Richelle Konian knows a thing or two about life on Wall Street, both from her experience working on it and now for it. After leaving a career in management consulting, she cofounded Manhattan-based recruiting firm Careers on the Move, which helps hundreds of job seekers find work in a seemingly impossible market. Her most recent success story? Finding a job for the poster boy of unemployment, the “Sandwich Board Guy” (aka: Joshua Persky, pictured above.)

Konian doesn’t paint any rosy pictures for 2009, but insists that jobs exist for those eager to do their homework and embrace change. “In this type of market, you have to figure out ways to set yourself apart, and you have to work that much harder to get to the place you were previously,” she says.

Here, Konian offers her tips for finding your way back into the job market.

Know what you’re up against:

“One of the things people should be aware of, particularly in financial services, is shrinkage. Sometimes I don’t think people understand the big picture. We’re now in a second wave of job losses; 9/11 was the first wave, and we’ve never recovered from it – we had some good years, but some jobs just haven’t resurfaced. Take asset management: there are far fewer jobs now than there were a few years ago. There are people who worked in equity research who have never got their jobs back, and they had excellent resumes, excellent backgrounds, and they were considered to be the upper echelon of candidates. Some of them have taken positions in other areas using the same skills. But there’s a lot of people with specific expertise who have been unemployed for years.”

Be Flexible:

Those lucky enough to find jobs have to flexible about their expectations, Konian says. “People who say to me, ‘I’m at this salary range right now and I’m not going to accept anything lower’ need to know that it’s the wrong market for that right now, and those who have made that assessment a year ago probably regret it now.”

Also, try imagine yourself in positions you may not have considered before - in all likelihood, you won’t wind up in the same job you left, Konian says. “Someone with a background in equity research might put those skills towards a career as a trader. Or somebody who was very familiar with vendors like Bloomberg or Thomson, they might become a specialist and go into something like financial software.”

Know who’s hiring:

“One area where we’re seeing a lot of hiring is the energy sector. I encourage all of our candidates to take a look at companies in this sector because a number of financial software companies are in the energy markets. The other areas are in restructuring and bankruptcy. It’s a sign of the times. A lot of the positions we see available are in companies who are valuing companies, restructuring.”

Be prepared to leave the country for work, too. Europe and Latin America are two areas that are recruiting North American talent, Konian says.

Make your resume count:

In a tight market, the jobs that get filled first are ones that require a specific skill set, Konian says. “For example, one skill set worth highlighting is specific experience in valuating companies. People who are familiar with FAS requirements. It’s such a specific skill that not a lot of people have it,” she explains.

If you have broad skills, Konian suggests drafting several versions of your resume to specific jobs, and provide detailed examples of how your background meets certain requirements.

Network, network, network:

Make professional connections, preferably before you’re out of a job, Konian says. “You need advocates from someone who know your work, whether it’s a former colleague or even a recruitment firm that knows you. One of the things I’ve noticed in this market is the number of excellent resumes and excellent job skills out there that would normally be highly sought after,” she says. But these days, interviews are hard to come by without connections.

Got advice to share with financial industry jobseekers? Email us at tradingplaces@reuters.com

It looks like a falling tide sinks all boats.

Out-of-work Wall Street workers have been on the front pages for months. Auto workers at the Big Three have been struggling for years, and with GM and Chrysler on the verge of a possible bankruptcy and/or bailout their situation is also dire.

Now the so-called knowledge workers are feeling the pinch. Sony is cutting 16,000 workers, and Silicon Valley companies that initially resisted the swooning of the economy are looking to cut costs and shed entry-level positions. As Reuters reported on Tuesday, people in their 20s are finding a college degree is no longer their golden ticket to a dream job in high tech.

Any bright spots? It depends on how you look at it. Of the 30 companies in the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the only ones with stock prices higher than a year ago are Wal-Mart and McDonald’s.

So who is going to face the most job insecurity in 2009: Bankers, autoworkers, or techies?

Post your answer in the comments section, along with any first-hand stories of trouble in your industry.

Goldman Sachs sent the business media abuzz this weekend with news that its top executives were voluntarily giving up their annual bonus in a gesture they hope will spread to the rest of the Street. The decision immediately won the praise of New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, who hailed the move as a “step in the right direction”, while the firm’s spokesperson said, “They believe it’s the right thing to do.”

But don’t expect any applause just yet, at least not from Main Street. Taxpayers around the globe are still fuming about their respective government’s multibillion dollar bank rescue schemes, prompting no shortage of snarky editorials pointing to bloated paycheques and bankers’ cavalier actions for the financial meltdown.

At a time when most bankers are holding on to their jobs by a string — just ask any Citigroup employee how they’re feeling these days — editorialists are quick to point out that bonuses are just that: a bonus.

