White collar workers, how are you fairing?

[prawn_86]

Sorry to hear that Temjiin.

Im not in Sydney, and i would need a very well paid job to entice me to move there due to the high living costs. I have had 3 'unofficial' offers for FP for when i graduate here in Adelaide.

Although i do know that one of those firms has just postponed some of their intended hiring, so it is slowing up as you say.

 

[Judd]

Do you know that I applied for a graduate position in CBA (Financial Planning) and there were 1700 applicants and they only looking for ONE graduate in Brisbane? I was lucky enough to be short listed to 80 ppls for interview without a relevant bachelor degree.

This is starting to look like 1970-1974. Heaps of people applying for the same job - and not just in tertiary qualified positions. It will I think, sadly, impact on a number of ppls. A real bummer for those finishing their hard yakka at Uni and finding that there is nothing out there. Wife went through that scenario. PdD's driving taxis sort of stuff.

Many will be shocked to learn that the employment world has changed very, very quickly.

 

[mazzatelli1000]

I'll look into CFA Mazz, although a lot of employers i have spoken too have said a master of finance would be advantageous, and the one im looking at you do get some credit for CFA.

Defnitely neither will disadvantage you in terms of knowledge.
CFA I would say is more internationally recognised than Masters - this would only be a relevant reason if you plan for choices abroad and or keep yourself open for opportunities abroad.

However - the very best of luck to you, I am sure you will something - it may not be what you want..also sometimes what you want turns out very average.....as an example alot of my mates have moved from accounting to finance believeing the otherside to be be interesting and hence enjoyable - only to find it is still mundane.....

 

[Sir Osisofliver]

Not true, I have been trying to make a career change into this and have not been successful for the last few months. This is after doing absolutely everything I can, studied in DFP, gained RG146, lots of networkings, interviews, excellent resume/cl, professional mentoring program (first of its kind in Brisbane), lots of practices in roleplay interview with mentor, and even more networking. It is just practically impossible to get into this industry right now without some sort of relevant experiences. The worst time for me to make a career change.

It's really really bad out there. I'm still quite stressful about it right now after spending a year preparing for it and end up stuck in a wall because of the financial crisis.

So if you are starting off as a graduate with little to no relevant experiences, best of luck of you. Though my experiences are based in Brisbane only, maybe there are better chances if you are in Sydney.

To the OP - I've never been busier - got more work than I can handle at the moment.

To Temjin

You sound like you are targeting only one area of town - the big end and the big boys. Is this a conscious decision? No offence to your mentor...but perhaps you should be looking at the smaller end of town and work towards building your experience? A financial planning job is the same whether you work for a big or small company - and experience will help you move up into bigger companies if that is what you want.

Sir O

 

[Spek]

Just signed a 12 month contract at $1,800 a day excluding GST. I did agree to a discount on the $2,000 a day I quoted but then the project could last up to 4 years. Those with the right education and connections will still fair well in a recession.

 

[stock nub]

Just signed a 12 month contract at $1,800 a day excluding GST. I did agree to a discount on the $2,000 a day I quoted but then the project could last up to 4 years. Those with the right education and connections will still fair well in a recession.

So Spek what is it that you are exactly doing for this $1800 a day?

What position, what company, what hours?

 

[prawn_86]

So Spek what is it that you are exactly doing for this $1800 a day?

What position, what company, what hours?

Is it a business and then you takes costs etc out of that? Or is that as an employee so the money goes straight in your pocket?

 

[Temjin]

To the OP - I've never been busier - got more work than I can handle at the moment.

To Temjin

You sound like you are targeting only one area of town - the big end and the big boys. Is this a conscious decision? No offence to your mentor...but perhaps you should be looking at the smaller end of town and work towards building your experience? A financial planning job is the same whether you work for a big or small company - and experience will help you move up into bigger companies if that is what you want.

Sir O

Not really, I have been targetting practically everything from very big (CBA) to very small. I have talked to almost every recruitment agencies out but they aren't helpful as they are looking for candidates with "experiences" only. Career changers have better luck to apply direct instead.

In theory, I prefer to work for a smaller firm than a bigger firm like the banks. Like I said, I had two mentors one coming from a big bank and one from a fee-for-service only private firm. Both had fairly different opinion on what a FP should do and obviously, I prefer the fee-for-service-rebate-all-commission type firms.

I knew networking was a big factor in landing me a job but unfortunately, most of my networks have been telling me the same thing. Almost every firms they know are either cutting back or freezing hire, at least in the entry/junior levels. Just check out seek.com.au, most FP positions are seniors/experiences.

Sorry to hear that Temjiin.

Im not in Sydney, and i would need a very well paid job to entice me to move there due to the high living costs. I have had 3 'unofficial' offers for FP for when i graduate here in Adelaide.

Although i do know that one of those firms has just postponed some of their intended hiring, so it is slowing up as you say.

You should really take the offers as soon as you can! The level of competition for junior roles are crazy at the moment.

Actually, I did have some sort of offer from another private firm too. They were initially looking for two ppls but decided to recruit one instead. I came second in the interview and the interviewer gave me an offer to take me as soon as he is ready to take on another person. (and asked me to call him if I have already received another job offer) I'm not expecting anything soon from them.

The only thing i haven't done right now is to cold call every single FP firms in Brisbane for job opportunities. Already have the list and contact numbers/email prepared, but I was advised to wait until early next year when the recruiting season starts again.

