Finance job agencies are recruitment firms that specialize in helping people find jobs in the financial services industry. Banks, investment firms, and accounting companies often contact finance job agencies whenever positions at a company need to be filled. Individuals can register with the agencies and are contacted by agency representatives when job opportunities suited to their particular skills become available.
Companies that recruit workers from finance job agencies pay a finders fee to the firm. Agencies also provide employers with temporary workers who have experience working in the financial services industry. The employer pays the temporary employee's salary directly to the agency, and the agency withholds a certain percentage of the pay as a commission and then passes the remainder onto the employee. Temporary workers are technically employed by the agency rather than the finance company they are contracted to work for.
Finance job agencies help people find entry level positions at banks and other financial companies. Teller positions at banks often have a very high turnover rate, and as a result some banks regularly contact job agencies to arrange interviews with prospective candidates. Agents usually send people with cash handling experience and customer service skills to job interviews at banks. Prior to scheduling interviews, agents normally brief candidates on what to expect at the interview, and some conduct mock interviews to prepare the applicants.
Major investment banks normally work with finance job agencies to find qualified candidates for senior roles in the company. People who oversee investment funds and complex securities need to have extensive industry experience as well as strong academic credentials. Qualified applicants are less numerous for these highly specialized jobs than for other positions in some companies. Finance job agencies help to head-hunt qualified applicants. Head hunting involves conducting extensive research on high ranking employees of other companies and making contact with qualified individuals to ascertain whether they would be interested in leaving their current employer.
People who work in the financial services industry have to obtain licenses in order to sell insurance or securities. Prior to obtaining these licenses, individuals must undergo extensive classroom-based training and then pass a licensing exam. To avoid the cost of having to pay employees to undergo this training, many financial companies instead rely on finance job agencies to find prospective employees who have already obtained the licenses necessary to perform the work. Some agencies proactively search for licensed employees when firms are not hiring so that employees can quickly be matched with employers whenever jobs are available.