“The truth is, most of them are lucky to have a job at all and they know it,” writes the Wall Street Journal’s William Cohan.

Perhaps UBS is taking note. The Swiss bank recently axed bonuses for top executives and said it would introduce a more transparent pay system, in a sign that banks are finally acting to quell the public’s mistrust of the bonus culture.

Are the recent moves to cut bankers’ pay an encouraging sign, or is the damage already done? Share your thoughts below

“We’ve hardly felt the financial crisis.”

Now there’s a sentence you don’t expect to hear these days.  It comes from a headhunter for a temp agency in Germany, where apparently the financial sector is like Teflon: although German banks foresee some of the job cuts afflicting its peers  –  RBS among the most recent — there have been relatively few layoffs so far.

In a refreshing twist to a dire employment situation, headhunters in Germany are now scrambling to fill a slew of temporary banking jobs. Problem is, jittery bankers don’t want to switch firms in the middle of a crisis.

But it’s a different ballgame in London, where there the number people chasing jobs has doubled from last year in what one job expert calls “one of the most difficult periods in decades.” To top it off, the city once poised to replace New York as the financial center of the world is being blamed for the greed that sparked the financial crisis.

Back on Wall Street, Citibank is readying to slash another 10,000 jobs worldwide and trim its compensation budget as its shares skid.

On a bright note, some good news for women seeking a corner office in the finance sector: Japan’s Michiko Achilles recently became the first female director of Aozora Bank in what she calls a “new experience” for her male peers.

Is the job situation going to get worse before it gets better? Share your thoughts below.

Usually when a company announces dreaded plans to “cut costs” or “restructure”, it’s a sure sign a new batch of employees are about to be axed. But in a refreshing new take on saving money in the corporate world, one company has decided to move in a decidedly unique direction.

The term is “career break“, a solution that Irish Life & Permanent’s banking division has come up with in a bid to slash costs, not jobs. The plan offers employees $25,000 to $45,140 to take a 2- or 3-year “break” from their jobs, thus cutting expenses without actually firing anyone. The company didn’t say how many employees are planning to accept the offer — nor did it mention whether said jobs would still exist after the “break” was over — but it hopes the plan will appeal to bankers looking for more flexibility in their careers.

Irish Life may be on to something — at the very least, it may prevent some nasty lawsuits. More and more financial firms are being legally targetted by disgruntled ex-employees seeking lost wages and benefits, lawyers say.

Granted, most firms are still taking the old-fashioned approach to cost-cutting. Sources say Goldman Sachs — already on a firing streak in recent weeks — is planning to cut another 10 percent of its investment bankers in Tokyo. In Russia, the recent rash of deep job cuts prompted one banker to say, “The best bonus you can have in Moscow right now is to have a job at all.”

And there’s more on the way. As nervous investors yank money out of their investments, mutual fund companies are bracing for the next hit. Experts say job losses at U.S. asset managers could rival layoffs in the last big bear markets of 2001-02 and 1991-92.

Kind of makes a “career break” sound appealing.

Would you take your chance on a career break, even if your job wasn’t guaranteed? Share your thoughts below.

It’s funny how the stock market manages to tell a story. This week’s euphoric pre-election surge is all but a memory now, with stocks back in their all-too-familiar slump. If Wall Street could talk, it would be saying: ”You’ve got your work cut out for you, Obama.”

Indeed, the President-elect faces what is likely the most daunting list of challenges ever faced by an incoming administration — and America’s precarious job situation is chief among them. A report by outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas indicates that planned layoffs surged to their highest level in nearly five years during October, with cuts in the finance industry leading the way.  Meanwhile, the private job sector took a hit to the tune of 157,000 lost jobs last month, with signs pointing to further deterioration to come.

Obama also has the dubious task of restoring investors’ bruised faith in the financial system. After he lamented its “complete lack of regulatory oversight” earlier this week, all eyes are on Obama as he takes on the Greenspan era. Regulating the markets is never a popular task, but neither is justifying a $700 billion bailout bill to furious Americans whose retirement savings just went down the tube.

Obama enters the White House with the hopes of the world pinned to him, with endorsements from everyone from The Economist to Oprah Winfrey propping him up.  But just how long the honeymoon lasts is anyone’s guess.

Do you think Barack Obama is good for Wall Street? Share your thoughts below.

The extent of the shrinking economy became abundantly clear today to American Express employees, a whopping 7,000 of whom will be laid off in a massive restructuring plan. Similarly, Legg Mason Capital Management says it will cut up to one-third of its workforce in a move described by one analyst as “inevitable”. The downsizing amounts to only about 50 employees, but more importantly marks the asset manager’s first job cuts in 26 years.

