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Despite Downsizing in 2012, Canadian Finance Hiring Continues

By Ashley Rowe on March 24, 2013 in Business/Finance, Canadian Employment.

The Wall Street Journal recently reported downsizing on Bay Street including layoffs at The Bank of Montreal (BMO Financial Group), Toronto-Dominion Bank, and Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce. As Canadian banks report cut-backs, what does hiring activity look like for the rest of the finance and insurance sector? Typically, employers in the finance and insurance sector advertise the most jobs in January after an annual drop in hiring during December. January 2013 started strong; however, hiring in February was down 5% when compared to the same time last year.

Hiring Demand for the Finance and Insurance Sector

Hiring Demand for Finance and Insurance

SOURCE: WANTED Analytics

Most In-Demand Job Titles in the Finance and Insurance Sector

  1. Customer Service Representative
  2. Branch Manager
  3. Administrative Assistant
  4. Financial Advisor
  5. Financial Customer Service Representative
  6. Life Financial Advisor
  7. Financial Planner
  8. Mortgage Specialist
  9. Client Service Representative
  10. Investment Retirement Planner

Customer service, financial planner, and advisor job titles appeared in multiple spots on the list above. These job ads commonly appeared under the commercial banking, insurance agencies, and brokerages industries. Commercial banking demand decreased 32%, while insurance agencies and brokerages saw higher growth, increasing 56%. Bay Street experienced the greatest hiring demand, followed by Montreal. Despite having the most job ads, demand in Toronto is down 32% in February 2013 when compared to 2012.

Are you hiring for one of these jobs? See what hiring demand looks like in your area with a free trial of WANTED Analytics.

Already an Analytics user? Log in and enter your occupation, location, and any other requirements. Then, click 'Generate Report' to view hiring demand and talent supply data.

Best Jobs of 2013: Business Occupations

By Ashley Rowe on January 12, 2013 in Business/Finance.

US News recently released its Best Jobs of 2013, which contains 6 separate lists for jobs in Business, Healthcare, Social Service, Technology, Construction, and Creative. This list is based on jobs that are not only in-demand, but also provide satisfaction and pay good salaries. Each week, we will cover hiring demand on one of the listed categories. Today, we will begin with Business. Below is a summary of hiring demand for the top 5 best business jobs.

Hiring Demand Chart – 4 Year Hiring Trends

Hiring Demand Chart

SOURCE: WANTED Analytics

1. Market Research Analyst

In December, there were more than 25,500 job ads posted online for Market Research Analysts, a 28% increase over the same time last year. On average, Recruiters keep jobs listed online and collect resumes for about 6 weeks. This position scores a 78 on our Hiring Scale (out of a possible 99, with 99 denoting the hardest-to-fill), which means Recruiters are likely to experience difficulty sourcing talent. Rochester, NY presents the most favorable recruiting conditions, scoring a 6 on our Hiring Scale. This city is encountering low demand in relation to the available candidate pool.

Hiring Scale for Market Research Analysts

Hiring Scale for Market Research Analysts

SOURCE: WANTED Analytics

2. Personal Financial Advisor

Over 8,000 job ads appeared online for Personal Financial Advisors during December 2012. This represents an 18% increase in demand over the same time last year. Employers leave jobs posted online for about 44 days, just over 6 weeks. On average, recruiting conditions are likely to be favorable. This position scores a 20 on our Hiring Scale. Not only does the New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island metro area have the highest demand and the largest candidate pool, it also presents the least difficult recruiting conditions, scoring a 5 on our Hiring Scale. Adversely, Shreveport-Bossier City, LA presents the most challenging recruiting conditions, scoring a 92. In this city, their demand exceeds what the estimated local talent supply can support.

Hiring Scale for Personal Financial Advisors

Hiring Scale for Personal Financial Advisors
SOURCE: WANTED Analytics

3. Accountant

We recently covered corporate finance and accounting jobs, where Accountant topped the list of the most in-demand job titles. There were over 26,000 job ads online for Accountants during December which is 6% higher than the same time last year. Dalton, GA has the best recruiting environment for sourcing Accountants, scoring a 5 on our Hiring Scale. Recruiters can reduce their time-to-fill a job by searching for talent in this city. Here, job ads are posted online for just 31 days, about 1.5 weeks shorter than the national average. The New York metro area has the highest job volume for Accountants and the largest candidate pool. However, recruiting conditions are likely to be moderately difficult in this city. New York scores 44 on our Hiring Scale, which is close to the national average of 42.

