New Job Listings!

Junior Portfolio Assistant (Investment Banking) $50,000+ DOE
You will work for one of the most prestigious private equity firms on the west side. We need someone familiar with capital call notices, maintenance of a data base for client statements and letters, able to post to interlink, special projects as assigned by partners, travel arrangements and heavy expense reporting, strong Excel and Word skills. Excellent opportunity for college grad with 1+ years of experience in a portfolio department.

Assistant to Marketing Partner (Private Equity) $60,000+sign on bonus + regular bonus + over the top benefits
Work for a great mentor and marketing guru. You will prepare complex presentations using PowerPoint (expert skill level required) for this ever expanding firm. You will also assist your executive with answering and rolling calls, scheduling meetings and all travel, both international and domestic. You will work with print and media publications, assist with and implement your new marketing ideas and layouts, work with other departments in company in their marketing planning too. You must have advanced PowerPoint skills, MSW, Excel and Outlook. We are interviewing this week for a June start.

Executive Assistant to Partner (Executive Search) $60 - $70,000+
Work for one of the most dynamic groups in the media and entertainment search fields. You will start each search as if it were your own - create job descriptions, candidate reports, reference reports, status reports, all client and candidate communications. You will schedule interviews and coordinate travel and serve as the point person for all interview processes. You must love doing client services and be an expert communicator, be poised and professional at all times, solid MSW and Outlook, heavy Internet research, multi-tasker, great organizational skills and really be a quick study. This is a real opportunity to see the inner workings of the global media and entertainment industries.

Executive Assistant to CEO (Aquisitions) $70 - 80,000+
This job is working for a dynamic CEO and one that never sits stills. You will do everything - manage calendars, travel, correspondence, emails, research, roll calls, personal and professional errands - no job is too big or too small for you. You must posses the energy, the superior judgement, the client servicing skills and the level of intelligence to make this work. You must have a 4-year college degree and 5+ years senior administrative assistant skills. You must be able to interface with all levels of clients and management. You must have MSW, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook, video conferencing, Skype, and GoToMeeting.

Staff Accountant ( Private Equity) $55 - 65,000 + bonus
You must have a degree in Accounting or Finance, 2 - 5 years experience, Big 4 is a plus, SEC filing knowledge, Microsoft Dynamics GP required. If you are a recent college grad with a year of accounting experience in the financial field and some great internships under your belt, this client will consider you as well. Excellent opportunity to get in the investment arena.

Entry Level Bookkeepers (Entertainment) $32 - 40,000
This client represents some of the top talent in the entertainment industry. You will learn all there is to know about the "business management" world. Start at the bottom and there is no where to go but up. You will be trained by a partner and a manager. You will be given several accounts and learn all there is to know about managing a client on tour, in a new film or television series, royalties and residuals. You will be trained on Datafaction. You must have a degree in Accounting or Finance, 1+ year experience (internships apply) and solid MSW and Excel skills.

Controller (Legal) $120,000+ bonus
You will manage the day-to-day operations of the accounting department including A/P, A/R, payroll, financial statements and reports, G/L maintenance, supervise monthly close and insure monthly, quarterly and annual statements are correct and timely, budget and planning, banking transactions, and coordination of everything with outside CPA firm. Must have CPA, 10+ years experience is similar role, advanced computer skills, and excellent management and problem solving abilities.

Assistant for Executive Director of Non-Profit Agency $40 - $42,000
Are you interested in the well being of children under the poverty level? Are you interested in assuring they have three meals a day, clothing for school, supplies for school and even the ability to get to school - this job is for you. You will assist the Executive Director with all her efforts to support these worthy causes. You will answer phones, direct sponsors, patrons, vendors and members to the right person or department, type correspondence, proposals, board minutes and itineraries. You will handle busy calendars, book meetings, luncheons, travel, help with special events - lots of interaction and learning. You must have solid MSW, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and 1 - 3 years administrative experience. Excellent opportunity for a recent college grad to enter the non-profit world.

Job Growth in L.A.?

Forecast Sees Pick Up in L.A. Job Growth

By Howard Fine Thursday, May 10, 2012

Job growth in Los Angeles County and the region should pick up this year and accelerate next year, according to a forecast released by California State University Long Beach.

Los Angeles County should add about 60,000 jobs this year for a growth rate of 1.6 percent, well above the 0.6 percent pace set last year, according to economists at the university. Next year should be even better, with 80,000 jobs added for a growth rate of about 2.1 percent.

