Careers Blog

On Wednesday, April 3, 2013 Gonzalo Gaspar, Managing Director of the IE Dubai Office,  gave a presentation to IE students about the employment and salary trends of the region, the current market, and tips for pursuing career options in the region.

Role of the IE Dubai Office

Gaspar explained that the primary functions of the office are to recruit students from the Gulf Area. In the last years the number of students and alumni in the region has grown exponentially, and this also means more alumni activities, that the office in Dubai coordinates with the local UAE Alumni Club. So far they have had 8 professors visit this academic year, and the masters classes have proven to challenging, engaging, and timely.

Countries Covered by the IE Dubai Office

-          United Arab Emirates

-          Qatar

-          Kuwait

-          Bahrain

These countries all offer growing incomes, tax free economies, and environment where English is spoken as the dominant language, and offer safe and stable living and working environments.

The Current Market

Gaspar explained that the market is in flux, with little inflation, enjoying minimum salary increases of 3-4% during 2012-2013. IT and HR industries enjoyed the highest wage hikes (+7.5%), while banking and real estate have the lowest wage increases. While there are many career opportunities, Europeans are flooding the region, feeding into the laws of supply and demand. However, the economic situation in the Gulf Region is stronger than Europe´s.

Nationalization in the Gulf Region

While there is a large population of expats, many regional companies need to comply with local laws that mandate a certain number of locals working within the private sectors. Nationalism within all the areas is prominent, and “Saudization” and “Omanization” are two of the more extreme examples. However, salaries in the public sector are higher, and thus the nationalism rates in the private sectors tend to be quite low, providing non-nationals with more opportunities.

Job Creation in the Gulf Region

The flux market in the region creates growing job creation. Saudi Arabia had a 60% increase in companies that have recruited staff in the last year, while this percentage in Qatar was 51% and 37% in the UAE. Oil and gas, retail and health sectors have had the largest job growth, while banking and construction have the lowest.

Mobility

Gaspar says that the UAE is the most popular place for expats. Everyone hopes to work there, and, more specifically, in Dubai. Traveling and commuting within the region is common, which is why despite its population of 2 million people, Dubai has the 3^rd busiest airport in the world.

Overview of each country

United Arab Emirates

It has low inflation, stability, and a high living standard. It is the most popular destination for job seekers, and because of its stability, is seen as a safe haven for tourism and businesses.  Because it is so popular with foreigners, the salaries are static.

Saudi Arabia

The Kingdom offers the highest population and its oil and energies business makes it the driver of Middle Eastern recruitment. There is a current trend of manufacturers opening separate business units in the Kingdom, creating job growth. However, it is not a popular destination for most expats, so while salaries are increasing the expat population is decreasing. This decrease is also related to the Kingdom’s goals of Saudization (see Nationalism in the Gulf Region).

Qatar

Qatar has strict laws against mobility. If you decide to leave your job or are fired, you must leave the country before you can find another position within Qatar. Because of this, there is a constant flow of people, and thus lots of job opportunities.  Due to the strict laws, premiums are paid and job seekers are offered better packages. Government spending continues, and Gaspar says that further construction within the country, while it hasn´t happened yet, will happen.

Kuwait

Kuwait offers a stable workforce and medium-level pay, however it is not a popular destination for expats and government spending is less common than in other regions.

Oman

Oman is less popular than other regions, with Omanization creating less opportunity for non-locals and lower salaries in the private sector.

Bahrain

Bahrain has the lowest salary growth, little to no job creation, and political tensions. Many expats currently located there are trying to move to the UAE.

Cultural Clash?

A study that Gaspar references in his talk states that nearly half of the employees in the region (49%) dislike their bosses. This could be due to cultural differences, and this should be taken into consideration by job seekers.

Tips from Gaspar

Gaspar stated that recruiters and headhunters want to see a strong interest and willingness to commit to the region. As such, make sure your CV is up to date, and provide a local address, phone number and P.O. Box. Commitment and motivation to work in the region are key to finding a position; obviously recruiters and headhunters are searching for hard-working, talented individuals who are interested in staying in the area for the long term. Gaspar’s take away point was: if you want to work in the region, set up some contacts (which his office can help you with) and GO! Headhunters and recruiters will take you much more seriously if you are local, it shows your dedication, and visas for Westerners are very easy to organize; they´re often bought in the airport of the country and a tourist visa is easily turned into a work visa.

