Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Wall Street bonuses see record drop

See brief article in on-line SJ Business Journal.

Monday, January 19, 2009

Interested in Learning More About Financial History and the Roots of the Current Crisis?

Friday, January 09, 2009

Questions you can ask in an interview to get a handle on company culture

Very helpful article from Monster.com on this topic at http://career-advice.monster.com/job-search-essentials/The-Corporate-Culture-Conundrum_2/home.aspx?WT.mc_n=CRMUS000096.

Private Equity Compensation Report - 2008

2008 Average Compensation by Title per Private Equity Jobs Digest:

CFO: $400K+
Partner: $350K+
Managing Director: around $325K
Principal: around $280K
Director: Around $260K
Vice-President - Around $250K
Associate - around $200K
Accountant/Controller: $around $125K
Analyst - around $100K

Avg hours for people in Hedge Fund careers - 40-60 hours/week
Avg hours for people in Private Equity & VC - 50-70 hours/week

Vault's Top Picks for Sectors Mostly Likely to be Hiring in 2009

  1. The federal government (lots of new hires with the incoming administration)
  2. The legal profession (bankruptcy lawyers and litigators)
  3. Oil rigs (due to acute shortage of qualified rig workers)
  4. Psychiatrists, therapists, and counselors (due to economy-related stress on individuals and couples)
  5. Tech R&D (as companies continue to invest to prepare for the inevitable, eventual recovery)
  6. Any jobs that facilitate or support offshoring - particularly of tech functions
  7. Healthcare

Thursday, January 08, 2009

Silicon Valley Business Journal: Fundraising retreats in Q4 for private equity firms

According to the article, "private equity fundraising slowed to a virtual standstill in the fourth quarter of 2008, according to analysis released Thursday by Dow Jones Private Equity Analyst." If further states that "the decline we saw in the most recent quarter may steepen in the coming months, as some large buyout shops are considering fund size cuts and many limited partners are going to have trouble finding money to commit." For the entire article, click here.

Tuesday, January 06, 2009

Article on Monster.com: 2009 Employment Outlook: Gut Check for Job Seekers

According to an article on Monster.com:

"One bright spot in the job market, if you don’t mind the irony: Remember Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX), the 2002 regulatory reform that emerged from Enron, WorldCom and similar accounting scandals? Just as SOX has been a font of jobs for accountants and finance professionals, so will the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP), the $700 billion federal bailout aimed primarily at financial institutions.


“A lot of financial people losing their jobs will be working on contract to support TARP efforts,” says Brendan Courtney, a senior vice president at Spherion. “New regulations will force companies to operate differently, and they’ll have to throw bodies at the problem.” Public accountants, auditors, forensic accountants, business analysts and credit and collections specialists will all be in demand in 2009, Courtney says. "

The article also suggests that while federal employment will probably increase under the new administration, state and local governments will be laying people off in an effort to balance budgets.

For the entire article, click here.

Monday, January 05, 2009

Venture-backed IPOs last year hit 30-year low

See article in SF Business Times.

Sunday, January 04, 2009

As Economy Falters, More Families Are Living Apart for the Paycheck

Very interesting article in the New York Times about commuter couples - click here.