Hiring freez @ ML
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Hi guys, around July 05 I interviewed with ML in the World Financial Center office. The group really loved me and forwarded me for a series of 5 interviews with senior management, they loved me too and said they would like to hire me but I will have to wait for the next training program to start. The next program was schedule for Oct. 05, which was postponed to Feb. 06, and now I have been told that for the first half of 06 ML is going to hire only competitive hires (regional policy).<?:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />
Does anybody hear about that new hires freeze or they are just trying to blow me off in a wired way?
I'll appreciate any comment.
p.s. any recommendation for great prep book for the 7, 63 an66 exams?
Regarding hiring freezes.
Does it make sense that a corporation will stop hiring those who produce the income?
A brokerage firm may stop hiring analysts, computer technicians, cage personnel, sales assistants. But if a qualified sales person presents themselves they will be hired.
That said, let's consider the fact that you have to be licensed and trained and firms may not be willing to incur that cost. If the broker/dealer has cancelled training classes they're saying that they don't have faith in the coming months and their ability to continue to gin out the income necessary to support things like training classes.
If you're running a Merrill branch and there is not training classes scheduled you're going to have to fill your desks with brokers you attracted from a competitor, already registered and already product trained.
Does that mean that somebody who wants to work at Merrill should go somewhere else to get the training and then apply at Merrill later?
Could be, but that route is filled with pitfalls. First is the fact that you will appear to be a job hopper if you apply too soon. Second is the fact that you can associate yourself with firms that Merrill simply will not recruit from. There is a caste system in Wall Street and premier firms like Merrill will not hire a broker who comes from a place like (say) SW Bach or other boiler rooms.
I know, I know there is a guy from a bucket shop that got hired at a Merrill office. It rains in Timbuktu every twenty or thirty years too, there are always exceptions but the rule is that a Merrill manager is not going to touch you if you've got a bucket shop on your U-4.
If Merrill has a hiring freeze approach the manager anyway. When you're told that there is a hiring freeze ask if you would be hired if there was not a hiriing freeze. If the answer is yes then ask if that manager would look upon you as being ambitious if you went to work somewhere else in the interim, got your tickets, got some experience and came back in a year or so.
If he just told you that he'd hire you if there was not a freeze he can hardly say he would not hire you once there was a thaw.
Let me add another thought.
What if the manager says that he would not hire you even if there was not a freeze? Ask why not.
Very often it is because you're too young or because you don't appear to have relevant experience.
Ask what kind of experience does he think is relevant. He may say he's like to see a record of success selling something. Ask what. If he says (i.e.) insurance ask him if he would hire you in a year or two if you're able to come back at that time with a record of success selling insurance.
You can't accept the first no, or the second one for that matter.
Thanks for the advice BEF. The people at ML gave me the impression that the only reason they haven’t started a new training program (headcount wise they are covered) is the regional policy to recruit experienced professionals exclusively.
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My next question would be if anyone knows of someone who started a training program for FA’s with ML in the past 6 months or so in NYC?Nes7
A friend of mine works for ML in NYC. Told me they are absorbing FA's from ADVEST.
It may be the reason why they are not hiring you yet.
It is quite possible that the region has dictated that they can
only take “competitive” hires. First, they did just acquire Advest.
Second, there is a firm-wide push for competitive hires. If they
do not have a lot of spaces, they could easily reserve those for
"competitive" hires. I’m not quite clear about the regional setup
for the NY area, but you might try to find out if there are
branches nearby that are in a different region, because I know
that firm policy does not currently exclude new recruits.
Regions however have the authority to set there own
guidelines. Not all of the offices in NY are as competitive as
World Financial, you could look at the suburban complexes.
[quote=mlmanager]
because I know
that firm policy does not currently exclude new recruits.
Regions however have the authority to set there own
guidelines.[/quote]
MLManager is correct. Each office and region sets its own timeline for hiring. Don’t be discouraged. Keep looking.
Some ML branch offices also distinguish between licensed/experienced
POAs and unlicensed POAs. Perhaps that’s the difference in your case.
If you can’t get on board with ML, then go and prove yourself elsewhere. But continue to
develop those relationships at ML. They’ll come in handy someday.
Thanks for the encouragement Jeff; I will definitely keep developing those relationships at ML.