Put yourself in contact with the IE Dubai Office, network with IE alumni in the region (of whom there are 125 total, a huge amount for such a small population, working in nearly every major company), and plan a trip to the region. Be careful to avoid going during high holidays (Ramadan in 2013 is from July 9 to August 7) in order to make the most of your visit.

As part of our efforts to enhance the IE brand in India, our representatives in the country attended a Human Resources Infotech Association (HRIA) full day conference that took place on April 6th . The theme was Reinvent HR and Talent workforce. The speakers and specific topics of discussion were:

Minocher Patel – CEO Ecole Solitare, spoke about “the Power of Happy Leadership”. Mr. Patel tops the list of Indian motivational speakers and corporate trainers. Humorous account of various leaders around the world and how their leadership models held the audience to their seats.

Anand Pillai, Sr. EVP & Chief Learning Officer – Reliance Industries Ltd spoke about Personal Branding – Discovering your YOUniqueness. He emphasized how every person has their own set of unique talents and gifts and how many people have great difficulty in articulating or displaying what they are – it is these nuggets that are important to build a point of difference.

Vikram Poddar, Standup Comedian and a self proclaimed Investment Banker spoke on –  The Art of Humor. How we can tackle everyday’s difficult situations with humor but only when we know when and where to stop.

A panel discussion about the Future challenges in HR between panelist Prasheel Pardhe, VP – HR, Golden Source with Mr. Vice President and Chief Talent Officer – Ugam Solutions Pvt. Ltd.

Sunita Bhuyan, Training Advisor – Syntel gave a musical session on Music for Holistic Development.

The Career Advising Team

The Career Advising team provides one-on-one advice to students from the very beginning of the program.

Executive Director of Career Management

The executive director, Amber Wigmore Álvarez, oversees three key areas: career advising, recruiter relations and career education. Her responsibility includes designing the career classes that Career Management Center does for each program which focus on CVs, cover letters, salary negotiation, mock interviews, personal branding and how to get on the radar of a head hunter.  She oversees three key directors who are responsible for those main areas.

The International Side of the Career Management Center

One of IE’s major competitive advantages is its international network of  24 offices around the world. Although their main mission is to help with admissions for IE programs, because of their local market knowledge and relations with our alumni in those regions, they almost act as a back office for the Career Management Centre. Of all the offices, six are a lot more geared towards Career Services, one of which is the office in India. The other offices which have a strong career management focus are the ones in Colombia, Mexico, Peru, Dubai and Singapore, which also covers Hong Kong and Taiwan.

All IE offices have a listing of all our careers collaborators and providers on the IE careers portal. This includes an excellent resource called Going Global. In this, there are a series of country career guides. Each of these guides includes visa information, CV tips, and cover letter tips, interviewing tips, a list of the top online job sites and a list of the executive search firms in those countries. In addition, the economies and the labor market are taken into account. Students are also guided to other markets where Career Management Services foresees that there could be opportunities.

Career Services in India

Bhushan Vishwasrao has recently been appointed as Careers Director of the India office, and the India office is the first office of the 24 to have a Careers Director. He is generating recruitment opportunities and centralizing them through the IE job bank. And there is a special monthly bulletin he sends to IE alumni residing in India where he is making sure that they are aware of all the initiatives in Careers and if they have any recruiting needs, they let him know. Mr. Vishwasrao makes sure he has all their information by reaching out to them. He is also doing a lot of outreach to HR associations, executive search firms, etc.

A heavy component in Mr. Vishwasrao’s day is recruiter relations and business development – going after companies and making them aware of IE and pitch the talent of all the different programs and profiles IE has, starting with the IE University fresh graduates to pre-experienced Masters in Management to our full-time MBA students and finally our executive programs. He also takes into account where Indian alumni would like to work.

Nevertheless, this is not a placement agency. Mr. Vishwasrao is generating opportunities that we are posting in our job bank. He is informing the Indian alumni about that to encourage them to apply to these opportunities. At the same time, he’s been through Careers Training like CV writing, cover letter writing, etc. When alumni approach him and are looking for more local market expertise when it comes to their career portfolio documentation, he’s prepared for that as well. Mr. Vishwasrao would also go to industry events such as a finance conference, an HR conference and really get the word out there about IE’s presence in India.