“We are approaching a more healthy pace of job formation for the first time in several years,” said Lisa Grobar, the forecast director and an economics department faculty member.

The report noted that job growth is being led by cyclical sectors, such as retail, professional and business services and leisure/hospitality. Even construction, decimated by the housing bust, is adding jobs for the first time in five years, particularly in the county.

The only major downside remains government employment as cities, counties and school districts continue to slash jobs to balance budgets. But the forecast said the sector should stabilize next year.

Culture Matters

When Choosing a Job, Culture Matters

4:08 PM Wednesday May 2, 2012
by Bill Barnett

Some organizations will excite you. They'll stimulate your success and growth. Others will be stressful. They may lead you to quit before you've accomplished much or learned what you hoped to. With the pressure (or excitement) of finding a new job, it's all too easy to pursue a job opportunity or to accept an offer with only a hazy view of how the institution really operates. The path to an institution you'll like is to investigate the culture you're thinking of joining before you accept the position.

Sean (name has been changed) is a master at this. He pursued a job offer at a Fortune 500 company to be the first Chief Administrative Officer (CAO). He was well-qualified, presented himself well, and got the offer. He'd been competing with capable people. He was proud he'd "won the contest."

The next step was a return visit, after which he'd decide to accept the offer. Sean had already learned a lot about the company's businesses and some things about the organization. His priority now was culture and how the new position might fit: "I asked people, 'What are you excited about? What are you proud of? Who are your close friends in the company? How does the group function together?'" Sean learned things like who the heroes were, what made them successful, and what his biggest challenges and opportunities would be in the job. The different people he met with were learning from his questions. It was almost like he already worked there, and they were jointly determining how to make the new role successful.

Surprisingly, Sean turned down the offer. The new role was a misfit in the company's culture.

As he learned more about the company, Sean questioned how he'd be viewed as the first CAO in a company where everyone else focused on bottom-line results. It was a highly performance-driven environment with lots of business units. Corporate staffs were secondary.

"I asked how they'd keep score on me, how they'd really know I was making a difference," he said. "We never got to satisfactory answers to that question. They weren't hiding anything. This CAO position was a new one, and they didn't really know."

Sean was concerned that this new position wouldn't fit in the company's culture, that he wouldn't really be accepted, and that it wouldn't be a springboard to the line job that he really wanted after two or three years as CAO. He might have made it work, but why take the risk?

It's not uncommon for job seekers to enter organizations without understanding the culture and come away disappointed. When considering a new job, be sure to investigate the institution's culture. Consider these questions to guide you:

1. What should I learn? Understand the organization's purpose — not just what they say they're doing, but also how their purpose leads to decisions and what makes them proud. Learn how the organization operates. For example, consider the importance of performance, how the organization gets things done, the level of teamwork, the quality of the people, how people communicate, and any ethical issues.

Except for ethical issues, there's no absolute standard of what's best in organizational culture. Different purposes and different organizational features can be more or less appealing to different people. When you understand how the potential employer operates, you'll need to consider how well that matches your goals. Your target organizational culture is an important part of your aspirations.

2. How should I learn? Read everything you can find about the institution, but read with a critical eye. Institutions have formal vision statements, and they often mention cultural topics in other public reports, but these documents are written with a purpose in mind. Independent writers take an independent perspective. They can be more critical, but they can miss details and get things wrong.

Discuss culture with people in the organization. You'll talk to people in the interviewing process, of course. But you may learn different things if you meet others there who aren't involved in your recruiting process. Also talk to people outside the organization who know it — customers, suppliers, partners, and ex-employees. Their different experiences with the institution will affect their views, so ask about situations where they've seen the culture in action.

3. When should I learn? It's hard to learn about culture at an early stage in your search. But your impressions can guide you to target some institutions and avoid others.

Culture may come up in job interviews, although it may be complicated to do much investigation when you're trying to sell yourself. People sometimes worry that discussing culture might make people uncomfortable and put a job offer at risk. The culture topic is certainly not off-base, and it is necessary to know for future growth in the company. Hiring managers should expect it. Whether it's in interviews or after you have an offer, you'll do best if your questions show you're learning rapidly about the organization, taking the employer's perspective, and beginning to figure out how to succeed there. Culture questions can cast you in a positive light. Sean's line of questioning confirmed the CEO's judgment to hire him, even if Sean didn't like the answers.

What's your view of how culture affects the job search? Has culture played a part in how you choose your future employer?