Hiring Scale for Accountants

Hiring Scale for Accountants
SOURCE: WANTED Analytics

4. Compliance Officer

More than 3,300 job ads appeared online in December for Compliance Officers.  This represents a 7% increase compared to December 2011. On average, recruiting conditions are likely to be favorable. Compliance Officer scores a 7 nationally on our Hiring Scale. Conditions are even less difficult in the metro with the highest demand and largest candidate pool, New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island. This location scores a 5 on our Hiring Scale. Even though New York presents the least difficult recruiting conditions, job ads are kept online for a slightly longer period than average, 7 weeks compared to 6.

Hiring Scale for Compliance Officers

Hiring Scale for Compliance Officers

SOURCE: WANTED Analytics

5. Bookkeeping Accounting and Auditing Clerk

In December, there were more than 28,000 job ads posted online for Bookkeeping Accounting and Audit Clerks, an 8% increase over the same time last year. On average recruiting conditions are likely to be favorable, with New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island providing the least difficult conditions, scoring a 5 on the Hiring Scale. Recruiters are likely to encounter the most difficult recruiting conditions in Coeur d'Alene, ID. This metro area scores a 51. Job ads are also posted online for a week longer in this area, 4.5 weeks compared to 5.5 weeks.

Hiring Scale for Bookkeeping Accounting and Auditing Clerks

Hiring Scale for Bookkeeping Accounting and Auditing Clerk

SOURCE: WANTED Analytics

Are you hiring for any of these positions? Find out how hard they are to fill in your city with a free trial of WANTED Analytics.

Already an Analytics user, log in, add your occupation, location, and any other requirements then review the data on the Talent Req tab.

Wall Street Woes: Hiring Demand Starts to Fall

By Abby Lombardi on October 8, 2012 in Business/Finance.

There have been recent reports that many of Wall Street's biggest banks and investment companies will be cutting jobs in the coming months. Even though the BLS reported job gains in the financial services sector during September, the banking industry still faces tough times. We wanted to see what recent demand has been like in New York's financial services sector. Are banks still hiring and what are they looking for?

As it turns out, hiring in the first part of the year was looking strong. The number of available job ads being posted online grew each month until May. Since then, demand in the financial services sector in New York City began to decline. In September, there were a total of 13,000 jobs available online, a 2% decline from the same time last year.

Hiring Demand on Wall Street – 4 Year Trend in the Financial Services Sector in New York City

Hiring Demand on Wall Street

Source: WANTED Analytics

You would probably expect a lot of finance related jobs to be the most in-demand in this area and they are dominant in the below list of most advertised occupations last month. However, marketing, technology, and administrative or support functions are also highly advertised. Of these occupations, Insurance Sales Agents grew the most – up 60% in September 2012 compared to September 2011.

  1. Financial Managers, Branch or Department
  2. Tellers
  3. Sales Agents, Financial Servives
  4. Load Officers
  5. Insurance Sales Agents
  6. Financial Analysts
  7. Marketing Managers
  8. Management Analysts
  9. Computer Systems Analysts
  10. Customer Service Representatives

We also looked at the types of tools, technologies, and skills that are most commonly required in financial services jobs located in New York. Many of these are not surprising. However, we noticed that there are 2 technology skills – Java and SQL. These appear before other more common financial related skills, like portfolio management or financial planning.

  1. Risk Management
  2. Project Management
  3. Microsoft PowerPoint
  4. Microsoft Office
  5. Time management
  6. Sales experience
  7. Product development/management
  8. Oracle Java
  9. Structured query language (SQL)
  10. Self starting

Find out how hiring in the financial services sector of your city compares to Wall Street with the Hiring Scale. Tell us where the position is located and what specific job or skills you are recruiting for and we'll show you how hard-to-fill that position is, average salary information, and who you are competing with for talent.

Already an Analytics user? Log in, search for the "Finance and Insurance" industry, and add your city or other job requirements!

Manage Your Money: Hiring for Financial Advisors and Wealth Management

By Abby Lombardi on August 14, 2012 in Business/Finance.

We had another topic suggestion from one of our readers: hiring demand for Financial Advisors and Wealth Management. The volume of job ads was trending up in the beginning of the year through June, and ultimately reached a new 4-year high in demand with over 35,000 unique online job ads in June. However, in July the number of postings for Financial Analysts and Personal financial Advisors declined from the previous month. Despite this drop to about 31,000 available job postings, this is still a 34% year-over-year increase in demand when compared to July of 2011. Wealth management skills were specifically included as a job requirement in about 3,000 job ads during July, representing only about 8.5% of all hiring demand for Financial Analysts and Advisors.

