Job news & views

Search

Post your resume

Back

Print

Ex-Lehman bankers resort to accounting

17 October 2008

Sarah Butcher

Lehman CVs are trickling down into the Big Four accountancy firms and beyond. An ACA at a top 10 audit organisation says his team has been hit with various Lehman applications, not all of which have been viewed particularly favourably. “You have to wonder how they’d cope with the cultural differences,” he says.

Deloitte seems more receptive to Lehman talent. “We’ve picked up a number of really good people from Lehman’s,” says HR director Stevan Rolls. “We’re also getting some interest from people who were on Lehman’s graduate scheme.”

Amanda Coughlin, head of recruitment at KPMG, says they saw some Lehman CVs in the weeks after the bank went under. And Brendan Collins, head of HR at Mazars, says they haven’t received any Lehman CVs but there’s still time to send them in.

Accountancy firms’ hiring has definitely slowed, but it hasn’t stopped. Rolls says Deloitte is being “more cautious” but is still recruiting across the board, and that ex-bankers could slot themselves into corporate finance, financial consulting or financial services advisory groups.

Collins says Mazars has around 30 positions open nationally and is looking for actuaries, tax advisors, transaction services (AKA due diligence) people and ACAs who can work with financial clients.

Coughlin says KPMG is looking for people for its “advisory function”.

Comments (19)

Accountancy, the profession for people who have failed in life. I couldn't think of anything worse. Full of people with ABB at A-Level who weren't good enough to get into front-office banking.

View all comments

Bookmark

  • Digg.com
  • Del.icio.us
  • Stumbleupon.com
  • Reddit.com
  • Yahoo.com

Comments (19)

  • What's so wrong with accounting?

    PJ 17 Oct 2008

    RECOMMEND Recommended 0 times | Alert Moderator

  • It's boring and not really lucrative.

    Barry 17 Oct 2008

    RECOMMEND Recommended 0 times | Alert Moderator

  • It's boring.

    telheiras 17 Oct 2008

    RECOMMEND Recommended 0 times | Alert Moderator

  • Same could be said for banking now

    Arnold Schwarz 17 Oct 2008

    RECOMMEND Recommended 0 times | Alert Moderator

  • Lehman Lehman Lehman - the non-stop speal about Lehmans and its ex-bankers is beginning to be THE most boring thing in the world of banking right now...

    SR 17 Oct 2008

    RECOMMEND Recommended 0 times | Alert Moderator

  • Accountancy, the profession for people who have failed in life. I couldn't think of anything worse. Full of people with ABB at A-Level who weren't good enough to get into front-office banking.

    Henry 17 Oct 2008

    RECOMMEND Recommended 0 times | Alert Moderator

  • I qualified as an ACA with one of the big four around 10 years back, my gardening leave is coming to an end and as i have had no luck finding anyhting (not surprising given my ABS background) thought it was a good idea to go back to my routes to retrain as an financial services tax expert (sit a few exams if needed) or in their Corporate Finance department.

    Having gone for the first interview i left realising why i ran screaming away as soon as i qualified, boring individuals, no evidence of any commercial ideas, trying to look cool with casual dress down only to look like a bunch of drunken bums on the last tube train on a Friday night, hot desking so people end up working in the toilets on the loo seats, partners who look like they should be pulling their pensions, rows of files gathering dust, dry boring individuals with their heads stuck in books & files with not the slightest clue about how to make money in the real world.

    Although i have been invited back for a second interview i think i will rather stay in bed (not least because the pay is not enough to get out for) and interview myself whilst watching 'loose women' as i have a better way of staying awake that way.

    joebloggs 17 Oct 2008

    RECOMMEND Recommended 0 times | Alert Moderator

  • Don't understand the Alevel comment Henry, if you think that you only nee A levels to get a front office job in a bank you either joined 20 yrs ago or don't work in a bank......

    Shocking I know but most front office workers are expected to have degrees!! Keep on studying, by the time you graduate things might be getting better in the job market.

    BB 18 Oct 2008

    RECOMMEND Recommended 0 times | Alert Moderator

  • BB, typical profile of someone who gets into the Big-4: ABB A-Levels and subsequently a generic 2.1 degree from a sub-standard university like Sheffield, Birmingham, Manchester. Or AAA Oxbridge and the social skills of a cretin so unable to get FO and had to resort to accountancy.

    Typical profile of a front office banker: AAA, Oxbridge/LSE/(Warwick), the very creme de la creme from their peers with ambition, an excellent CV and people skills.

    The difference in quality between front office banking and Big 4 graduates is off the scale. I can't stand sub-standard Big-4 types and their aura of inferiority.

    Henry 18 Oct 2008

    RECOMMEND Recommended 0 times | Alert Moderator

  • What's so great about working in front office?
    I don't understand why anyone would want to work 14 hours a day, 6 days a week. Regardless of how exciting or well paid you think it is.

    J 19 Oct 2008

    RECOMMEND Recommended 0 times | Alert Moderator

Add your comment

* Mandatory

You have 1200 characters left

Enter the code shown here or sign in / register to skip this step. (What is this?)

Post comment

Jobs

Col3
Col4
Col5
Col6
bottom

Site Information

eFinancialCareers is a Dice Holdings, Inc. company. Dice Holdings, Inc. is a publicly traded company listed on the New York Stock Exchange (Ticker: DHX)