The road less travelled

Not too far in the recent past, the cloud of doom hung over the financial services industry. Many are still reeling from its effect, having de-railed a steady career, destroyed a new start-up or condemned their job search to purgatory. Yet, the tides seem to have shifted and using the offshore market as a weather vane, the bull has beaten the bear.

With the financial services industry in locations like Jersey and Guernsey leading the way, the market is not only recovering, but also taking glorious and bold steps towards expansion. The commonly accepted cornerstone of the offshore “house” is the trust and fiduciary services industry. With FATCA laws arriving from the US and income tax hikes in France, this industry is both budding and growing. 

Areas of development, tangential to trusts and fiduciary services, include real estate, private equity, and fund administration. Many firms have been investing in mid to senior level management in these sectors, either to allow for continued expansion, or to enter into the fray. The past years have seen persistent consolidation but with new vigour, those that made it through the difficult times are looking brightly into the future. 

This has been outstanding for job-seekers on-island as well as for those “on-shore” looking to take the road ‘less travelled by’. With a wealth of new opportunities available for expanding offshore firms and a world full of potentially interested job-seekers, the focus then becomes, “How do we attract the right people?” 

Many offshore firms are utilising social media, more specifically LinkedIn, to attract individuals from across the world. To understand more about social media as a job-seeker’s tool Michael Page recently surveyed our global candidate base. The results reveal an interesting and in some cases worrying trend but the exciting news for firms looking to source directly, is that of the number of people we surveyed, 93% had LinkedIn accounts (up 10% from 2013). Obviously those we surveyed are active job-seekers but it does exhibit a wider interest in direct networking. 

Diversity has been a serious focus for most global financial services firms and the aforementioned uncomfortable result is that 30% more women than men say they do not have an account. Diversity is both a buzzword and a necessity and even the Obama administration has scrutinised gender inequalities and strategies to overcome. The glee exhibited by expanding offshore firms should couple with a commitment to find a diverse workforce to relocate to these islands, and this means utilising a wider network to attract the right people. 

Often my clients ask me for a niche skill set, and expect it to be present in the London market or the UK market. But more often than not I find professionals much farther afield. I have relocated a senior HR professional from Doha to the Channel Islands and an internal auditor from Australia to Jersey. Going in the other direction and finding the right person for a very tricky audit position, we moved a gentleman from Surrey to St Helena, one of the last remaining 14 British overseas territories, which can take 13 days of travel, to go one way.

Here’s the plug... and the truth. We are that wider network. With a specialist and dedicated offshore desk we are able to work within Michael Page, liaising with colleagues globally to access a very wide variety of skill-sets. Recently we worked with our Ireland based colleagues to source candidates for an Isle of Man based position, and can work with our global network of offices (i.e. Singapore, Hong Kong, New York, Paris, and Tokyo) to find finance professionals interested in an offshore opportunity. Our desk offers big firm resources, with small firm customer service. We have an exceptional advertising package that saves our clients thousands of pounds, while reaching thousands of potential candidates. Not to mention, we can save your HR staff 100’s of valuable hours of trolling through various social media channels.

If you’d like to discuss your requirements further, please get in contact with Emily Nunes, Business Manager, Offshore, Michael Page. 

E: emilynunes@michaelpage.com

T: +44 20 7776 5955