More candidates are swelling the ranks of job seekers in the financial planning industry as firings persist and advertised roles vanish, according to a report from eJobs Recruitment Specialists.
"On the supply side we are seeing more candidates available across the board, with many now proactively and routinely contacting us for work," eJobs principal Trevor Punnett said.
"Whilst many are desperate to get any sort of a job and at any reasonable salary level, our advice is to remain resilient and focussed on getting the roles they are trained for."
In particular, Punnett said there are a lot of administrators, client service officers and paraplanners looking for work, but the market still remains tight for financial planners.
Although job ads have stabilised, they were still down 60 per cent nationally over the three months to 30 April 2009 from the previous corresponding period, eJobs said.
In New South Wales and ACT specifically, job ads rebounded 6.6 per cent in April but have still averaged around 244 to 269 ads over each of the last five months.
Figures in the report suggest financial planning jobs may be one of the last areas to make a sustained comeback as the Australian economy heals and stocks rebound.
A silver lining in eJobs' report was that recruitment is still happening among firms which are looking to ensure they have the right people for an economic recovery.
"There is still interest in quality candidates from many quarters, with several practices looking for talent. However ... this activity is well less than half of what it was," Punnett said.
Unlike during the 2003 to 2007 bull run, there are currently far less job hoppers as those employed are keen to hold on to what they have.
