“Your Career Advisor” is responding this week to:

• I am trapped in a high paying job with no advancement in site, what to do?
• What is financial engineering? And how to work in the investments field?
• I am a frustrated IT professional, what should I do?

All reasonable questions related to careers, skill development or employment related issues – sent to advisor@skill-link.com - would be addressed in this section every week.

Q1: I am trapped in a high paying job with no advancement in site, what to do?

I am a 36-year-old finance professional with good qualifications (CA, CPA etc.). I am currently working in large multinational company as an accountant. My problem is there aren't much growth opportunities for me, I know 5 years down the line I will be also doing the same job in same position. However the salary is very good - better then what other companies pay for higher positions. I am looking for greater role in the finance function and would like to move to higher management positions and assume greater responsibilities.

When I approach headhunters they advised me to be happy in my current job, as the money is good. Hence I am in a dilemma. What should I do?

K. D. (undisclosed)

Replying:

Dear Mr. D.

You are right to be concerned, your inquiry reflects the traits of an ambitious / long term oriented professionals. Others would have been satisfied by the relatively higher pay and job stability.

We do not know what recruitment or head hunting firms you have been advised by; however would not recommend you take their advice for granted. To start with, a true "head hunting" firm would be dedicated to the search for / placement of senior executives (i.e. managing directors, general managers, vice presidents etc…) which is a category you have not yet reached; therefore they probably had little interest in your case. Also, when an employee is paid at the higher end of his peers' compensation bracket, he/she is more difficult to place by a recruitment company. By peers we mean professionals with similar experience, qualifications and job responsibilities.

Having said that, you must really analyze / consider your true potential. As you mentioned you are 36 and over the years obtained a number of relevant degrees and certifications. If you really think you have the potential for larger / more complex responsibilities, then you should be working hard to get into a supervisory role, followed by a middle management position. Five years down the road, you should therefore be targeting a senior position in the Finance function… otherwise starting such a move will be difficult as you reach your mid forties. You should also consider that while your current job may be paying well, your employer couldn't keep increasing your salary indefinitely over the years for doing the same job. Serious income increases (in non sales related jobs) will only come with assuming more valuable positions (i.e. more senior / more complex).

So, if you can, take the temporary income dive now, subject that a suitable position is available (good employer, challenging responsibilities, learning opportunities, more exposure etc….), instead of having to dive a few years later, when it will be more difficult for you to compete with younger professionals (with lower income expectations).

We hope the above was of some use to you.
Good Luck

Q2: What is financial engineering? And how to work in the investments field?

First of all, I would like to thank you for this section (Your Career Advisor); page it is really very helpful to any graduate.

I am currently a "Teller" in a prestigious bank in Egypt, I am interested in working in the investment area; thus I need some answers about:

1- What does financial engineering mean, what do they do? And what the best certifications (e.g. CFA), or academic degree (e.g. MBA) to prepare for such a line of work?

2- Where can I find the best credit course in Egypt and does it help in working in the investment field?

3- How can I learn about Egyptian economy indicators?

M. H. (Cairo)

Replying:

Dear Mr. H.

The term "Financial engineering" is commonly used to refer to the use of financial instruments to restructure or rearrange cash flows of a company in order to achieve particular financial goals, particularly the management of financial risk. It could be one or more of the following: capital increase, using debts of various maturities (e.g. bonds instead of short term debt, of leasing certain fixed assets), or using more advanced financial instruments such as forwards, futures, swaps, options, and related products. In other words it has to do with restructuring a company's balance sheet, to allow it to operate with a better cash flow, lower interest rates or within more acceptable financial risks. Therefore financial engineering is practiced by the Finance Department of a company (if staffed by qualified people), by banks as part of advising clients or by financial consultants. Therefore the skill set required to be able to advise businesses on financial restructuring issues (which include financial engineering) are similar to the skill required by a good corporate banker or a competent financial advisor / consultant. Which are primarily hands on experience, and a distant second could be a finance certification (e.g. CFM), a good credit course or an MBA (with a finance concentration). Such degrees or certifications help you put your foot on the first steps but will in no way guarantee you success in this line of business. An analytical mind, natural intellectual curiosity and grasp of financial and business facts are all useful personal characteristics you will need to develop. These come with experience and reading.