When pursuing opportunities in Merger & Acquisitions, most professionals concentrate their attention on private financial institutions that operate in this arena, such as investment banks and private equity/venture capital firms.  However, given the significant gaps in capital provided to developing economies, a number of governments and non-profit groups have organized “Development Finance Institutions” (DFIs) with a mandate to provide capital and financial services to underserved markets.  Moreover, a number of these DFIs have internal asset management divisions that take equity positions in businesses located in specific markets.

The International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, is a well-known example of a DFI that has the mission of providing capital and financial services to the developing world.  While carrying the title of the “largest global development institution focused exclusively on the private sector,” the IFC’s purpose is to help developing countries achieve sustainable growth by financing private sector investments in profitable businesses in emerging markets.  In addition to a wide range of divisions, one in particular, the IFC Asset Management Company, provides qualified professions the opportunity to gain experience in private equity and venture capital with an emphasis on equity and debt investments in some of the poorest countries.  According to IFC’s Annual Report, the IFC Asset Management Company has approximately $4.5 billion under management and has made 33 investments totaling more than $1.7 billion since 2009.  Essentially, while some investment banks and/or private equity/venture capital firms focus on traditional areas such as energy, technology or consumer goods, the IFC Asset Management Company focuses on investments in developing countries.

DFIs provide young professionals the opportunity to combine (i) a strong interest in M&A and corporate finance with (ii) the desire to create sustainable group in some of the most underdeveloped economies.  Because DFIs are required to provide financial advice and invest in areas “traditional” financing sources do not, these areas typically involve some of the poorest countries and industries, which usually means that there is a greater risk of losing one’s investment.  What this means for young professions is that they obtain invaluable experience because these conflicting factors cause them to seek out innovating solutions to very complex issues.  Following a stint with a DFI, traditional private equity/venture capital firms can be confident that such a candidate can handle the M&A process in more developed economies.  Finally, DFIs provide professions with the opportunity to be a part of an organization that helps demonstrate that viable enterprises can be successful in some of the most challenging markets.

Hola amigos, esta vez comparto un artículo publicado en América Economía, y que se basa en una serie de charlas que hemos estado ofreciendo en el Departamento de Carreras Profesionales del IE a los estudiantes y antiguos alumnos interesados en mejorar la calidad de sus relaciones profesionales.

Podéis leer el artículo aquí

Todavía hay mucho que decir sobre este tema, así que no os perdáis la próxima charla, que como siempre será publicada en la Alumni Agenda. 

IE India representatives have been involved in business events that aim at networking with HR professionals and hiring manager across India, in order to increase possibilities of partnerships for recruiting and hiring from IE.

Some of the events IE representatives in India attended were:

Human Resources Infotech Association (HRIA) Overnight Get Together – 22& 23 March 2013

This was IE’s first outbound event with HR professionals across Mumbai. The event was highly applauded by industry veterans and the venue was perfect for a Saturday evening. The photos below do not do justice to the networking happened on that evening. The next day was followed up with a Cricket tournament which IE almost won as a team event.

Talent Economics – The fine line between winning and losing the Global War for Talent – 8 March 2013

A spectacular event presented by Mr. Gyan Nagpal. Talent Economics maps out what the workforce will look like in 2013.Presenting data from 45 countries, he used economic inquiry – the study of how the forces of supply and demand allocate scarce resources. Attended by almost 150 HR professionals in Pune, it acted as a medium to present a brand new perspective for finding and retaining talent.

Human Resources Infotech Association – Interactive & Learning Evening Conference – 7 Feb 2013

Topics & Speakers:

• Futuristic Crimes by D Sivanandhan, Former Police Commissioner of Mumbai
• Harnessing Creative Talent for Corporate Change by Sanjeev Parida, Sr VP HR – Tech Mahindra

Human Resources Infotech Association (HRIA) had arranged another event with more than 150 attendees in Mumbai. Two very credible speakers were hosting the same. It was more than 3 hrs of fascinating stories by Mr. Sivanandhan and an exchange of corporate ideas with Mr. Parida. Both speakers came from very different backgrounds but spoke of general awareness one should posses when she/he is in a corporate setting.