Hiring Demand for Financial Advisors – 4 Year Hiring Trend

Hiring Demand for Financial Advisors - 4 Year Trend

Source: WANTED Analytics

Among the most commonly advertised job titles that require wealth management skills are:

  • Financial Advisor Trainee
  • Financial Advisor
  • Wealth Management Banker
  • Wealth Management Advisor
  • Financial Professional

Not surprisingly, the locations with the most demand for Financial Analysts are some of the largest financial hubs in the US: New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago metros lead in job volume. However, these areas also happen to have some of the largest pools of qualified potential candidates, which will help to reduce the difficulty of sourcing talent in these areas. The duration of a job ad is 6 weeks on average across the US. Those positions that require wealth management knowledge or experience take slightly longer to fill at about 6.5 weeks. For the most part, these 3 locations with the highest demand fall in line with the national time-to-fill.

Our Hiring Scale heat map shows where Wealth Management jobs will be the most difficult and least difficult to fill. This verifies that the New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles metro areas should find these jobs less difficult to fill – these areas are shaded in the green colors. In comparison, the red locations depict where wealth management positions are likely to be the hardest to fill.

Heat Map of Hiring Scales for Wealth Management Positions

Heat Map of Hiring Scales for Wealth Management positions

Source: WANTED Analytics

Some of the most difficult areas to source for these positions are:

  1. Shreveport, LA
  2. Baton Rouge, LA
  3. Burlington, VT
  4. Panama City, FL
  5. Portland, ME

These places have a higher demand than their local talent pools can support and are likely to experience a longer time-to-fill. For example, Shreveport currently averages 75 days to fill Wealth Management roles – that's almost 11 weeks! If you are recruiting for wealth management or financial advisor jobs in the above 5 areas, look at the map and find some surrounding locations shown in green. You can shorten your time-to-fill by targeting your job ads to attract talent from these areas.

Do you want to hear about hiring demand and talent supply for a specific location, job, or skill set? Let us know! Email us, send us a tweet, post it on our Facebook page, or leave us a comment below!

Analytics users: want to duplicate this search for your city? Log in and enter "Financial Advisors" in the occupation search box. To find specific hiring information for wealth management, add this as a keyword. Don't forget to add your location or any other requirements to customize this query for your company.

Getting Strategic: Hiring Demand for Business Analysts

By Abby Lombardi on August 9, 2012 in Business/Finance.

We had a request on our Facebook page, to look at hiring demand and talent supply data for Business Analysts. First of all, hiring has been strong in 2012 across the US. Other than some small month-to-month fluctuations, the volume of job ads skyrocketed in January and February and has remained at all-time highs. In July 2012, there were more than 21,000 jobs being advertised online, up 5% from July 2011.

Hiring Demand for Business Analysts in the US – 4 Year Hiring Trend

Hiring Demand for Business Analysts in the US

Source: WANTED Analytics

Interestingly, Business Analysts seem to be in demand across the organization. We see the most demand for IT, Marketing, and Financial related Analysts. Below are the 10 most commonly advertised job titles for Business Analysts.

  1. Business Analyst
  2. Senior Business Analyst
  3. Information Technology Business Analyst
  4. Project Manager Business Analyst
  5. Technical Business Analyst
  6. SAP Business Analyst
  7. Business Analyst II
  8. Junior Business Analyst
  9. Financial Business Analyst
  10. Lead Business Analyst

Just outside this top 10 list were 3 other interesting ones: Healthcare Business Analyst, Ecommerce Business Analyst, and CRM Business Analyst.

Our Hiring Scale™ shows that these jobs will be difficult for Recruiters to fill on average across the country. While demand has grown for this talent, the available supply of potential qualified candidates hasn't increased at the same rate. This will cause Recruiters and employers to compete heavily to attract candidates. In turn, it's likely that jobs will take longer to fill. On average, jobs are listed online for 41 days – or about 6 weeks. The heat map below shows how hard-to-fill Business Analyst jobs are likely to be in major metro areas across the US. You can see that many cities are orange, depicting that Recruiters in these cities will see more difficult overall conditions. If you are sourcing for Business Analyst candidates and are struggling to find candidates, try focusing your recruiting efforts in the green cities and targeting your job ads towards candidates there. These locations are experiencing easier conditions on average and are likely to fill jobs faster.

