Miles from the Curb: Hot December on Wall Street

Two weeks back, I was actually considering a post about the usual December slowdown in the job market. I'm glad I didn't. On a macro-level, economic growth for the 3rd quarter in the US was recently revised to 4.3%. That is impressive on any level, but to think it came after record-high oil prices and 2 massive natural disasters is flat-out incredible.

With respect to our little niche, IT hiring on Wall Street is back to near 1999-2000 levels. The lead IT recruiter at one of the top investment houses on the street recently told me that this December will be the busiest month, not just December, he's had in all of his years at the firm. He alone has 31 full-time, permanent roles that need to be filled by the end of the month. So, while everyone else on the street is waiting until the new year to start landing top-shelf positions, get proactive and begin the search now. By the time the interview process plays out and you set a start date, you will have already received your 2005 bonus.

The areas in hottest demand for me right now are equities direct market access developers and application support specialists, java developers within prime brokerage, and C++/Java/C# developers in any and all sorts of derivatives products desks. My two major clients are absolute world-class investment firms, both coming off of record 2005 profits and bonuses. If you know me, you know which firms I'm talking about. If not, p lease send me a quick note and I'd be happy to fill you in.