Mr. Parida discussed about the harmony between different generations which come together to run a company. The Baby boomers – at the peak of the hierarchy, Generation X – at the middle management levels and Generation Y – The current line managers who actually gets the work done. How different mindsets, ideas and cultures need to be harnessed together to make the company move ahead.

Mr. Sivanandan spoke of the modern day criminal minds. How today’s law breakers are more technologically advanced than the law makers. He gave many examples ranging from terrorist attacks in Mumbai to how a simple bug can be hidden in a MNC’s mainframe servers can help its competition leaps and bound. It was really surprising to see how easy it is to bend the laws and what limitations today’s police faces to stay a step ahead of the criminals.

The core HRIA team partnered with IE for the events happening in Mumbai.

NHRD Session – Chanakya and his relevance for HR – 16 Jan 2013

IE was invited to attend an interesting HR meet with National Human Resource Development (NHRD). The topic was ‘Chanakya and his relevance for HR’ and the speaker was Mr.Radhakrishnan Pillai, the author of the bestselling book ‘Corporate Chanakya’. Chanakya was an Indian teacher, philosopher and royal advisor and his book on economics called ‘Arthashastra’ is one of the oldest of its kind dedicated to the art of running a state.

The session discussed various teachings of Chanakya and how they can be used in today’s corporate world.

This highly interactive session was attended by 90 HR professionals from various companies. Mr. Pillai spoke extensively on how to tackle problems faced by companies, mainly in man management, by adopting Chanakyas way of teaching.

Human Resource Infotech Association (HRIA) conference – 29 Nov 2012

IE India Rep office arranged an HR conference with HRIA (Human Resource Infotech Association) – a body with HR representatives of IT and ITeS companies across India.

The event was attended by HR representatives of over 40 companies based in Mumbai but having presence all over India. There were two keynote speakers Mr. Rajeev Kumar – Global HR Head – TCS Financial Solutions and Ms. Kalpana Jaishankar – Sr. VP & Global HR Head – Mastek Ltd. Both the speakers spoke on various HR topics namely how to handle Gen-Y employees, leadership development, reverse mentorship and was followed by a Q&A session.

Joel McConell, Regional Director Asia Pacific at IE Business school spoke to the audience about IE and the type of students that attend IE.  He discussed the core values of IE, the distribution of candidate profiles and the employment trends over the past few years.

The corporate sector enjoyed the event and the networking dinner following the event was fruitful with us getting many invitations to personal meetings with the companies.  A few companies discussed the possibility of employment of IE alumni in western countries as well.

In a recent interview, Amber Wigmore Álvarez, IE’s director of the Career Management Center spoke about the future of international recruiting and hiring. She said, “At our career fair on campus, 128 companies came last year. It was an incredible volume from around the world with 42% of the opportunities from outside of Spain. But there’s a lot of news in the press these days about the ‘career fair being dead’, because business schools are finding it more and more challenging to get companies to physically visit the campus in a world of virtual recruiting. So we are now investing in a platform to do webcasts.

When we go out and meet recruiters from around the world, instead of trying to get them to come on campus at one specific time, now we’re able to do a recruiting event with them in a much more flexible format. Just a week ago, a colleague and I were in Hong Kong for a recruiting conference. We did a finance trip with students where we visited banks and finance firms in Hong Kong, Singapore and Dubai. For financial firms, it is difficult to come on campus during one particular week in October. So now we’re going to do a webcast with them so they can launch a Graduate Management Trainee programme or an internship programme from their headquarters. We can videolink live with them and have our students participate. We have the team and the training for this technology.”

In addition to recruiting, are companies also interviewing virtually?

“We do have a lot of our students who use Skype for interviews. The material that we are preparing them for and a lot of our documentation is no longer about interviewing techniques only. We send them a lot of documentation on how to best handle an interview virtually. The 13-month MBA programme is very intense immediately after the students join. Immediately after they arrive, they have deadlines if they want to participate in the internships. Right from day 1, they are interviewing and it would be very difficult for them to miss classes and travel around the world to interview for internships. So, many of the internship interviews are done almost exclusively via Skype now.”

Where else can we expect virtual interactions with employers?

On top of virtual recruiting at the career fair, Ms. Wigmore Álvarez says: “Last year we brought more than 75 companies to do on-campus recruiting and corporate presentations at different points during the year. This year, we expect to see even more of that with the webcast that I mentioned earlier. It’s these relations that we have in different markets that are contributing to us gaining more international opportunities for our students.”

