corporate finance institute

The current rough state of economy doesn’t mean that there will be absolutely no finance jobs. It just means that the finance jobs will be fewer, and the competition for them will be steeper. So if you are a finance professional, and happen to be looking for a finance job in these tough economic times, here are three steps, which if properly taken, can push you ahead of the pack in the competition for the few finance jobs available.

1. Update Your Skill Set. Unique circumstances call for unique skills, if one is to sail through them successfully. Most professionals looking for the top finance jobs right now are equipped with skill-sets which were adequate for the better times, but which might be considered inadequate for the current circumstances. Simply put, to beat your competitors in the search for top finance jobs, you will need to have skills that they don’t have. Having a unique skill-set gives an employer a reason to consider you for a job in preference to another candidate. And this applies whether you are looking for the top finance jobs in the financial sector, the middle office finance jobs in governments and non-profit organizations or even for the more ordinary commerce and industry accounting jobs. The unique skills in question need not be anything really fancy. Having, for example, a certificate in project management (which you can earn in a couple of weeks) puts you ahead of another candidate without such a certificate, even if you have the same basic qualification. Similarly if you are looking for commerce and industry accounting jobs, you might be well advised to approach the potential employer armed with at least some basic understanding of the workings of the business or industry you are considering working in. Armed with such a basic understanding of the underlying industry or business puts you at least one step ahead of another equally qualified finance expert who lacks such understanding.

2. Work on Your Resume. The presentation of your resume can make a great difference in your search for top finance jobs, and is likely to have an influence on the employer, even before they get to look at its contents. You might consider enlisting the help of a professional resume service, to help with the presentation of your resume. Remember the number of otherwise qualified candidates who get otherwise shoved out of the recruitment process simply because of poor resume presentation is huge – ensure you don’t fall for the same trap.

3. Consider enlisting the help of a finance recruitment agency. In a bid to reduce the workload involved in the recruitment process, many employers are increasingly turning to recruitment agencies for their staffing needs. This is especially true for executive jobs, like the top finance jobs, whose recruitment process might involve some level of head-hunting, and which employers might feel uneasy doing themselves, preferring to delegate it to recruitment agencies instead. Many employers are also increasingly turning to these finance recruitment agencies even for jobs which don’t necessarily involve head-hunting, like commerce and industry accounting jobs and other middle office finance jobs. This means that anyone looking for any sort of finance job is best advised to at least deposit their resume with the one of the major finance recruitment agencies. These finance recruitment agencies usually charge very nominal fees for their services, and the services they provide are very often worth what they charge.

In these tough times it is becoming more and more difficult to obtain prime motor finance for people with a less than perfect credit history. A lot of the lenders have increased their scorecard and abandoned their rate for risk practices. This basically means that they have increased the credit score required to get credit approval. Before companies would advertise an attractive headline APR (annual percentage rate) but depending on your credit score they would decide if you would be offered that rate or a less attractive APR (annual percentage rate).

In the sub prime motor finance sector the credit crunch has had damaging effect on the market. As a result of which, several of the major players have ceased trading or no longer approving new business. This has impacted on the mortgage, personal loans, in fact all the sub prime finance markets. It is probably more important than ever to know what your credit rating is and what personal information the credit reference agencies are holding. Once you know this information you can start to address the situation.

The first thing you need to understand is what is a credit score? Some time this is known as credit rating. A credit score is a figure that finance companies and other lending institutions use to make lending decisions. They obtain all this information from credit reference agencies.

The 3 main credit reference agencies used in the UK are Experian, Equifax and Call Credit. These agencies share information with finance companies providing the finance companies share account information with them. Such as if payments are being made on the due date or whether they are late or missed altogether. Credit reference agencies also hold electoral roll information such as county court judgments, bankruptcy and IVAs. They record previous searches information such as the number of times you apply for finance, what name you used and who you applied with. In a nutshell these credit reference agencies provide all the lending institutions with a comprehensive amount of information to enable them to make an informed lending decision. These institutions then set their own score based on that information and the information you supply in your application. There are anomalies however; the credit reference agencies do not share the information with each other. This means that not all information is recorded with all the agencies.

If you do not have any problems getting finance this means you have a good credit score and you are known by the credit industry as a good credit risk or termed as a prime finance customer. If however you do have trouble and have been turned down you are a bad credit risk and are termed as a sub prime customer. This applies if you want to buy a sofa, contract mobile or a car. In fact anything you get declined credit for.

A sub prime motor finance company is a finance company which provides car finance for people who have been turned down previously by the prime finance companies. Although you may want to buy or need a new car you should find out how bad your credit history really is. If your credit history is not really that bad you will still be able to get more favourable rates although a little higher than the mainstream prime finance rates. If on the other you have a bad credit history you still need to find out how bad your credit history really is to enable you to understand why you are regarded as a bad credit risk and therefore being charged at a higher rate. Once you have the all the information you need you should contact a sub prime motor finance specialist with a full range of sub prime motor finance lenders to discuss your individual circumstances in confidence.

If there is any logical reason as to why your business fails then it is either because of poor financing or another reason could be loopholes in the way you manage or plan your operations. It has been observed that people might pay attention to planning and managing but it is the financing which they ignore. this is something which you do not have to do because financing is something which you do not do once. In fact you keep on doing it throughout your business life whether you are expanding or modernizing or even purchasing stationary for your business. What you need to understand is how to utilize your capital in a better way. One wrong decision can lead to the downfall of your business.

First thing you need to analyze is whether you want to get financial help from outside resources in the form of loans. If you really are out of capital and you believe your business is in dire need of expansion or upgrading then you should decide whether you should delay the operations or whether you should step into external financing.

If you believe that getting external financing is something you cannot survive without then you need to understand the types of finances that exist.

Equity Financing: equity financing is when you sell your shares and get cash in return. It’s like selling half of your business rights in profit. You can attain equity financing from a variety of resources ranging from venture capitalists to even private investors. And the best about equity financing is that it will not seem act as a loan towards you until and unless your partner decides to draw his investment out.

Debt Financing: under debt financing you get a loan with a guarantee that you will pay back the money. The guarantee can be in the form of collateral i.e. handing over your property, inventory or equipment papers to the lenders till you do not pay the entire amount. If you are unable to pay the lender has full right over your collateral assets.

These are the basic two kind of finances that you get in the market. Now lets discuss the sources from where you can attain the loan.

The first and the foremost place you need to consider while thinking about external financing is family or friends. If the amount of capital that you need is small and you believe can be fulfilled by your personal resources then you should go for them.

The second best option you have is to consult US Small Business Administration for debt financing. SBA does not finance anybody but arranges for lenders according to your needs. No matter which market sector you belong to SBA will always help you.