Heat Map of Hiring Scales for Business Analyst Jobs Across the US

Heat Map of Hiring Scales for Business Analysts

Source: WANTED Analytics

On the other hand, if you are looking for work in the US as a Business Analyst, it is likely that these jobs will be easier than average to find – especially if you have an IT background, since those are most in-demand. If you are looking for work, focus your job search efforts on the dark red cities, where Recruiters are in need of your skills.

Do you want to hear about hiring demand and talent supply for a specific location, job, or skill set? Let us know! Email us, send us a tweet, post it on our Facebook page, or leave us a comment below!

Analytics users: want to duplicate this search for your city? Log in and enter "business analyst" in the keyword search box and check the "in title only" box. Don't forget to add your location, industry, or any other requirements to customize this query for your company.

Financial Analysts and Financial Advisers Are in Demand

By Abby Lombardi on June 28, 2012 in Business/Finance.

We wanted to take a look at one of the positions that appears every month on our list of the most commonly advertised job titles that we haven't reviewed in a while: Financial Analysts and Advisers. Hiring demand for this occupation has been strong this year, as more people are approaching retirement eligibility and planning for their future. In May, Recruiters posted more than 32,000 job ads online for Financial Analysts and Advisers, an 11% year-over-year increase in hiring.  The majority of job ads (about 55%) were for Financial Analysts, while about 10,000 of the postings were for Personal Financial Advisers.

Hiring Demand for Financial Analysts and Financial Advisers – 4 Year Hiring Trend

Hiring Demand for Financial Analysts and Financial Advisers

Source: WANTED Analytics

Below are the 10 cities with the most job ads for Financial Analysts and Financial Advisers in May. The New York City metro area saw the most online job listings, despite declining almost 17% from May of 2011. Chicago and Dallas also saw fewer job ads in May 2012 compared to last year. Boston saw the highest year-over-year increase in ads, up 11% from last May.

Cities with Most Job Ads for Financial Analysts and Financial Advisers – May 2012 vs. May 2011

Cities with most job ads for Financial Analysts and Advisers

Source: WANTED Analytics

We also looked at the tools, technologies, and skills that are commonly required in job ads for Financial Advisers and Analysts. In addition to skills that are generally required by most jobs (like Microsoft Office), these professionals need to have and understanding of modeling, reporting, analysis, and project management. Are you surprised by any of these skills that are commonly required in Financial Analyst job ads?

  1. Business development
  2. Microsoft PowerPoint
  3. Microsoft Office
  4. Risk management
  5. Microsoft Excel
  6. Financial modeling
  7. Financial reporting
  8. Hyperion
  9. Project management
  10. Variance analysis

If there is more demand for Financial Analysts and Advisers, will they be hard-to-recruit? Actually, these jobs are likely to be moderately easy-to-recruit, despite increasing demand. The volume of job ads has been rising over the past year, but the current talent pool of qualified professionals should meet demand. Each location will see varying degrees of ease as the local talent supply in some areas may be larger or smaller than average. Across the US, job ads for Financial Analysts and Financial Advisers remain online for 42 days, or 6 weeks. Our Hiring Scale™ shows us some locations where conditions are better than average and Recruiters are likely to see a shorter time-to-fill in these areas. For example, the average duration of an online job ad in Sarasota, FL is just 30 days – almost 2 weeks shorter than the national average!

Best Locations to Recruit Financial Advisers and Financial Analysts

Best Locations to Recruit Financial Advisers and Analysts

Source: WANTED Analytics

Are you sourcing for Financial Advisers or Financial Analysts? Sign up for a free trial of WANTED Analytics to find out about hiring trends in your city. We'll show you how long job ads stay online in your area, who you're competing with for talent, average salary range data, where to find potential candidates, and more!

Growth of Retirement-Eligible Workers Brings Added Hiring for Financial Advisers

By Abby Lombardi on May 2, 2012 in Accounting/Finance, Business/Finance.

A recent Investment News article talked about a looming shortage of financial advisers caused by millions of "baby-boomers" that are planning their retirement and also due to the fact that there are fewer younger financial advisers entering the workforce. We wanted to take a look at how hard-to-fill these jobs are and ways that recruiters may be able to fill them faster.

First, we'll quickly review hiring demand for this occupation. In March, there were more than 3,000 jobs posted online for financial advisers – representing a 4-year high in demand for this occupation and a 110% year-over-year increase in hiring demand. Employers in the New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Washington (DC), and Boston metropolitan areas posted the highest volume of job ads for financial advisers. All of these 5 metro areas saw increases in hiring demand; however, Boston saw the highest year-over-year growth at 240% and outpacing the national average.

