There are two challenges that
immediately come to mind when trying to find a job within the family office
industry. Both of these challenges could prevent you from receiving a job and
should be taken in to consideration when undergoing a job search.
1. Compensation levels can be a real
challenge within the industry. To get the best talent that can wear multiple
hats and move quickly and really serve a family office well you often do have
to pay close to top dollar and a lot of family wealth offices are ran by
entrepreneurs that are somewhat thrifty and have watched the dollar from the
beginning to make sure it is not spent unwisely. And they might not be
comfortable paying $750,000 or $650,000 a year. So that can be a challenge just
overcoming that hurdle can be a big problem.
2. Another challenge I wanted to
mention was that because of the reputation within the industry a lot of people
are afraid to even go interview for a job because maybe someone in that office
building will recognize them and realize that they are interviewing for a job
and they are worried it will get back to their current employer, they'll lose
their job, and it could take them a couple years to find another great job
working at a large family office. It's a very real concern, and the executives
that come to me, one of the first things they talk about is just being discrete
in what they are looking for and making sure we do not mess up their current
career and the progress they're making there.
These challenges can make navigating
the industry very difficult. By realizing the challenges it can help assist you
in advancing your career. If you can wear many hats and are driven to work in a
family office, then it is possible to crack into the industry. In order to make
it, you have to show other peers the value you can bring to the table. If you
can showcase your relative industry experience you can really assist yourself
in landing with a family office. It can be difficult to get started, but you
need to lay out clear cut goals for your career, and then start at the bottom.
If you start as an analyst you can still work your way up through the ranks. If
you just decide you do not want to be an analyst and work outside of the family
office industry it can be harder to get in later.
I hope this advice is helpful to you
if you are just getting into the industry or trying to recruit people for the
first time. I think that you will relate to many of the challenges I'm talking
about here.
What we offer is a solution to many
of these headaches. Over 1,000 family offices globally are members of the
Family Offices Group. We are in about 70 different countries now and we can
help you with talent searches, recruitment, and executive searches.
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