Mark Simmering assists financial services employers and recruiters—this includes the Banking, Insurance and Securities industries—in finding suitable candidates for their companies. He’s a Business Development Consultant with BrokerHunter.com, a website that specialises in financial services careers and contains features like Virtual Career Fairs and the BHTV.
Mark is also a very active networker at LinkedIn, which was where we met, by the way.
He kindly agreed to answer a few questions. Here’s the result:
- Here’s an obvious yet inevitable question: how has the current econimic crisis affected your business (if at all)?
Obviously employment, especially in Financial Services, has slowed. The impact on our business has been a slowdown in overall employment listings, a tremendous increase in candidates registering on our careers site, and an increase in employment branding initiatives. Smart companies understand the importance of maintaining employment brand visibility to take advantage of talent in transition and to position for the future upswing in employment. Internally, BrokerHunter doubled its business volume in 2007 and is on track to better that volume for 2008, even with the economy. In fact, the current climate has given us the time to take our brand global in 2009.
- How do your networking abilities help your business?
Online networking is very important to my business. It allows our company and services to be visible on a global basis and connects me to prospective clients I never would have “met” otherwise.
- What’s the advantage in concentrating BrokerHunter’s staffing and recruiting efforts solely on the financial services industry?
Focusing on a niche industry segment ensures high quality traffic to our website and allows our clients to reach candidates and industry professionals far more cost effectively than general careers sites.
- What are Virtual Career Fairs about?
Our innovative Financial Services Virtual Career Fairs allow recruiters and candidates to meet live from the convenience of their office or home computer. Imagine having a company’s entire recruiting team working their virtual exhibit at the same time while interacting with candidates from anywhere in the world. There’s no travel time or expense for candidates or employers, all contact/job information is transferred electronically between parties, and it just makes more sense than physical career fair. We had two events in 2008 and have already scheduled a minimum of two morw for 2009. Follow this link and see for yourself: http://events.unisfair.com/demos/fsvfair/index.html
- According to your LinkedIn profile, you have more than 30 years of professional experience. What’s the main mistake you see newbies making all the time?
That’s a tough one… There are two things I do see regularly:
1) People not wanting to “pay their dues” and take the time and initiative to learn their business inside-out. By that, I mean understanding what every department/function in the organization does and how it contributes to the firm’s success.
2) Letting one’s focus become so narrow that they can’t and won’t see new opportunities. Every “No” just means you asked the wrong questions. This skill is especially crucial in this economy!
Many thanks to Mark for this interview!
UPDATE: If you are a LinkedIn member, you can visit Mark’s groups Financial Services Career Center, Financial Services Corporate Recruiters, eQuest Global Job Posting Users Group and BROKERHUNTER.com.