Hiring Demand for Financial Advisers – 4 Year Hiring Trend

Hiring Demand for Financial Advisers

Source: WANTED Analytics

The skills that are most commonly required in job ads for financial advisers are:

  1. Microsoft Office
  2. Microsoft PowerPoint
  3. Microsoft Excel
  4. Financial modeling
  5. Hyperion
  6. Microsoft Word
  7. Portfolio management
  8. Estate planning
  9. Microsoft Access
  10. Asset allocation

The most commonly recruited certifications are:

  1. General Securities Representative Exam (Series 7)
  2. Certified Financial Planner (CFP)
  3. Certified Public Accountant (CPA)
  4. Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA)
  5. Chartered Financial Consultant (ChFC)
  6. Chartered Life Underwriter (CLU)
  7. Certified Management Accountant (CMA)
  8. Securities license (NASD Series 7)
  9. Chartered Investment Counselor
  10. Accredited Senior Appraiser

Since the demand for financial advisers is increasing, there is more competition to attract this talent by employers, therefore making the jobs harder to fill. Our Hiring Scale™ showed us that the best markets for sourcing financial advisers are Durham (North Carolina), Winston-Salem (North Carolina), Rochester (New York), Syracuse (New York), and Pensacola (Florida). In these cities, hiring demand remains low, while the available talent pool is larger. Recruiters that are able to post job ads in these cities are likely to spend less time sourcing candidates and see less competition for this talent. In fact, job ads in these areas remain online for as few as 32 days – or about 4.5 weeks. In comparison, the national average is 6 weeks – 1.5 weeks longer than in some of these areas.

5 Markets that Financial Advisers are Easy-to-Fill

Best Cities for Listing Financial Adviser Job Ads

Source: WANTED Analytics

Recruiters that find financial adviser jobs to be hard-to-fill should consider targeting candidates from the above cities. You will have more candidates to source from, less competition for the talent, and are likely to fill jobs faster.

Are financial advisers easy- or hard-to-fill in your area? Find out with our online Hiring Scale™! Enter in the location of the job opening, and we'll show you the Hiring Scale for your city, average salary ranges, who you are competing with for talent, and where you can find more candidates!

Hiring for Accountants Surges in Final Days of Tax Prep

By Abby Lombardi on April 16, 2012 in Accounting/Finance, Business/Finance.

With tax season in the final hours, we wanted to take one more look at hiring for Accountants and Auditors to see if there was a final push in job ads for this occupation. There was quite a significant increase in hiring for this occupation in March. More than 29,000 job ads were posted online for Accountants and Auditors, a 46% increase over March of last year. This is the highest volume of jobs posted online since October 2008, when the recession was beginning.

Hiring Demand for Accountants and Auditors – 4 Year Hiring Trend

Hiring Demand for Accountants and Auditors

Source: WANTED Analytics

Of the 5 cities below with the highest volume of ads, all saw year-over-year increases. Not too surprisingly, New York saw the highest volume of job ads for Accountants and Auditors during March. More than 3,000 ads were posted online last month at a 54% increase compared to March of 2011. However, employers in Chicago saw the greatest growth since last year, with 57% more jobs this March than were seen last year.

Metropolitan Areas with Most Online Job Ads for Accountants and Auditors

5 cities with most job ads for Accountants

Source: WANTED Analytics

Here are some of the most commonly advertised skills that are listed in job ads for Accountants and Auditors:

  1. Microsoft Office
  2. Internal Audit
  3. Microsoft Excel
  4. Microsoft PowerPoint
  5. Tax planning
  6. Cost accounting
  7. Hyperion
  8. Financial accounting
  9. Microsoft Word
  10. Enterprise Resource Planning Software (ERP)

With the steady increase in hiring over the past few months, it is likely that Recruiters will find accounting jobs moderately hard-to-fill. Locations that are experiencing higher than average growth in demand will see more competition and a longer time-to-fill. For example, our Hiring Scale shows that recruiters in Chicago currently keep job ads online for 6.5 weeks. Our Hiring Scale also shows some of the locations.  Amarillo (Texas) is currently experiencing one of the shortest posting periods for accounting job ads – about 3.8 weeks. Recruiters in Chicago that are struggling to fill job openings may consider advertising their job openings in Amarillo and relocating talent.