Since we have welcomed the IMBA April intake this week, we would like to dedicate a post to this badge and anyone else who is interested in career change, and getting the most out of the IE experience, even if you are a student or alumnus.

Participate in Alumni Events!!!

Something unique about IE is that right from day one the Career Management Center encourages students to go to alumni events. Even if it’s not a careers event per se, if you’re interested in working for that company and the director of supply chain is coming, come to the event and introduce yourself. The next day, you can send a targeted cover letter.

Last year, the Executive Director of the Career Management Center, Amber Wigmore Álvarez, was selected along with her counterpart from Kellogg-Northwestern, to present at the annual conference on Best Practices in International Recruiting. With 42% of IE’s recruiting happening outside Spain, that is a very high volume. In addition to the mandatory career sessions that students have, the Career Management center also organizes different career drives, voluntary sessions on personal branding with different gurus brought in from different parts of the world. The Career Management Center always tells students to be active and participate in alumni events.

How to Handle a Career Change

If it’s functional change, consider going back to the same company. At IE’s Career Management Center, students and alumni can talk about industry change and leverage relationships and networking. If it’s geographical change, an internship is a great way to lay the groundwork for a career change. Also, getting involved in the IE Clubs can help. Students who come in with an interest for a career in finance but they don’t have any experience in that field, are encouraged to join the IE Finance Club. If they’re interested in consulting, join the Consulting Club. Participation in clubs should be put on your resume, and shows an active passion for the area you are looking to enter.

Questions Commonly Asked to the Career Management Center

Where are graduates placed?

For those looking for information on where students have secured opportunities from previous intakes, look at the various placement reports which are published online. In each section (IMBA or Masters in Management), there is a detailed report.

What countries do IE alumni end up working in?

IE has a tremendous diversity of profiles and students coming from more than 80 countries and alumni working in more than a 100 countries. They are going everywhere. The Career Management Center is approached by a lot of recruiters because they know of the tremendous international profiles here. There is quite a lot of geographic mobility amongst IE students. They don’t necessarily go back to their own countries.

What are my internship opportunities?

The internship program is a part of the IMBA Program Management. For example, IMBA Program Management organizes the IMBA in Practice which is the internship they get academic credit for it. However, even though it’s organized by program management, the Career Management Center is involved from the beginning. At the information session, somebody from Careers gives a presentation about the best resources for looking for an internship.

In a pre-workshop class students are talked through the process of converting the internship into full-time employment. This is essential, because one of the major trends in Career Services is that multinationals are no longer doing a separate process for internships and a separate process for full-time. For example, Johnson & Johnson are looking to hire full-time from their pool of internship candidates.

Can Career Management help me secure a visa to work abroad?

Many students coming from the non-European countries expect that it’s going to be a lot easier to get a visa because they’re studying here and that is not necessarily the situation. Career Management doesn’t provide students with visa services but it does provide them with information on firms that do.

What are current trends in recruitment?

One of the biggest trends around recruiting is the use of LinkedIn. There’s a statistic that 80% of employers will look at your LinkedIn profile before they call you for an interview. So one of the things that the Career Management Center suggest is that students put at the very top of their CVs, in addition to their contact information and email address, the public URL of their LinkedIn profile. There is an active Career Services professionals group on LinkedIn which stays abreast of what’s going on. There’s a new, powerful tool which is LinkedIn.com/alumni. This is a powerful search filter for students to help them identify IE alumni that could help open doors to certain companies.  Additionally, the IE Alumni Association has an Official Alumni LinkedIn group, Twitter and Facebook which often have job postings and can be used as networking tools.

Con una cifra record de paro en el país, que llega al 26%, un 35% de los encuestados teme perder su trabajo durante 2013, según se desprende de la Guía Laboral 2013, elaborada por Hays,  multinacional  británica dedicada a la selección de profesionales cualificados. Por otro lado, el 70% de los españoles que se encuentran trabajando en el extranjero desean volver a España en cuanto la situación mejore, “Este deseo es una buena noticia, ya que significa que los profesionales que vuelvan a España lo harán con una experiencia internacional que aportará un valor muy alto a las empresas que los contraten cuando regresen. Asimismo, se dibuja como un tema de gran importancia debido a la imparable tendencia de las empresas españolas a expandir mercado fuera de nuestras fronteras” señala Christopher Dottie, director general de Hays en España. De los profesionales encuestados en el estudio que actualmente están trabajando en el extranjero, más del 80% había emigrado en los últimos 5 años, coincidiendo con el inicio de la crisis económica. De igual forma, entre los profesionales que se encuentran trabajando en España, hasta un 67% se está planteando buscar trabajo fuera.

