Unemployed Finance Pros Still Optimistic About Hiring

According to a survey by OneWire.com, even with increasing unemployment rates resulting from the economic crisis, nearly 75 percent of job seekers in the financial services sector are confident they will be employed by the end of the year.

OneWire.com is a career and hiring management tool for the finance industry. In a recent poll, it asked job seekers their thoughts on their prospects for being hired during the worst recession in decades. Even with all the grim news, not only do the majority of respondents expect to be employed this year, but more than half of them expect the total compensation for their next job to be the same or higher than their most recent position in finance. Responses were from a May survey of job-seeking finance professionals and suggest what might be some unexpected optimism in the sector hardest hit by the crisis.

Survey respondents noted that the biggest hurdles to landing a job include the fact that nobody is hiring (42 percent), there is too much competition (31 percent) or they do not have enough experience (13 percent). Still, 84 percent of respondents indicated that they would still choose a career in finance if they were given the opportunity to go back to the beginning and start over. And 69 percent even said they expect the financial services industry will be able to repair its reputation within the next three years.

"Job seekers in finance know that there is a tough road ahead and while there will certainly be challenges to overcome, they're confident and excited about their career prospects in this industry," said Skiddy von Stade, chairman of OneWire.com, in a statement. "At the same time, we're beginning to see finance firms start to turn up the dial on hiring and expect that trend to continue."