Graduate Associate – Financial Services and Private Equity, Denton Search

Job Title	Graduate Associate – Financial Services and Private Equity
Employer	Denton Search
Job Type	Full Time
Location	London, UK
Industry	Investment Banking
Experience	0-3 Years
Languages	English
Deadline	Friday 8th April 2016

The Firm

Our client is one of the most prestigious executive search and advisory boutique consultancies in Europe with over 60% of their work being international. For over a decade the firm has been assisting companies to address their most fundamental business needs – exceptional leadership and human capital. They work across all industry sectors and are very prominent in the Financial Services and Private Equity industries. They are looking for a Graduate Associate to join their 3 year Graduate Rotation Scheme. Our client conducts searches for executives and non-executives within FTSE 100/250 businesses, as well as leading US and German companies and venture capital-backed firms. They also specialise in placing senior executives into Financial Services & Private Equity institutions. Our client not only offers executive search services but also advisory services including organisational structure assessments and succession planning. They are one of a few executive search firms to work with Private Equity funds when they are looking at investing in businesses. They provide services that include introducing them to industry specialists, conducting management references and searching for potential executives and non-executives to lead a Management Buy-In (MBI) or supplement the existing management teams of the target company.

Position Summary

As a Graduate Associate you will have an initial training period of approximately eight weeks and you will then rotate through each sector team, allowing you to gain exposure to all aspects of the business. Depending on experience, a Graduate Associate will typically complete four to six six-month rotations across the Corporate, Financial Services and Private Equity sectors. This has many advantages including providing an opportunity to learn how all the sectors relate to each other in the business world, enabling you learn from a wide variety of colleagues, successfully integrating you into the firm and providing you an opportunity to discover which specialism you are keen to develop your career in.

Key Graduate Associate responsibilities include:

Research

Name identification – wide use of internal and external sources of information (database, directories, press etc) within the Financial Services and Private Equity sectors
Phone research to identify candidates through calls to companies and individuals directly
Constantly seek to gain relevant factual information and qualitative third party source comment on individuals we are tracking
Approaching candidates, handling questions / objections, understanding career motivations, assessing potential candidates by telephone prior to inviting them for interview
Production of Longlist (all candidates who meet the specification) based on client’s brief
Responsibility for maintaining high quality of coding and consistency of coding approach across practice areas
Expected to have a full knowledge of all aspects of the database and company procedures (including documentation and assignment administration)
Maintaining up-to-date Financial Services and Private Equity client profiles
Generating and maintaining up-to-date records of moves and changes within specific Financial Services and Private Equity companies or sectors
Improve product knowledge across sectors
Interviews

The Graduate Associate will identify key questions / gaps in information ahead of interview
Prepare documentation (Company Profile, Structure File, Role Specification, Internal Universe List and candidate summary / CV etc) pre interview with Consultant
Attending interviews, overseeing candidate write ups and appraisal processing post interview

Shortlist stage

The Graduate Associate will tak ownership for processing reports to client
Drafting Appraisals and other materials, as necessary
Responsibility for keeping interview process on track, and overseeing team administrator
Feedback administration (as required / as guided by Consultant)
Assisting Consultant in taking formal references on favoured candidates
Presentations

The Graduate Associate will work with and support the Consultant to assist in the preparation of pitches and presentations including:

Obtaining up-to-date information about the client / target client / candidate base from various information sources (database, on-line sources, collating relevant articles) within the Financial Services and Private Equity industries
Finding any other relevant information (job specs / descriptions, long lists, off limits lists, examples of relevant completed searches etc)
Ensure high quality presentation material
Attending client briefings and long list presentation meetings with Consultants within Financial Services and Private Equity firms
Candidate Requirements

We are looking for a Graduate Associate who will have shown a real involvement in university life and actively sought challenges and positions of responsibility. Your strong intellect must be demonstrated by a 2.1 degree (or equivalent) in any discipline from a leading university. Candidates must have prior work or internship experience in a corporate or professional services organisation. A second language is a bonus but not essential. The successful Graduate Associate will:

Have excellent verbal and written communication skills
Have exceptional interpersonal skills and be able to gain the trust and respect of colleagues
Possess maturity beyond their years
Be a strong team player
Possess drive and ambition
Have a high level of initiative and an ability to work without close supervision
Have the desire to learn quickly about business news, industry developments and detailed information about specific companies and within Financial Services and Private Equity industry sectors
Display problem solving and analytical skills
Have the ability to handle multiple tasks
Have good computer skills (Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint and knowledge of database operations)

About Denton Search

Denton Search is a leading international Search to Search consultancy working in the Tier One Executive Search market. We focus on Executive Search appointments and specialise in finding researchers, associates, consultants and partners.  

We have worked for 3 of the top 6 global Executive Search firms and the leading boutiques within their area of specialisation. Thanks to our reputation and strength of our network we are in a position to enable our clients to access the most talented executive search professionals worldwide.

We were founded in 2008 by one of the leading figures in Search to Search. We advise a wide variety of organisations from boutique to large global Executive Search firms.