Downtown, The Future of Banking: Part 2

Following the release of Vault's banking rankings, the panel discussion “The Future of Banking: Salaries, Sectors and Uncle Sam,” explored the questions of where the money and opportunities within the industry now lay--and how Uncle Sam will help shape the future.  Ron Insana, senior analyst for CNBC, moderated the panel, which consisted of Jonathan Knee, senior managing director at Evercore Partners; Michael Curran, managing principal at Towers Perrin; Roben Farzad, senior writer at BusinessWeek; and Connie Thanasoulis-Cerrachio, career coach at SixFigureStart.

The entire blueprint of the banking game, the panelists agreed, seems to have changed--especially in the wake of seven major firms having been absorbed or disappeared entirely from Wall Street within the past year. Now, the name of the game seems to be to follow your passion.

While (contray to popular belief) there are a lot of job opportunities out there, there are different ways of finding them now, Curran said.  The environment is shifting, he said, and since revenues and profitability are off, that will impact the opportunities.  It's true that the big firms aren't recruiting at the moment, he noted--but the small and medium-sized firms are.  Additionally, it's important to look outside the U.S. for possible opportunities.

Knee said it's important to figure out what job-seekers do best and what they like.  Candidates need to put themselves in places where they may bump into someone in their field.  Get yourself in a place where that could happen, he added.

Of course, demonstrating your competence is important.  Thanasoulis-Cerrachio said showing that you can do a phenomenal job is important. But there's also "the work that needs to be done, and then there's the work to do for youself"--in other words, network and find a mentor.  "You need to impress people, be that enthusiastic team player and be courteous. It's the fundamentals.  You should be seen as a problem-solver so you can work anywhere."

But the most important thing--maybe even the main thing in a job search, Curran said, is passion.  If you know what you want to do, "you can't lose sight of that."

Stay tuned for the panel's final thoughts... 

--Posted by Stephanie R. Myers, Vault Staff Writer