Guidance for the Field

Career coaches come to the rescue in a new program from New York City-based AG Barrington.

Career coaches come to the rescue in a new program from New York City-based AG Barrington. The financial-technology career-placement firm has introduced a free service that matches volunteer veterans in the industry with less-experienced entrants in the field.

The coaching program enables executives to sign up as mentors, offering advice to burgeoning financial-technology applicants looking to get insight into the minds of prospective managers. AG Barrington evaluates coaches, based on their areas of expertise, and then assigns a job candidate to a coach. The coach spends 30 to 45 minutes offering advice on how to prepare for the position being sought.

"The applicants we deal with are not job-hunters but have plateaued at their current position and want to look outside for other things," says Alan Geller, managing director of AG Barrington. "The purpose of the call is to help that applicant fill out some missing skills. We're looking for the coach to communicate to the candidate why the perspective client that the candidate is going to be interviewing with would be interested in a particular skill."

The program also gives established executives the opportunity to network with other members of the financial-technology community and gain insight into what's happening in other areas of the Street. He notes one example of a coach that was able to establish a new business relationship by networking through the person he was mentoring.

In addition, the program offers the coach an opportunity to give back to the industry, explains Geller. "This is perfect for someone who has years of experience and wants to be able to be a mentor or understand what is going on in someone else's world," he says.

Geller says that the program is open to both financial institutions and vendors.