El estudio en el que se basa la Guía Laboral 2013, que se presentó en primicia a los clientes de Hays en el IE en Madrid, se ha realizado sobre una muestra de casi 3.000 profesionales y 1.000 empresas, y contiene datos específicos de cinco de las ciudades españolas más importantes: Madrid, Barcelona, Bilbao, Valencia y Sevilla. Incluye un análisis de las tendencias para 2013 y de los profesionales más cotizados y las posiciones menos demandadas en cada uno de los siguientes sectores: Contabilidad y Finanzas, Banca, Ingeniería y Construcción, Legal, Life Sciences, Logística, Ventas y Marketing, Retail, Seguros y Tecnologías de la Información.

Según la Guía, el sector de Tecnologías de la Información es el menos afectado por la situación económica y se erige como un sector anticíclico donde la demanda de profesionales responde a la dinámica interna más que a los vaivenes de la economía nacional. Este año, muchas de las ofertas estarán ligadas al desarrollo alrededor de la telefonía móvil, tanto IOS como Android. Una nota positiva: de los resultados del estudio se desprende que más de la mitad de los empresarios, un 51.3%, realizarán contrataciones este año, y de entre estas contrataciones la mayoría serán en Ingeniería (29.4%), Ventas (56.8%) o Informática (29.8%).

La progresiva internacionalización de las empresas españolas, que buscan salida a sus productos y servicios en otros países para crecer, ha llevado a los empresarios ser más exigentes con el perfil de profesional que buscan: una persona con experiencia, que ofrezca un retorno de la inversión inmediato, con idiomas y una gran capacidad de adaptación, que pueda evolucionar en un entorno tan cambiante. La diferenciación del candidato se centra cada vez más en las competencias personales, y determinadas actitudes durante la entrevista de trabajo, como mostrar arrogancia (77.3% de los empresarios) o criticar a su antigua empresa (64%) pueden hacer perder una oportunidad a un candidato en un momento en el que el empresario no puede arriesgarse a contratar a la persona equivocada.

Tendencias salariales

El estudio incluye una guía salarial actualizada con las principales posiciones en cada uno de los diez grandes sectores de actividad económica.  Se compara la oferta salarial para las mismas posiciones en cinco de las ciudades más importantes de España en función de la experiencia. Por norma general, Madrid ocupa la primera posición en cuanto a salarios, seguida por Barcelona, Bilbao, Valencia y Sevilla.

Las empresas se están viendo obligadas a buscar nuevas fórmulas para captar y retener el talento con presupuestos más reducidos. El pasado año la mitad de las empresas congelaron los salarios. Las fórmulas mixtas, que incluyen componente variable y beneficios no financieros, se afianzan en el panorama laboral. Un 56% de las empresas paga remuneración variable a sus empleados, normalmente ligada a resultados y objetivos, tanto individuales como de equipo o en referencia a los resultados generales de la empresa.

Pero el foco se ha centrado este año en los beneficios no financieros, que cuentan con una aceptación del 90% entre los profesionales. Mientras en 2011 eran un 30% las empresas que no ofrecían este tipo de beneficios a los empleados, este año son apenas un 16% las que no lo hacen. Los más populares son el coche de empresa (44%) y la formación externa (42%). Esta última goza de especial aceptación entre los empleados, ya que aporta un valor añadido a su perfil profesional y hace aumentar su empleabilidad.