Hiring Scale for Accountants and Auditors in Chicago, IL

Hiring Scale for Accountants and Auditors in Chicago, IL

Source: WANTED Analytics

Hiring Scale for Accountants and Auditors in Amarillo, TX

Hiring Scale for Accountants and Auditors in Amarillo, TX

Source: WANTED Analytics

Are you sourcing for Accountants? Find out how hard-to-fill these jobs will be in your area with the free, online Hiring Scale. Just tell us where and we'll show you a Hiring Scale, average salary information, and who you are competing with for talent!

Is Wall Street Ready to Hire Again?

By Abby Lombardi on April 6, 2012 in Business/Finance, Finance - XLF.

Back in November, there were reports of impending layoffs on Wall Street and we saw the volume of online job ads decline and we looked at hiring demand for finance related talent. Now that the first quarter is over, we wanted to return to hiring in the Financial sector of New York City to see what demand has recently looked like. Over the past 90 days, there were about 4,400 job ads posted online by financial services employers in the New York metro area. This represents a 16% increase compared to the same time period last year. Hiring peaked early, when more than 2,000 job ads were posted online during January, a new 4-year high seen by this sector.

Hiring Demand by Financial Services Companies in New York City

Hiring Demand by Wall Street Employers

Source: WANTED Analytics

The 10 most commonly advertised jobs within the financial services sector are below. Sales agents of financial services were the most demanded with more than 1,000 job ads in the past 90 days. As we are in the height of tax season, it isn't too surprising to see Accountants on this list with a higher volume of ads than last year. Of the below 10 jobs, Loan Officers experienced the greatest year-over-year increases, up more than 59% compared to the same 90-day period in 2011. 3 occupations (Financial Analysts, Auditors, and Sales Agents of Securities and Commodities) saw declines in demand versus 2011.

Occupations with Most Job Ads in New York City's Financial Sector

Jobs on Wall Street with Most Hiring Demand

Source: WANTED Analytics

In addition, we wanted to look at some of the tools, technologies, and certifications that financial service companies most commonly require of potential candidates.  The 10 most demanded skills required on Wall Street are:

  1. Microsoft Office
  2. Microsoft PowerPoint
  3. Microsoft Excel
  4. Portfolio Management
  5. Microsoft Word
  6. Internal Audit
  7. Financial modeling
  8. Asset allocation
  9. Loan Origination Software
  10. Microsoft Access

The 5 certifications that are most often required of potential candidates include:

  1. Certified Public Accountant (CPA)
  2. Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA)
  3. General Securities Representative Exam (Series 7)
  4. Certified Financial Planner (CFP)
  5. Certified Internal Auditor (CIA)

Find out how easy or hard these jobs and skills are to recruit in your area with our free, online Hiring Scale™. Just tell us what position or skill set you are looking for and the location of the job opening, and we'll show you the Hiring Scale, average salary information, who your competition for talent is, and where you can find candidates.

Knowledge, Skills, & Abilities Business Majors Need Before Graduating College

By Abby Lombardi on March 30, 2012 in Business/Finance.

As spring break approaches, the second half of this semester will be the last opportunity for business majors to brush up on their skills, get a resume together, and find a job. But, what knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) are Recruiters demanding of business majors? Below we take a look at the KSAs most commonly included in business and management occupations.

Knowledge: Microsoft Office

This may seem obvious to many college grads today, but Microsoft Office and it's programs are the most frequently listed requirement in online job ads for business and management professionals. Recruiters and hiring managers are looking for candidates that know how to create powerful presentations, collect information and apply formulas in spreadsheets, and contribute to well-written documents.

Skill: Accounting and Budgeting

Even if you aren't getting a degree in finance or accounting, you are still likely to need accounting and budgeting skills. For example, marketing spend can be a large part of a company's budget and needs to be reported accurately. HR professionals need to report compensation, benefits, the costs of recruiting. All business and management professionals (and most careers in general) are frequently required to be able to report expenses, read PNL statements, and collaborate with accounting departments to balance spend.

Ability: Analytics

Trend analysis, data analysis, market analysis, and competitive analysis are all part of business and management occupations. With the emerging amount of data, being able to analyze information, extract actionable points, and develop a strategy to meet those points are becoming more demanded of business managers.

If you need a few more credits this semester, look into classes where you can improve upon these skills. In addition, training can often be found online or self-help books may be available in your library. If you already have these knowledge, skills, and abilities, make sure to highlight them when applying for jobs that require this experience!

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