Is any sector or company safe? The short answer is no, although some industries are safer than others.

On a brighter note, ex-Wall Streeters are pursuing some unusual career paths. Bloomberg reports that enrollment at the American Bartending School is at a 5-year high as laid off workers — including thousands of former financial industry types — troll the job market.

Are more job cuts inevitable, or is the worst over? Share your thoughts below.

In yet another sign of tough times on Wall Street, dejected financial professionals were among those lined up yesterday for a shot to work for none other than the IRS, the New York Times reports. It’s a curious career move until you look at the circumstances: the battered banking sector has been cutthroat in its downsizing, leaving virtually no job safe. But can anyone remember the last time the IRS downsized?

“You could get a lucrative job in the financial market right now, but how long can you keep it?” says ex-Lehman Brothers staffer Jean Delice. “Everywhere I look, I see layoffs. If I take a $10,000 or $20,000 pay cut, in the long run, I’m ahead. The government is not in the trading business. It will be around.”

Now may be as good a time as any to cut and run, especially given NY Attorney General Andrew Cuomo’s recent warning that it may be illegal for banks to pay bonuses with government money. In yet another blow to anyone dreaming of a fat bonus, a new study shows that nearly two-thirds of big U.S. companies have banned their chief executives from keeping hefty bonuses when there are questions over executive conduct.

Are you thinking of leaving Wall Street behind? If so, what career suits someone with a financial background? Share your thoughts below.

There’s no question Wall Street is undergoing a transformation of sorts with the recent rash of job losses and do-or-die consolidations. But once the dust has settled - what then?

It just may be the start of Wall Street’s warm and fuzzy rebirth, Forbes reports.

“The new Wall Street will be, in some ways, a friendlier place,” writes Michael Maiello. “Investors are no longer interested in secretive hedge fund managers and inscrutable quant trading strategies, and so personal relationships and personal responsibility on the part of financial advisers will be paramount virtues.”

But this supposed new Wall Street — where banks both big and small can flourish, where the personal touch is paramount — has a lot of skeptics to win over. Just today, Fidelity Investments said it was reviewing its staffing amid speculation of 4,000 layoffs. Meanwhile, reports that battered banks have set aside an estimated $20 billion for bonuses is surely confounding news for the thousands of newly-axed bankers left in their wake. What’s more, a new survey shows that most financial professionals aren’t just hoping for a bonus, they’re expecting it.

Is Wall Street capable of making a positive change, or is it headed for more of the same? Share your thoughts with us below.

The following financial services industry appointments were announced on Oct. 27, linked where possible to personal profiles on LinkedIn. To inform us of other job changes, please send an e-mail to: moves@thomsonreuters.com.

Deloitte

Deloitte Financial Advisory Services (Deloitte FAS) said it elected David Williams as chief executive officer and Kerry Francis as chairman for the U.S. portion of the unit. Williams, 46, replaces Frank Piantidosi who has been CEO since 2003. Piantidosi is moving into the role of chief executive of Deloitte North America Financial Advisory. Francis, 47, will continue to hold her standing title as leader of the group’s national Corporate Investigations practice.

BearingPoint

Consulting firm BearingPoint said it hired Michael Kirby, former deputy undersecretary of the Army, to bolster its public services business transformation expertise. Kirby was responsible for implementing the Army’s business transformation initiatives while serving at Army headquarters, the company said.

MFC Global Investment Management
MFC Global Investment Management said it has named Jeffrey Santerre as head of product management in the United States. Santerre is responsible for developing and implementing investment strategies in the United States, the company said.

Rothschild
Boutique investment bank Rothschild has hired three M&A bankers from Lehman Brothers in a sign that some smaller banks remain confident even as the credit crisis ravages their larger rivals. Rothschild, said it had appointed Antonio Villalon as co-head of its Global Financial Institutions Group (FIG). Rothschild also named Stephen Fox as co-head of its British FIG, while Philippe Le Baquer joined to work on FIG deals in continental Europe and on cross-border deals.

Barclays Wealth
The investment arm of Barclays Bank named Robert Brown as managing director and chief operating officer at its investment and product office. Brown joins Barclays Wealth from ABN Amro Global Financial Markets where he was global chief operating officer.

Hermes Fund Managers Ltd
Fund Manager Hermes named Caroline Baker as executive director of human resources. Most recently, Baker was global head of human resources for ABN AMRO Asset Management.

Aladdin Capital Holdings LLC
The investment management firm appointed Neal Neilinger as vice-chairman and chief investment officer. Most recently, Neilinger served as global head of credit sales, Trading and Syndicate in the London office of Calyon, a unit of France’s largest retail bank.

PSigma Asset Management
The asset management company appointed David Hallam to its UK Equities team. He most recently worked at Fiske Plc.