Adaptación y cambio son los ejes sobre los que pivotará el año 2013. Las empresas deben encontrar nuevos mercados a través de los cuales poder crecer, y apoyarse en el talento de los profesionales españoles, que deben crecer con las primeras. “El mayor desafío que afrontan las empresas que operan en España es, sin duda, el conseguir adaptarse para prosperar, buscando nuevos mercados exteriores, encontrando la forma de diferenciar sus productos apoyándose en la calidad más que en el precio, explorando nuevas maneras de hacer negocio, como el e-commerce, y centrándose en el control de gastos” afirma Christopher Dottie, “De igual forma, los trabajadores españoles deben adaptarse a las nuevas necesidades, dando un giro a la mentalidad más tradicional. Hacen falta profesionales cualificados orientados a objetivos, proactivos y con un perfil internacional. Los candidatos que sepan acercar su perfil al modelo que las empresas están buscando tendrán más éxito. Desde 2001, año en que Hays empezó a operar en España, la realidad ha cambiado de forma radical, y todos los actores que operamos en este contexto tenemos que desarrollar la capacidad de detectar el cambio, esa gran constante universal, y reinventarnos para afrontar los desafíos que plantea”.

La opinión de los profesionales en activo y en paro

Entre los candidatos se percibe la incertidumbre. Si el año pasado un porcentaje sorprendentemente elevado estaba pensando en cambiar de trabajo, este año esa cifra ha bajado 13 puntos, hasta un 70%, que sigue siendo una cifra que llama la atención en un mercado laboral escaso de confianza. Una de las razones que motiva a los trabajadores a abordar un cambio de empleo es económica: el 38.8 % de los mismos considera que el sueldo que percibe no es adecuado, y sólo un 20% del total considera que está ajustado al trabajo desempeñado. Sin embargo, no es este el motivo número uno que motiva un cambio de trabajo: el 62% declara hacerlo por las perspectivas de crecimiento profesional.

De entre los datos obtenidos por Hays entre los desempleados, encontramos uno de los más sorprendentes del estudio: hasta un 30% de los trabajadores en paro rechazaron una oferta de trabajo en 2012.  ¿Las razones? En la mayoría de los casos, el salario no era suficiente. “Se está dando un descenso general de salarios en la mayoría de los sectores de la economía. Los profesionales que acceden desde una situación de desempleo a un trabajo perciben un salario menor al que tenía su precedente en el mismo puesto, y, de igual forma, los perfiles más junior también acceden a nuevos puestos con un salario menor” afirma Christopher Dottie. Aparte de un salario insuficiente, los desempleados han rechazado ofertas de trabajo porque no se adecuaban a su experiencia o área de formación (27.5%) o porque el proyecto no era interesante (22.5%).

¿Y qué están haciendo los profesionales en paro para mejorar su perfil? Apuestan mucho menos que los trabajadores en activo por la formación académica (un 57.8% frente a un 63% de los que tienen empleo), y apuestan más por el aprendizaje de herramientas informáticas, formación técnicas y desarrollo de competencias personales. En cuanto al método más eficaz para encontrar trabajo, están de acuerdo con los profesionales en activo: los contactos personales se sitúan a la cabeza. Por detrás de la red de contactos personales se encuentran las empresas de selección de personal e Internet y las redes sociales. Se sitúan por detrás  otras vías como el contacto directo con la empresa o las ETTs.

La opinión de los empresarios

Entre los empresarios, el sentimiento es generalizado: el 40% considera la reforma laboral no ha supuesto un cambio sustancial del que consideran es su mayor obstáculo, la rigidez de la legislación laboral. Con un 35% se sitúa justo por detrás la visibilidad de España en el mercado internacional, y en tercer lugar, con un 30% de las respuestas, se sitúan las actuales dificultades para acceder a un crédito, consideradas como una barrera a la hora de crear empleo.

Las empresas buscan adaptarse. La primera salida es la internacionalización: las empresas se mantienen y crecen abriendo mercado en el extranjero. Esto repercute en el perfil de profesional buscado, un profesional más global, con disponibilidad para viajar e idiomas. También buscan la optimización de los recursos, por lo que todos los trabajadores relacionados con procesos de optimización, como expertos en Lean Manufacturing, están en auge en 2013, así como los especialistas ligados al control de costes, como analistas financieros o analistas de riesgo. Además, las compañías están explorando nuevas formas de negocio, explotando el potencial de Internet. La creciente confianza de los consumidores en la venta online hará de este un buen año para los profesionales del e-commerce y expertos en marketing online.

