2015/05/15

Robo-Hiring: How An Automated Headhunter Is Finding Hidden Tech Talent For Wall Street



 Forbes Staff

Samantha SharfEd Donner spent a dozen years working as an software developer for JPMorgan Chase climbing up the ranks to become a managing director running some of the mega-bank’s biggest tech initiatives. He was responsible for complex electronic trading systems and risk calculations but says the hardest part of his job was hiring.
“The number one challenge of last few years – and one that is a perennial frustration in the industry is how incredibly difficult it is to hire engineers,” explained Donner, who oversaw a team of 300 scattered across the globe.
“Everyone complains about hiring engineering talent. Tech talent is always difficult to hire but the problem appears to be particularly acute in financial services and fintech because demand is off the charts. The level of innovation and disruption going on in this world is extraordinary so there is a massive need for technologists. I found I was in thatposition of pulling my hair out trying to figure out how I was going to hire the 
What is your top advice for tech employees that are considering a move into financial services?

Think about where you want to take career. Take opportunities to learn about what goes on in different kinds of organizations. If you are planning your career move you should think really broadly about what matters to you and then spend some time to find the place that will work for you.
It is surprisingly similar. It is about staying open minded. People tend to come in with preconceptions. Things like, “I wouldn’t work for a large institution.”
Obviously compensation is important to people but it turns out there is more than that. What technology are you working with everyday? What are the people like around you? What is the culture of the workplace? What is the level of creativity? These are all factors that will be important to different people. So spend the time to figure out what matters to you, look at examples of the cultures of different companies, interview at a couple of places and keep an open mind to where your career can take you.
On a very practical note, put your best foot forward. Don’t assume people are going to read between the lines of your resume.  Great candidates forget to actually explain what they have done and can do. This is old advice. Make sure you write about yourself and show people what you bring to the table. It is amazing how many people feel a couple of sentences will get them a job – it won’t.
What misconceptions do tech candidates have about financial services and fintech?
There is definitely a sense that innovation and difficult problems are being solved in tech-tech, by say Google, and that there is not major disruption and innovation going on in fintech. That is a huge misconception. There are very interesting problems being solved. There is massive innovation and disruption going on that spans all sizes of company. That is the myth we want to dispel.
There is big scale in many places. It is about: innovate and simplify the $1 billion transaction a day throughput problem. They are very big, meaty, meaningful challenges that are super critical. I found in my career is that in financial services you can get a lot of responsibility quickly, very early in your career. I think that differs from many of the start-ups in the tech world. There are things that really appeal to technologies. You can pretty quickly be put in charge of big and meaningful challenges.

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