Deutsche Bank’s Women on Wall Street Conference

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By Erin Abrams (New York City)

How often do you get to attend a conference related to your Wall Street job, and hear a story that involves high intrigue, risk taking, impersonation and leading a double life? Well, I guess this isn’t so uncommon these days if you, like me, work in the field of white collar criminal defense. However, I’m happy to report that Preethi Nair’s story at Tuesday night’s 15th Annual Women on Wall Street Conference (probably) didn’t involve any criminal activity and had a much happier ending than the tale of your average financial fraudster. Indeed, her exciting and frequently hilarious explanation of her journey from frustrated management consultant to internationally acclaimed author and creative project entrepreneur ended the presentation on a high note and inspired many of the women in attendance.

Ms. Nair, author of 100 Shades of White, The Colour of Love and Gypsy Masala and founder of Kiss the Frog, a project tasked with reintroducing creativity into the workplace, has experienced quite a reversal of fortune from just a few years ago. In those days, Ms. Nair explained that she would get up in the morning and get dressed in a suit to fool her British Indian parents into thinking that she was headed to the job as a management consultant that she had prematurely quit, and would sit in the public library in London dreaming up ways to become a successful, internationally recognized novelist.

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