RJ and Makay

Here's some evidence that pay-for-performance is alive and well on Wall Street: The average Wall Street bonus dropped 5% in 2010, according to the eFinancialCareers annual Global Bonus Survey completed in mid-January.

Still, 56% of bonus-eligible financial professionals got a larger bonus than the previous year. Nineteen percent got a smaller bonus and 8% got no bonus.

Which departments in the financial industry are most likely to grow in 2011? Three of them: technology, sales, and wealth management. That's what banking/finance career specialist eFinancialCareers learned when it asked hiring managers and recruiters which professionals Wall Street will need most in the year ahead.

Those with technology skills will be especially sought after due to the rise of algorithmic trading, added regulation, and complex infrastructures. Indeed, technology job postings are up 75% year over year on eFinancialCareers, the company says. "Larger firms," it adds, "are turning to their technology departments as a cost-effective way to support compliance with new regulations, all while managing the small task of optimizing complex global technology infrastructures."

eFinancialCareers.com is showing huge percentage increases of job postings YOY for several financial sectors. Investment Banking/M&A is up 75% YOY; Compliance/Legal up 62%; Accounting and Finance is up 58%. Trading is down 8% YOY. Knowing that most of the available positions in financial services aren't posted to job boards this is a good sign for the first half of the year. At RJ & Makay we are at triple figure YOY increase in awarded position openings.

Yesterday we received an mail from Constance Melrose (Managing Director, North America) at  eFinancialCareers which was directed to HR managers and recruiters in the finance industry. They did a report on the most difficult firms to interview with in the industry.

Here's their list of which type of firm or entity financial pros think is the most difficult to interview with.