La internacionalización de las empresas y la importancia de los idiomas

A pesar de la crisis, son numerosas las empresas españolas que mantienen datos positivos. La razón, además de las estrategias de contención de gastos y optimización, es que estas empresas están encontrando proyectos fuera de España, donde pueden aprovechar su expertise y recursos. Por ello, el perfil del profesional global está muy cotizado, por escaso. Muchos empresarios alertan de las discordancias entre ofertas de empleo cualificadas y la escasez de profesionales que posean las competencias adecuadas. Los idiomas continúan siendo una asignatura pendiente: muchos candidatos han perdido oportunidades por no conocer otras lenguas, ya que 9 de cada 10 puestos exigen el conocimiento del inglés. Incluso más: los resultados han revelado a Hays que el inglés ha superado por primera vez al castellano en el mundo laboral español. El 91% de los empresarios considera imprescindible el inglés, frente a un 76% que considera imprescindible el castellano. Por detrás se sitúan el francés y el alemán. Este último está abriendo puertas a muchos ingenieros a industrias como la automovilística. El portugués crece en su valoración, por el volumen de negocios mantenido con el país vecino y, en especial, con Brasil, un mercado emergente de enorme potencial. Quizás por todo esto, el 55 % de los profesionales están en este momento estudiando idiomas.

Imbuidos como estamos en un mercado global, no sorprende que muchos trabajadores opten por salir al extranjero a buscar oportunidades de trabajo más atractivas o salarios más elevados. Existen ciertas preferencias sobre los destinos, que se ven reflejadas en el estudio, pues el 45% de los expatriados se concentran en 5 países, cuatro de ellos europeos: Reino Unido, Alemania, Francia, Suiza y México. Llama la atención que países como Australia o Nueva Zelanda se sitúen muy por encima de los países del continente asiático o africano en cuanto a destinos favoritos a pesar de la lejanía geográfica. La mayoría de los encuestados tiene formación en IT, Ingeniería o Finanzas. El 35% emigró por falta de oportunidades de trabajo en nuestro país. ¿Y cuáles serían las razones que frenan la salida de muchos trabajadores españoles al extranjero? De forma radical, los motivos familiares. Un 79.7% de los encuestados afirmó que rechazaría un trabajo por esta razón. El conocimiento del idioma sólo supone un impedimento para el 15%, y los motivos culturales son una razón muy residual: sólo un 4.5% la menciona.

Having a well-written resume is key to landing a position in M&A, Venture Capital and/or Private Equity. Writing a resume for one of these positions is distinctive from other types of resumes because it generally requires experience in finance as a requirement for being considered for a position. Specifically, the ideal candidate will have the ability to add value to one or more areas in the traditional M&A process, which generally speaking includes

• Sourcing potential targets,
• Sue diligence,
• Supporting newly acquired companies.

For this reason, to the extent you have valuation, modeling, management and/or industry specific capabilities, these should be highlighted.  Lastly, the M&A, Venture Capital and Private Equity job markets are very competitive and while most firms do not specifically require applicants to have an MBA, it will improve one’s chances of getting selected.  As a result, your education should also be prominently displayed in your resume.

While other industries may focus on your academic performance, personality and other things unrelated to your professional experience, M&A, Venture Capital and Private Equity job are somewhat different. Recruiters in these areas want to know every detail about your prior professional experience. For example, Private Equity and Venture Capital firms target professionals that have worked in investment banking or a similar financial area for a minimum of two years because they want a professional who is experienced enough to immediately make an impact at the firm.  For this reason, disclosing significant work experience by accentuating the transactions you have participated on and how you added value is very important. Some key elements to highlight when explaining your past work experience include:

• Number of transactions you have participated on;
• Type of transactions and
• Skills you acquired (i.e., valuation, modeling, due diligence, project management).

When writing about your past transactions that you have participated in, the objective is to be exceptional and demonstrate how you specifically influenced and contributed to the transaction process. Rather than just highlighting your responsibilities that you had in connection with the transaction, you should specifically mention how you helped in the transaction.

In the event that you do not have significant transaction experience, one alternative is to highlight other areas that M&A, Venture Capital and Private Equity value: (i) management and consulting experience and (ii) industry experience.  Private Equity and Venture Capital firms value these forms of experience because it is critical after a transaction to had value to its acquisition.  As a result, these firms need professionals, who can support and advise the management team of the newly acquired company and/or provide expertise on what is required to be successful in a specific industry.  Essentially, when writing a resume in connection with one of these areas, a professional must analyze their own resources and capabilities and highlight the key ways he or she can add value to the M&A process.