I still don't know what more I can do right now. I've prepared absolutely everything necessary to get into the industry but I guess the economy is finally affecting me.

 

[prawn_86]

I still don't know what more I can do right now. I've prepared absolutely everything necessary to get into the industry but I guess the economy is finally affecting me.

Yep, wrong place at the wrong time.

Out of our control and nothing that can be done about it unfortunately

 

[Spek]

So Spek what is it that you are exactly doing for this $1800 a day?

What position, what company, what hours?

Im a sole trader consulting on commercial matters.

Big projects obviously but I work 9-5:30 unless absolutely necessary.

 

[Spek]

Is it a business and then you takes costs etc out of that? Or is that as an employee so the money goes straight in your pocket?

No expenses. Contracting means no need to tie money up in super if I dont want. Better still you can work primarily from client's offices but claim things like home office rent etc.

 

[Temjin]

Yep, wrong place at the wrong time.

Out of our control and nothing that can be done about it unfortunately

Yep, nothing much I can do now except to wait. I guess I will stick with engineering in a government firm (yes, ultra safe here) and focus on my trading and own business instead. Those are my main aim anyway, for the longer term.

 

[numbercruncher]

Im a sole trader consulting on commercial matters.

Big projects obviously but I work 9-5:30 unless absolutely necessary.

Your business structure is sole trader with a 450k income ?

 

[pointr]

My son works as a radiographer in a private pactice. They have not replaced the last 4 radiographers who left and they have retrenched a registered nurse. This is apparently due to no increase in medicare rebates even though their wages costs have increased over the same period. So its not just white collar areas that are tight. Spek any chance of a loan or better still a gift

 

[white_goodman]

im an undergrad cadet at one of the major commercial property groups, we cleaned out at the start of the year, but expenses has been dried up significantly... i wouldnt be suprised to get cut, though in my favour im part time and casual which is better then being on a salary.

i think the unemployment figures are going to get pretty bad.... luckily i can always go back to construction for my dads company but i hate labouring lol

 

[Smurf1976]

Reading these posts leads me to conclude that there's a widespread belief and evidence that a serious downturn is real and is actually happening right now. 3 monts ago I doubt many would have argued there was much evidence of that - things are certainly changing and it's happening fast.

 

[BigAl]

I'm a bean counter at a AHG dealership. I see the financials of some 30 odd dealerships, every week.

I believe the official stats were that sales were 11% down in Oct 08 compared to Oct 07.

This is extremely misleading and may you give you a false sense that "it's not that bad".

The figures "aren't that bad" yet because we are still delivering our orders taken 2 - 4 months ago, when no one could keep up with orders. Our orders taken months ago gets counted as a sale / stat when we delivered in Oct. A case in point would be the Prado D4D's (Diesel Common Rail) that had a 6-9 month wait nationwide only 6 months ago.

Toyota are increasing car prices by 20% in Jan due to FX rate. When all manufacturers follow, we'll see some real blood-shedding in sales.

There are rumours that X (not saying so I don't get banned) will be withdrawing from the OZ market. They have cut all advertising spending and it appears that no other financiar will take over from GMAC as they are not 'financial'.

I wonder which small car companies will eventually withdraw from the OZ market. Skoda? Renault? Citroen? etc...


Edit:

- Every dealer has also been asked to draw up cost savings measures.
- Freeze on new employees.
- Freeze on all "non essential" expenses.
- Any debtor going into 60 days, "automatic stop credit or I lose my job".
- Anyone leaving Accounts, don't replace them, give the existing girls a few $ an hour extra to cover the work. Thus saving half of the exiting wages.
- Ban put on anyone speaking to the media yesterday.

Found out about a panel beater on our books the other day. Not paying his $10K debt but coming in through the back door and paying cash for new purchases. Obviously cash flow problems and trying to "trade his way" out of difficulty. Then I ring up other FC's and find out his got another $30K in debt spread over another 5 dealerships.

 

[sammy84]

Completely agree with you smurf there is not a lot of joy in this thread. However there are some great stories and a few motivational lines to put in the scrapbook.

I really do feel for grads going out and looking for work in this environment. Last year we were all promised so much. I guess it is a pure fluke that I got secured my job and salary last year through a vacation program. Also a fluke that I speed up my degree to finish a year earlier and rejected a few job offers from investment banks to work in corporate tax. I figured that the there was something seriously wrong with the work life balance in investment banks.
I guess in corporate tax my job security is guaranteed for the time being as firms will still need our work, however I am prepared to work extremely hard because job cuts would still be inevitable in any industry.

Good luck Prawn, there will still always be work out there, you just have to fight harder. I guess the one positive about being a grad is that were cheap labour, so I imagine more of the job cuts will be at management level.

One a positive note; I just finished my degree of laws/commerce today (Sorry had no one else to share it with someone, but it is a bit hard at 12.44am)

 

[c-unit]

Yeah I am in similar situation to you other Uni guys. Ive got an internship in my dream job this summer but not sure what the prospects are of getting the offer for 2010 in this current environment.

 

[rub92me]

Maybe some perspective from an older fart like me. I left uni in Europe with a Computer Science degree in 1987. Things weren't looking exactly rosy back then. Unemployment probably double the figures we have here in Australia now. Sure, things will get tougher than they have been in recent years. I couldn't get the job I wanted until more than 5 years after I left Uni either. You can't change the world's economy, but you can change your expectations, so adapt. Then 20 years from now you can post on a forum telling everyone that things weren't that bad.