With regards to your second question (Credit Course), the best offered in Egypt is that of CIB (the Commercial International Bank) modeled after the Chase Manhattan Bank (now JP Morgan Chase Bank) credit course. However this course is only offered to CIB staff and is a pre requisite to being promoted within the Corporate Banking Department. EFG Hermes the investment and brokerage group, used to offer a similar course during the last few years. This EFG Hermes course (requiring full time attendance), lead by Mr. Mohamed Abaza was open to both EFG staff and outsiders. You will have to check for yourself if it is being offered this year. Graduating from a good credit course is definitely very useful for a banking career in credit and / or corporate banking; it is also useful for a future career in investment management or financial consulting.

Your third and final question about Egypt's economic indicators is not very clear. You may be referring to Stock Market indices (set by a number of large brokerage companies or the Capital Markets Authority) or you may be referring to general economic indicators, such as balance of payment, inflation, credit rating etc… The latter are available from the Central Bank or the Ministry of Foreign Trade (since the Ministry of Economy has been recently abolished). You may want to check the following link of the ministry (Click here).

We hope the above was of some use to you.

Good Luck

Q3: I am a frustrated IT professional, what should I do?

I am a 24 years old Egyptian, a graduate of June 2000 with a B.Sc. in Computer Science (with a grade of very good). Over the last two years, I completed two Oracle courses (Oracle Developer and Oracle DBA). I also passed their certification tests successfully.

Unfortunately, I haven't been able to find a job until now. I have been continuously searching for a job using many ways including newspapers, online recruitment services, and employers' web sites. The results varied from nothing to "Please wait until we contact you to schedule for an interview" - (And I am still waiting).

I tried to find jobs in other countries, but they all require a minimum of several years of experience, of which I have none (obviously). My original plan was to go for the Master degree, but I can see now that it is useless without having some experience first. After 2 years of graduation, my qualifications are a bachelor degree, very good computer and English language skills, 2 professional certificates, but zero (days) of experience, which is a very frustrating situation... I think I am rusting.

Please not that:
- I like the IT field.
- I wrote my resume after viewing many well-written resumes, and I always developed it.
- I was really interested in the courses that I took, and I believe that I reached a very good level that will allow me to succeed in an entry level/junior position.

With the doors closed inside and outside the country (especially these days as I see it), what in your opinion should someone in my place do next?

A. W. (Cairo).

Replying:

Dear Mr. W.

It is frustrating indeed, getting a first job is usually one of the most difficult in a person's career.

The question we have - since your message was not clear on this - did you start job-hunting recently after two years of ORACLE courses? Or have you been searching for two full years for a suitable job? Also, with regards to the interviews you have been asked for, how well do you think you did? As you know character, maturity, self-confidence etc. are as important as academic / technical qualifications.

We agree with your assessment of not enrolling in a Masters degree at this stage. You have a relevant university degree and supplemented it with more practical ORACLE courses / certifications. Now as you said, you MUST be employed, do not be ORACLE specific when seeking a job, any IT related position now is important, and regardless of the salary. Once in a job, if you do not particularly like it, you can search for others at your own pace. You will be better positioned for a second move - if you so wish at the time.

Overall, you are in a relatively good starting situation:

• You are seeking a career in the IT field (DBA, technical support, application development, consulting etc…), which is a sector that will never stop growing in Egypt and the rest of the Arab region.
• ORACLE is a good bet, while we do not suggest you only restrict yourself to ORACLE related jobs, this is a widely used database and application, with constant demand.
• You have shown keenness to further develop your skills, and not only settling for a university degree, where you even graduated with good grades.
• You are young and this (i.e. IT) is a young industry.
• Judging from your message, you have a good English.

So to summarize, we both agree you need a job. Keep on looking, directly approaching companies (without them necessarily having advertised a vacancy) for entry level IT positions. Such companies would be either IT services companies dealing in ORACLE solutions, corporate entities with IT departments or other non-for profit organizations (business associations, international organizations etc…). Being listed on skill-link.com and regularly checking the site, also gives you exposure to a wide range of organizations in and out of Egypt recruiting through our web site.

You could also be considering the special IT recruitment initiatives from oversees, like the German Green Card program, please refer to our previous coverage of this issue (Click here).

We hope the above was of some use to you.

Good Luck

Note from the editor: 
Employer names and inquiry sender names were withheld for confidentiality

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